It's 2012 and my big sister is here!

It's amazing to have the first of my sisters here for a visit.

Christine enjoying the sights of Nanaimo.

Her first couple of days here were pretty low key as the weather was a bit rainy and I think we were all a bit pooped after the Christmas period - we did have fun though working on a 1,000 piece puzzle and movie watching. 

I went back to a warm welcome at quilting last week - they are such a wonderful group. My day was spent making wedding things which was lots of fun. I think my quilting will take a back seat for the next while. Brian has been at hockey already and enjoyed being back with his new mates.

Me in the sweatshop with Fran, my sewing buddy.

We did a drive out to Cathedral Grove to show Christine the giant Douglas Fir trees - the paths were a bit muddy after the recent rains...and it was cold.

En route we checked out Little Qualicum Falls - we've driven by the sign before but never ventured in to see it. With all of the recent rainfall, the falls were really impressive...not so "little".

We had the place to ourselves. 

As our intended lunch destination at the Coombs Markets was closed, we continued on and went to the pub Brian goes to for lunch after his Thursday hockey games. It was there I discovered THE BEST Fishermen's Chowder ever - since then, Brian has brought some home for me twice. I'm hooked.

Gloomy view of the fishing boats from the pub.

My new best friend!

Oh yes, we had another load of wood delivered.

Other sightseeing outings included a day in Victoria - checked out downtown, had lunch by the water, drove around the older upper class neighbourhoods and finished off with a tour of Craigdarroch Castle - which was more interesting than expected.

Amazing woodwork everywhere.

Pretty swish eh?

On the way to Victoria, we stopped at
this tiny railway station to remember the grandfather
of a friend of Christine's - he built a cabin
here many decades ago - couldn't find it
unfortunately but the station was a good stand in.

Loved these murals - made me look twice!

It was dark as we neared home, so we did a quick detour off the main road and through the main street of Ladysmith. They are renowned for their Christmas light displays and we were fortunate they were still on - what a pretty sight. Makes me wish we could have Christmas lights all year round.

Another day was spent exploring nearby Gabriola Island, home to about 5,000 people. I've met several people from there so was curious to check it out. The coastal scenery is spectacular.

Found another picnic spot for you. 

View of Nanaimo from the ferry.

One night Brian took Christine to see the local hockey team play - she had a great experience - including the mandatory hotdog and beer dinner prior to the start of the game. Yummy.

These banners are up at the local
ice rink - they are so cute.

Another sight at the rink - Brian ready to take a pass.

The day before Christine left (Monday this week), we awoke to find a very slight snow covering on the ground. Christine was pretty excited and more so as it snowed a little during the day. What she didn't know at the time is that the day after she left (yesterday), we would wake up to a huge snowfall! She whined and complained the whole time she was here about the cold so it was good she made her escape when she did!

After a great visit, we put Christine on a very early flight Tuesday morning - she will have another week with her daughter and grand babies in their new hometown in Minnesota before heading back to Australia...and work.

So, we are now alone again.

Some people from Newcomers recently floated the idea of a monthly euchre group so that has now been organised and 16 of us begin in a couple of weeks - enough time for Brian to teach me the rules - again!

We are expecting another snowfall tonight or tomorrow. Have to say I'm a bit over it already. One interesting thing though is that we can now see where the deer go during the night as their tracks are visible in the fresh snow. Ha!

Plans are progressing for the wedding - big decisions being made on hairstyles, outfits, hotels, speeches, etc...and that's just the parents of the bride! Imagine what the bride is going through.

No big plans over the next couple of weeks so blog updates might be meagre. Hope your year has started off well! Can you believe it's 2012?

Love is in the air...

The last weekend in Calgary, Mary and I went with her friends to see a Canadian Country Christmas show at a small hall in nearby High River. It was a great night and raised funds for the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Society.

This couple were called "Pear" and were amazing.

Apparently these people are well known Alberta country singers
- they were all pretty good but we opted not to buy the CD.

The next day, feeling energetic and tired of looking at our very dirty car parked in the farmyard, I washed it, along with a truck and car of Mary's. First time I've washed a car with snow on the ground - fortunately the temperatures were quite mild. I could almost feel Zelda sigh with relief at finally looking respectable again.

Brian arrived back in Calgary on the Monday night - his mother had stabilized sufficiently that he felt comfortable with leaving Ontario. After a tour of Al's downtown Calgary high-rise office, and a quick spin through a massive Christmas shop, we had a wonderful dinner out at a favourite restaurant we used to frequent when we lived in Calgary - and were joined by son Colin and his girlfriend Jess.

Al's view.

Foyer of Al's building.

