…But Everything Changed When The Fire Nation Attacked

The last day of our visit in Victoria was low-key: just taking it all in. The weather was beautiful. Tammy and I got a lot of walking in, first to Superstore and Poncho’s and later on to North of Hadrian’s to see Jackson and to Thrifty’s to get some supplies for the trip back.

We had a nice lunch at Dad’s with Steph and Brianna and dinner was a bit of a comedy trying to find a place that served breakfast all day. The Denny’s in Colwood was closed at 3, the Ricky’s in Esquimalt is now an Apple Tree Family Restaurant (and it was closed, too). We finally settled on Denny’s on Douglas Street. Ian remembered that the last time we were there was with Baba and Grandpa in 2018. We did a lot of packing up and were ready for our drive home Thursday. We knew that we would get home a little late because we couldn’t get a reservation for the 7 am ferry, and so had one for the 8.

But everything changed when I woke up with a frog in my throat.

We’d done COVID tests the night before and everyone was negative. But there was no denying that I was not well. I put a mask on and kept it on all day except when I was outside by myself.

Starting late and then fighting horrible traffic on Highway 1 between Abbotsford and Chilliwack and then construction on the Coquihalla, it felt like driving in mud. We didn’t get to Merritt until almost 2. Ian started doing the math and realized we would be home pretty late. I figured if we were home by midnight, we’d have won.

All of this was against the backdrop of my health failing. A frog in the throat turned into a cough and running nose with aches and chills. Masking became painful with the elastics digging into the backs of my ears. I drove to Merritt and then Tammy took over to Golden. I rested as much as I could because Tammy did not trust herself to drive through the mountains in the dark. I suppose it’s a measure of how much that she was more willing to trust a sick guy. Walking around at DQ in Golden, I knew I was sick. It was that feeling of unsteadiness and shakes.

I found some trucks that were heading our way and keeping a good pace and followed them. As it got dark and we went through some rain squalls, it was comforting to follow the trucks. We made it home at 11:30. We unpacked the car and then Tammy gave me another COVID test.

It’s a little late to help, but the line is there. In retrospect, I’m glad I masked for the drive home, but I don’t know how much it will help stop the spread to the rest of the family. Now I’m confined to my room. I guess our 25th anniversary is cancelled for tomorrow. Good thing we got to celebrate with everyone this past week.

😷