Back to Regina

We arrived back in the city that rhymes with fun on Saturday evening. After giving up parking the camper properly, we sat down and had some beers with Kevin and visited before passing out on our faces.

Our original plan had been to take it easy and not visit anyone for the first couple days, just so we could have time to unwind and unpack and such. However, during a nice long walk early Sunday morning around downtown, we got the idea to ring my brothers doorbell and yell "Watcha!" and then run away. We decided not to run away when we saw my mom's car parked near his building, and had a nice surprise visit with a good chunk of the Smandych-Ogilvie clan! Thank you Kyleah for the impromptu breakfast and coffee! Visiting with the family, led to visiting with DK and Paige and then we passed out on our faces again.

We've been busy little bees since we got here. I've had a bunch of meetings to attend and errands and chores to take care of and have been slowly putting the inside of the camper back together, while Zach got a job straight away when we got here thanks to Mr. Walker, and has been working 16 hour days. I go back to work tomorrow, doing that group home thing that I do. It is going to be strange being away from each other every day, after 6 months of rarely being apart.

I've been lucky enough to have visits with a bunch of people the past couple days, some on street corners, some here in the sunny backyard of Casa Vidomski, and I spent a lovely sunny afternoon visiting with a few lovely lady friends at our old building. We will be out at O'Hanlon's on Saturday night, as requested by some of you. Everyone is welcome to come out and buy us drinks...I mean visit with us. ;) I may even shake a tail feather or two, if you would like to come and watch.

We are excited to be home, if only for awhile. Huge thanks to Kevin and Paige and the kitties for letting the Ogilvie family crash in the yard, and use things in the house. We will try our best to earn our keep and be the best roomies ever.

Life

Bye Bye

We'll be leaving the campground and heading to the ferry at Sidney in less than an hour. So much to say about this winter, so little time to type, so I am stealing Zach's Facebook status for now:

Goodbye to the frogs that live in the pool. So long to the trees and rocks and the carpets of moss. Catch you later maple leaves as big as my head. Later, you magnificent rocky beaches, big fat robins on the lawn and fresh mountain air. Let's do this again some time.

Packing Up

In five days, we will be leaving our campground that we've called home since November, catching the ferry and heading to the mainland. I think we are both excited to hit the road again, even though our funds are low, and the weather back home is still touch and go. We both like to be on the move, and even though I am not quite mentally prepared to move back to a winter wonderland, we can feel it's time. We are going to be taking our time on the way home. We will be in Vancouver on Monday and Tuesday, so if anyone wants to get together, email us and let us know, and maybe we can plan something, and if all goes to plan, we will be in Armstrong by Wednesday night, and we'll be staying there until I get paid on Friday. We will be doing a short stop in Regina to drop off the camper, if it doesn't fall apart before then, and then we'll be going to Kamsack for a couple days before we both have to get back to work.

It's amazing how fast time flies. The past six months have been all about seeing new things, and meeting new people, and rubbing all our good weather in Saskatchewan's face. The next three months will be all about seeing old friends and family, going back to old jobs, and enjoying the hell out of a Saskatchewan summer.

Leaving is bittersweet, but knowing that we'll be back in the area in a few months makes it easier. So highway drivers, keep your eyes peeled for a patched up little green bean next week, and instead of pointing and laughing, feel free to throw gas money at us. Or do both. Whatever floats your boat.

Wordless Wednesday

Long Night

There is only one highway from Victoria to Nanaimo, and we live on it. Which means that when something happens, such as a tanker truck full of fuel crashing into the side of the mountain and spilling said fuel all over the highway and into the Goldstream River, they have to close the highway completely. As I write this, that portion of the highway still isn't open to traffic, and it's been about 20 hours.

I finished work last night at 8pm, and took my short cut to the highway, excited to get home. Right away I noticed that traffic was backed up, but I didn't see any emergency vehicles or signs so, I just stayed put, and went with the flow. After 20 minutes of slow moving, I got to the last intersection before the Malahat, and saw that it was closed. Police officer informed me of the accident, said it would be at least eight hours before they could let people through. Ugh. I yelled a curse word or two at the steering wheel, and headed back to work to use their phone to call Zach. After not coming up with any ideas on how to get home, I ended up sleeping at work. Thank goodness I work at a group home, anybody else leaving work last night didn't have that option.

I got up bright and early, around 6am, bought a coffee and hit the highway again. This time, there wasn't a back up of traffic, so I figured since it had been about 10 hours, it would be open. But no, at the last bend before the Malahat, I realized it was closed again. FOR GODS SAKES HIGHWAY PEOPLE, PUT UP A DAMN SIGN OR SOMETHING NEXT TIME....is what I was thinking. I asked a flag person what was going on, they said at least another 6 hours before they could let anyone through....argh.

I turned around and headed to the Shell station down the road, and soon learned that many people had to actually spend the night at the gas station, at least I had a couch to sleep on. I bought a phone card, after learning that our home phone doesn't accept collect calls, and got a hold of Zach to let him know I was following some other people and giving Finlayson Arm Road a shot. It was either that, or drive to Port Renfrew, and do the Pacific Marine tour again.

Luckily, they were letting people through on the twisty turny back road a few at a time, and I was there early enough that traffic wasn't backed up there. It was a beautiful drive, under different circumstances, I would have enjoyed it so much more. Maybe even stop to take a few pictures of the sunlight bouncing on the ocean. I was home by 9am, only 13 hours after my first attempt.

There are still people stranded up here, and down there. The Legion opened its doors and let people stay, the pubs and hotels and gas stations in that area were jammed last night. Some people stayed in their vehicles on the highway all night.

It blows my mind that a city like Victoria only has one major route out. Yes, there are other roads, going other places, and if you have a map and some knowledge of the area, you can get places eventually. This is just one of the many many times this highway has been closed. This was just one drunk semi driver, and look at the mess this has caused. If there was an earthquake, and people needed to evacuate, most would never get out. Which is something that people who live in the city, and don't leave it, don't think about when they reject ideas to build another route out. They don't want traffic going past their house, they don't want to pay for the work....but they sure as hell will want that road when a disaster happens, no doubt about it.

But, I'm exhausted, so no time to rant about shitty highways, and shitty people. I just hope that the road is opened tomorrow so I can get to work, and I hope that the clean up crew is getting somewhere, because a fuel spill at Goldstream? That's not easy to fix.

Nap time.

Wordless Wednesday - Skunk Cabbage Edition