One last sunrise from the farm...

And one last Rocky Mountain vista.

Thanks Mary for a great farm stay. The next morning Brian and I made our way north to our final destination for Christmas - Edmonton. It was a great trip until we were almost there and were greeted with a snow flurry! Welcome.

The Edmonton by-pass just before the snow hit us.

We had a few nights staying with Heidi and Antoine enjoying pre-Christmas activities. The birthday quilt for Heidi was finally unveiled - fortunately she loves it. So, finally, here it is.

Thanks Mom...I love it!

The back of the quilt with memory "postcards".

We did the obligatory drive down Candy Cane Lane late one night - something I hadn't done in about 25 years. My photos are pretty ordinary as, again, they were taken on the move - at night.

Not my picture - obviously.

Part of the amazing display outside the General Hospital where
my kids were born. The display went around the whole hospital
and was stunning.

We also enjoyed a dinner out one evening with son Brendan and his fiancé Telly. We got home afterwards to the surprise announcement of their (Heidi & Antoine's) engagement and a wedding planned for mid-February. How excited were we? Wow!

The happy couple.

We had booked several nights in a hotel downtown which was great for last minute Christmas shopping, as well as some impromptu get togethers with the kids.

Brian went wandering through the downtown malls
 on the afternoon of Christmas Eve
- and had the carollers all to himself. 

He also had the walkways to himself - the hustle and
bustle at this point I think had relocated to the
suburban malls.

The World Junior Ice Hockey Championships had started so Brian and Colin managed to get a game in - Brian has spent many hours since watching the various games on TV - including the nail biter between traditional rivals Canada and Russia for a berth in the grand final. Unfortunately, Russia must have wanted it more and beat Canada by just one goal!

Waiting for the game to begin.

Christmas Eve is son Tyler's birthday so I tracked him down and he and I went for lunch and a one on one catchup which was nice.

Christmas Eve night was spent enjoying a beautiful meal at Antoine's sister and husband's house - along with their two year old son and Antoine's mum. We now realized we were socializing on a whole different level - that of future in-laws! Note to self...watch p's & q's. Fortunately, they are a lovely family and Heidi should be very happy. As the family traditionally goes to midnight mass at their church, they had all planned to go along - Brian and I excused ourselves and went home - seems when you are on the road travelling you are perpetually tired - or is that just me?

We were given lovely personalized ornaments.

Okay, everyone received personalized ornaments!

Little Sammie was entranced by the candle.

Christmas Day we checked out of the hotel and made our way back to Heidi's to start preparations for two days of feasting. Our Christmas day dinner was huge but the group eating was just Heidi, Antoine, his mum and Brian and I. Nevertheless, we did it justice and it was a good trial run for the bigger dinner next day with all the kids and their partners.

Boxing Day was full on with cooking beginning early in the day - Heidi's first turkey cooking experience - now that she is going to be a married woman, she will be expected to have these Christmas and Thanksgiving cooking skills - right? Dinner was amazing, way too much of course but it felt pretty good to enjoy the company of all of our kids and their partners together - and we also scored some pretty nice gifts to top the day off! All in all, a pretty successful day I'd say.

The gang waiting for the gift opening.

The gang waiting for Christmas dinner.

We had planned to head for home the following day but Heidi wanted me to come wedding dress shopping with her - of course I wanted to - what a special activity. We went downtown for our first stop - and actually found a parking spot right outside the store - ended up that we didn't need to go any further. After trying on about 7 or 8 gowns, Heidi decided on a very beautiful one.

Which one will it be? It was wonderful waiting expectantly
for each gorgeous gown to be modelled by the lovely Heidi.
I did shed a tear when she added a veil - my baby is
getting married! 

After a spot of lunch and a bit more post-Christmas shopping, we stopped in at the wedding venue to check it out. It's a golf club halfway between Edmonton and Spruce Grove where Heidi and Antoine live and is a perfect setting for them. A theme was decided upon and the first of many conversations began on decor, etc. I've put my hand up for several jobs so that should keep me busy over the next month or two.

Entrance to the wedding venue
- did I say it was out in the country?

Exterior of the golf club.

The next morning we left in the dark towards home - got lost trying to bypass the city - finally got back on track and we were on our way. I drove most of the trip from Edmonton to Golden so am happy that I got my brave pants on and gave it a go.

Random shot of an Alberta barn. 

 Another barn - the bright colour
against the snow was quite stunning.

Fortunately the roads weren't too bad and because the temps were just above zero, the roads were still wet, not icy. We made really good time but when we got to the Banff National Park gates, we were advised that the road from Golden to Revelstoke had been closed all day for avalanche control. That wasn't good news.

