Wednesday & Thursday, September 5 & 6, 2012 (Fort Camping, Brae Island Regional Park, Fort Langley, BC)

I don’t think Steve and I have ever looked forward to getting back to our “home on wheels”...we had had 3 very busy weeks back in North Saanich/Sidney and we were tired and anxious to get back.  But the job of cleaning out his Dad’s house...something Steve had been dreading...was now done and the house was in the final preparations for going on the market. Dad was getting settled into his new much more compact apartment...good thing he has limited storage space in his new abode!

Once again, we want to thank our son and daughter-in-law, Rob and Angie, so very much for their hospitality.  We always enjoy visiting and spending time with them.  They are expecting their first child (due February 4, 2013) and we couldn’t be happier for them.  Steve and I are also looking forward to being grandparents!

We also had the privilege of spending time with Steve’s brother and girlfriend...Dave and Kerry from Thompson, Manitoba were also visiting...even if most of the time was spent at Dad’s house working.  We are trying to talk them into taking a vacation this winter and joining us in Arizona...I’m sure that vacation would be much more relaxing!

Although the majority of our time seemed to be spent working, we did manage some time to catch up with family and friends as well.  We met Chris’s (our youngest son) girlfriend, Angela (yes...2 sons, 2 “Angelas”) when they came over from Vancouver for my niece’s wedding. Angela is very nice and we couldn’t be happier for Chris. 

Enjoying an evening out on the deck at Rob and Angie's...good family time!

This picture of Chris and Angela was taken August 18 just before we left the house to go to the wedding...

Rob and Angie at the wedding...

My brother, Dwight, walking his beautiful daughter, Vanessa, down the isle...

...and the new wed couple, Vanessa and Nathanial (who are now Honeymooning in Hawaii)...

Nadine and Mike (Steve’s sister and brother-in-law) hosted a birthday dinner for Steve on August 24th.  It was a nice family gathering...too bad Chris and Angela had to return to Vancouver right after the wedding...

A great picture of an old family friend, Sylvia, and Angie...can you believe that Sylvia is 95 years young?!

Matt, Kerry and Dave...

On August 30th, Dave, Kerry, Steve and I drove up to Duncan and met old family friends, Doreen and Gerry O’Neil, for brunch. We stopped at the Malahat Lookout for a view of the inlet and peninsula.

...and on August 31st, I connected with “my old work buddies” for lunch...

That evening, Dad treated the family to dinner as a thank-you for all the hard work everyone has done...going around the table from left to right...Rob, Dad, Dave, Kerry, Dianne, Steve, Amanda, Matthew, Mike, Nadine, Sylvia and Angie...

September 2nd, we connected with our long-time best friends, Rob and Nancy Cawsey and enjoyed dinner at Milestone’s, our favourite summertime restaurant on the Inner Harbour in downtown Victoria.  After dinner, we walked along the causeway and took in the Classic Boat Show.

That's The Empress Hotel in the background...

A beautiful sunset over the Inner Harbour...

Wednesday, September 6th, we were up bright and early to say goodbye to Rob and Angie before they left for work...and finish packing.  We left the house shortly after 9:00 to catch the 10:00 ferry back to the mainland.  As usual, at the terminal gate we gave them our charge card and said 2 to Vancouver...it wasn’t until we had paid and were on our way to the lane we were directed to go to before I checked the receipt...$179! What?! That’s roughly $80 more than it should be!  They had charged us as a commercial truck rather than an oversize vehicle...so Steve immediately pulled over and walked back to the gate to talk to the woman.  Unfortunately, she was not very responsive...and Steve was getting more and more frustrated...can’t you tell by the boat on the top and the fifth-wheel hitch that we aren't a commercial vehicle?  She wanted to see the trucks registration, so back Steve came and got the registration as well as our ferry receipt from our trip over to the island.  All she saw on the registration was the word “commercial”...you have to talk to the terminal manager.  Same response from him...the truck registration says commercial...ignoring the fact it indicated vehicle use is for pleasure...you will have to apply for a  letter of exemption with BC Ferries.  In all of our travelling back and forth on the ferry in the past couple of years, we have never had this issue...sheesh!  Steve will be writing a rather scathing letter to BC Ferries headquarters! 

We picked up the fifth-wheel at Econo Storage and arrived at Fort Camping just before 1:30.  Unfortunately, our favourite site (C1) was not available so they assigned us C13.  Well, it was too treed and we wouldn’t be able to get a satellite signal so we walked back to the office and after some checking, we were given site C5, just 2 sites down from C1.  Now it was time for the work to begin.  We got leveled and unhitched and after Steve plugged us in, I vacuumed thoroughly and got all set up inside.  It was after 4:30 by the time we were able to sit down with a cocktail and toast our arrival back to our home.

With no food in the fridge, we walked to The Fort Pub for dinner and then to the small grocery store for some milk for breakfast (at least there is a box of cereal in the cupboard).  We had a pretty early night...we were bushed!

Thursday we had a lazy start to the day before bringing out our resistance exercise equipment...time to get back into the regular routine!  After showers and a bite to eat, we headed off to Safeway in Langley for groceries.  Well, I went grocery shopping...Steve walked over to the mall to look for a new watch (something in Dad’s garage attacked and broke his old one when he was cleaning out the mountains of “stuff”). 

It was close to 2:00 by the time we got home and after putting the groceries away and having some lunch, we walked into Fort Langley to the Hub Insurance office.  We had gotten the truck insured at the Hub Insurance office in Langley last April and Steve wanted to get something (a printout?) explaining the classification we were covered under...i.e. not a commercial truck.  That is where we found out that ICBC only uses 2 classifications...either “passenger” or “commercial”...so cars, vans, etc are classified as “passenger” and all trucks (including pickup trucks) are classified as “commercial”.  I’m pretty darned sure that BC Ferries do not charge pickup drivers commercial truck rates!  Steve is gearing up to write that letter!

Once we got home, we sat outside for a bit and then headed inside to watch the news and have dinner.  Ahh...it’s nice to be home!