Off the Island, and on the road…

What a day. Such a broad statement, what could it mean? Good or bad? What a day, I said see you soon to my island and my family. What a day, we saw humpback whales and orcas on the BC Ferry. What a day, we drove from Nanaimo to Kelowna.

What a day: See you soon

We started the day at 5am. Woke up the kids, showered and packed. One big and hard goodbye for Moose and Bowie was to our doggos, Bella and Bailey. Bella is a big blonde Boxer cross who loves Moose more then any of us, really. She gets jealous when we pet Bailey and pushes her big head in the way, catches cookies in the air and loves to be a footrest as she lies in front of the couch. Bailey is my old lady, she is 10 year old shih-tzu terrier….but definitely more terrier. Bailey loves to be where ever I am, even if the kids try to steal her. She has a bad hip and can’t catch cookies at all….we’ve tried, they bonk right off of her head. While we are away I know they will be happy and loved at Mom and Dads. Probably gain some cookie weight…Nana, I’m talking to you 🙂 It then was time for hugs and loves to Grandpa, and waves and loves to Nana who wasn’t feeling well and didn’t want to share (and we do thank you xo). Followed up by tears by mostly me, as we don’t know when we will visit next. Though I know it won’t be too long. So Mom and Dad, I’ll see you soon xo

What a day: Whales

We boarded the Duke Point Ferry out of Nanaimo setting sail at 7:45am this morning. As an islander, you get used to this. If you like concerts, trips to the mainland, sporting events, then you catch the ferry. But I still get that buzz watching out the window in case I might…maybe…see a whale. Well, today was that day. As we join the line of hungry breakfast goers the Captain of the Coastal Renaissance comes over the speaker: “For those who are interested, there are humpback whales on the port side of the boat”. OMG What!! Chris and Bowie ordered and paying already, were able to get to the window in time and see a mighty humpback breach. What an impressive sight…I’m told haha, Moose and I were still in line at that moment. However, Cpt comes on the speaker again, now 3 humpbacks are on the port side. So this time I do what any reasonable 36 year old would do…I get my butt over to the windows and watch as they cruise by, quickly coming up for air. I take in that moment and take it as a sign that our wild and crazy move is on the right path…nature agrees obviously. Now in the final stretch of our ferry ride 2 Orcas were spotted by another kind passenger who promptly alerted us. We watched them surface a few times before fading into the distance. What more do I need to reaffirm my choice but reading the signs.

What a day: Nanaimo to Kelowna

Driving away from the Pacific Ocean was a weird one for me, not going to lie. The ocean is my compass, I find solace in it, I do my best thinking there, it centers me. So to be so far from my ocean for so long….how will that be? Will the Atlantic Ocean feel the same way? Time will tell. Today we hoped to get to the Kangaroo Creek Farm in Kelowna, BC. Traffic and construction delays would only allow us an hour to visit by the time we arrived. Now if you haven’t been there before, trust me, an hour isn’t near enough time! Kangaroos, Capybaras, sugar gliders. I want to see them all. We did discuss skipping it and driving through to make good time. But this is a holiday, not an A to B drive. And so we continued on to Kelowna and booked our hotel with a plan to go the Kangaroo Creek Farm in the morning. Back to the road: Highway 5 is a very scenic drive in autumn. Mountains, rolling hills, trees, farm land and lakes. It’s so enjoyable and relaxing, or must be because I actually slept a fair amount of the way dozing on and off. Thank you Chris, you got us through the Coquihalla and back down, and across the W. Bennett Bridge to our hotel. We unloaded a mountain of luggage, and headed into the room. Bowie was very ready to do some swimming, so to the pool we went. Then off to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner, can I add YUMMY!

Now for an early night as there are Roo’s to see in the morning!

More to come, Mel xo