my visit to Victoria

I had a wonderful visit to Victoria to visit family there. I caught the 7am ferry and was in Victoria by 9am where I was greeted by my Nanna & my Aunt Linda. (My Nanna just recently moved to Victoria and so wasn't sure about the Victoria ferry terminal so my aunt drove her to the ferry so she wouldn't have any problems getting there.) It was wonderful to see them both and my Nanna gave me a big hug and it felt like she didn't want to let go. My aunt dropped us off at my Nanna's place. Nanna & I went in and she showed me around her new apartment. She then prepared herself a small breakfast and we looked over my wedding photos that I had brought along and then we went out to visit my great aunt Noreen (my Nanna's sister) who lives in a care home. I haven't seen her in many many years but went with my Nanna to visit. She was a dear sweet lady even though she may not have totally knows who I was, I enjoyed visiting with her. I don't know many of my relatives on my dad's side - I have heard stories about them from my Nanna, I don't really know any of them other than my uncle and his family. My Nanna and I then went to Sears to pick up some items she had ordered through their catalogue. We then went home and had a wee rest. I even fell asleep for a little while but that is probably a result of the lack of sleep the night before! I woke up to wonderful smells coming from the kitchen - my Nanna had invited over Uncle Mark, Aunt Linda, my cousin Becky, and my cousin Carmen & her husband Carson for dinner. It was great seeing all of them again - it has been over 5 years since I saw my cousin Carmen and her husband. The last time I saw them they were newlyweds and my friend Dana was going to school at Royal Roads University in Victoria. That was a long time ago! Sunday we slept in and then enjoyed a lovely breakfast, read and relaxed and went to Beacon Hill Park to take a walk. After we got too cold outdoors we drove home and then walked up the block to the mall where we walked some more, and did a little shopping. Both my Nanna & I found some nice tops at Sears and at 40% off you couldn't say no! Afterwards we came home, had dinner with a friend of my Nanna's and talked and looked at photos - both my wedding photos and photos from when I was a kid. I then drove Tortoise (my Nanna's friend - she is Norwegian and that is her name) home and came back. My Nanna then got ready for bed and I stayed up to read a bit. But by 10:30pm I had to head off to bed as well! (so much for any big New Year's Eve plans!! hehe) Monday was my last day in Victoria and we started early - first a quick breakfast and then off to Wal-Mart to develop photos of my time in Victoria and photos we had taken of the family on Saturday night, then home for lunch and grab all my stuff and then off we went. First we picked up Tortoise as she had asked if she could come for the ride to the ferry, then to Wal-Mart to pick up the photos and quickly divide them up into what I was taking with me and what my Nanna was keeping. Then off to the ferry terminal - where there were HUGE line-ups of both people and cars. There was a 2 sailing wait for cars and the line up for walk on passengers was overflowing to outside the terminal. There were 2 automated ticket machines where you can get your ticket by paying with credit or debit card and the line up was much shorter so I went to that line, praying that I would make it onto the 3pm ferry and not have to wait 2 hours for the next boat. When I got to the waiting area, it was PACKED! I got on the 3pm ferry and it was a full sailing - they even came on the speaker system and told people to please vacate the cafeteria when they were done so that the people waiting could find places to sit, and that this was a full sailing. There were people sitting everyone, in the corner, on the floor, anywhere you could find a empty spot - there were people. I walked around the ferry for a bit and finally found a quiet corner in the back of the ferry near the Pacific Buffet room is (where for a price, you can enjoy a buffet and have a beautiful view out the rear windows on the ferry (this is only on the Victoria ferries I believe - it is much different on the ones to Nanaimo where I usually go on the ferry) It was a rough ride once we got out past all the Gulf Islands. When we were coming into Tsawassen, the lights at the dock were disappearing and reappearing in the windows cause the boat was going up and down so much. It was fun for all of us trying to stand in line as we waited to dock so we could walk off the ferry. Terri & Eli came to pick me up in the pouring rain for which I am very thankful, especially since they had to wait around for almost a half an hour cause the boat was late plus the time it took for me to get off the boat with all those people.

I enjoyed my time in Victoria and plan on making that trip a little more frequently and getting to know that side of my family better.

Happy New Year!