When you come to Banff National Park
- this is what you see at the entrance.

We carried on and arrived in Golden around 2.30pm - the road was scheduled to open again at 5 or 6 pm but we decided that heading through the Rogers Pass in the dark with hundreds of large trucks and cars likely wouldn't be fun so we hunted down a room for the night - got one of the last few available in town in a pretty dodgy place. Imagine hundreds of vehicles lined up along service roads on both sides of the highway and in every spare parking lot in close proximity to the last traffic lights in town before heading out. It was chaos. I think we made the right decision to stay put.

Just a very small piece of the traffic chaos in Golden.

Next morning we were up around 5am - Brian checked the road report to discover that around 1am, three trucks had crashed and the road had been closed again since. Scheduled reopening was around 6am. We scurried to get ready, get fed, get car fuelled up and get a spot on a side road near the front - all done successfully by 6am - the road reopening now pushed back to 7am. The roads were a repeat of what we had seen the night before with hundreds of trucks and cars waiting to head out. What caused a bit of additional stress was the news that the road west of Revelstoke was to be closed from 9am-11am for avalanche control so it meant we needed to get to Revelstoke before 9am - doable if we got away at 7am. It was really an amazing experience waiting - trucks and cars kept coming along the highway jockeying for position, only to be turned back as they weren't allowed to block the highway (sort of like the start of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race). One of the fellows in charge said around 30,000 vehicles had gone through the previous night before the road was closed again - that seems a bit of an exaggeration to me but even at half that number, that's a lot of vehicles making the fairly treacherous trip through the mountains at nighttime.

Just after 7am as we sat sipping our coffee, Brian looked up and saw vehicles moving - without hesitation, he started the car and wheeled out to the traffic lights on the side road - we were second in line! When the lights changed we were off! Only a few dozen cars had gone ahead of us so that was great. It was certainly an experience being part of a convoy - felt like a huge adventure - heading off into the dark. The drivers for the most part were respectful of the conditions and left big gaps between them.

After an hour or two driving, we came to a halt - we could see flashing lights ahead but had no idea what it was for which was rather unsettling. As we sat there in the dark, I was mindful that our whole world had been reduced to the small space within the car and the few metres outside illuminated by the headlights - you know there are deep valleys beside you and towering mountains above you but you can't see a thing. It felt very surreal. After about 15 minutes we were on the move again - the hold up was one way traffic getting past the truck accident scene. As slowly the sky lightened, the trip continued uneventfully - I was very thankful that Brian was driving that's for sure and felt quite safe. We have looked you in the eye devil and thy name is Rogers Pass!

Below are some of the random shots of the road on the final leg home...

A very sobering sight. 

We arrived in Revelstoke around 8.40 am and kept driving so that we wouldn't be held up again. The next section of road to conquer was the Coquihalla Highway - it had some pretty nasty snowy and icy sections. It was an amazing feeling finally coming out of the mountains and seeing the flat valleys east of Vancouver - and no more snow!!! Along with the feeling of relief, was the realization that we would be doing the trip again in seven weeks to head back to Edmonton for the wedding. At least now we know what we are dealing with.

The next challenge was getting to the ferry terminal to catch the 3pm ferry back to the island - by this time we were well and truly ready to be home. We were making good time although the traffic was pretty heavy - until...yes, another stop! Accident up ahead. I had the iPad on my lap with google maps open so quickly told Brian to take the next right and we managed to detour around the problem and get safely in line for the ferry around 2.40pm. It felt absolutely wonderful to drive on the ferry and get out and relax for the hour and a half crossing. It was even more wonderful driving off the ferry and finally up the driveway of our home - and after being away for three weeks, we realized that it really is "home" now.

A welcome sight - the ferry terminal.

Just before Christmas, a ferry had a hard landing at the terminal just south of Nanaimo so all of that ferry traffic has now been rerouted to the one which we see out our window, Departure Bay. It has been wonderful as we now see twice as many ferry movements every day. I'm sure it is incredibly inconvenient for many people and there is no estimate of when the other terminal will reopen.

We spent a day or two unpacking and putting everything away - including the Christmas decorations which no-one except us enjoyed.

On New Year's Eve as we were preparing to head out to a party with the Newcomers Group, we had a phone call from sister Christine to say she was planning to come up for a week or two's visit...the next day! That was wonderful news and a great surprise. Christine has been in California visiting her daughter, son-in-law and grand babies for the past two months. The family is in the midst of a (military) move to Minnesota so things were pretty hectic. Christine will meet up with them for another week or two once they get moved into a house in Minnesota in a couple of weeks - she heads back to Australia later in January.

Happy New Year!