COMPLETE WITH TROUT POND

My trip up-Island went great -- the weather was wonderful and the van cooperated, and those are the two variables that are always in question on a road-trip. (Having said that, I heard a great line yesterday ... "worrying is like praying for bad things to happen.")

Sunrise over the Peninsula looks like this when you drive up-Island at 6 a.m. ... (that's the American San Juans in the background, and you can click the images to see them larger-than-life!)


Well, bad things didn't happen, and lots of good things did. Here's some pics from the rest of the drive up. This is Transfer Beach at Ladysmith, one of my favorite spots on the Island, and where I always stop to say 'Aaaahhhhhhhhh....'

Then, on the drive through Nanaimo, there's a public parking lot over-looking the boat basin, and that's always worth a 'pit stop'...

And here is a pretty typical west-coast 'urban' scene ...(but you really have to click on the pic to see the larger version to get the point...)

And I have a favorite little 'rest stop' in Lantzville, too... this is looking out over the Winchelsea Islands, which are an interesting mix of military use and marine park preserve!

Then on into Parksville, and I always go down to the beach in the community park first thing.... what a shock I got when I saw this:

It may look lovely to you, but that fence is a new installation, as is the concrete abutment and the 'berm' beside it. Apparently the beach there has been eroding terribly and then got badly washed out in a storm this past winter -- so they had to 'shore it up' and this is how that's done! Now you can't sit in your car and look out over the beach, you have to get out and walk out past the berm to see it.

I was barely in Parksville when my sister called my cell phone with my first moving-related 'task' -- to pick up coffee for her and the whole moving crew. In line at Tim Horton's, the guy in front of me got his coffee and turned around, almost bumping in to me ... and it was an old friend I hadn't seen for about two years!

I first met Jeff (and his wife and their family), about 17 years ago, when they moved to the Island from Alberta and Jeff became editor of the local paper. My writing career was just taking off at the time and I ended up working with Jeff for seven years as a columnist, freelancer and stringer. He and my hubby ended up friends and golf buddies, his wife and I became friends, and we watched their four children grow up.

When we moved down here to Victoria four years ago, Jeff and his wife had separated and I had left that newspaper for completely different freelance opportunities. Not long after, Jeff also changed careers... so, as these things go, we hadn't really stayed in touch. We left Tim Horton's together, and I ended up going along with him to coffee with some other mutual friends I hadn't seen for awhile -- a great start to the weekend!

Then off to my sister's new home -- a beautiful little farmhouse (twice the size of the apartment she vacated) on forty acres just outside of town. It's perfect for her and our niece! The house and yard....


And the fringe benefits... grapevines, for one:

And finally, the view out of her office/studio/sunroom is, of all things, a trout pond (and that's Mount Arrowsmith in the background)!

Needless to say, very little knitting got done (although I did manage some progress on the socks over our morning coffee...) and today I have a deadline, so I better get to work!