Port Angeles, Washington to Victoria, British Columbia – 30 April 2024
The next day we caught the Coho ferry back to Victoria. The weather was a little chilly but the sun was shining. We sat at a table inside looking out across the ocean with some outstanding views, and luckily Jax was allowed upstairs, inside with us.
We arrived back in Victoria late afternoon and it felt really good to be back in Canada. I found myself looking at Victoria with new eyes. Having travelled through so many different towns and admiring what they had to offer, I still found Victoria to be the most beautiful place to live. We drove to Fort Victoria and settled into site #3 with a big sigh. Home at last!!
While Fort Victoria has zero amenities, it has convenient access to freeways in both directions and it is very nicely located near many great walks which I was able to enjoy daily with Jax. Derek was preparing for the Oak Bay 10K and also appreciated the paved trails on our doorstep to practice on. So we continue to use this as our base whenever we return back home.
May 1 was our wedding anniversary. After brunch at the RV we went for a nice walk and then later downtown to one of our favourite restaurants, Il Terrazzo for dinner. We were seated at a corner table on the heated patio next to a fireplace which was perfect. The food was delicious and a great way to celebrate our 31 years together.
David and Kristy hosted a Welcome Home party for us and invited a few friends and family. It was such fun to catch up with everyone again. They bought us the most incredible chocolate cake with “Welcome Home Derek and Evelyn” on it. So sweet of them.
The following weeks were very busy with medical appointments for us all (including Jax) as well as visiting friends and family. Jax was over the moon to see Cay’s dog Harvey and also David and Kristy’s dog, Moka. It is really strange just how good he is with these two dogs and yet goes beserk when he sees other dogs.
We visited Liam and walked with him and his dog Jeff, around his neighbourhood in Royal Bay. There are beautiful views across the water and to the mountains from this area, and it has become quite developed since we last saw it, with its own supermarket, starbucks and several other shops. Liam was having a hard time with anxiety and struggling with the medication he had been prescribed. It seems that each Psychologist just adds yet another medication to his list – so now he is on 3 different types which makes him very nauseous. I know Lucy and Ian are trying their best to get him the best possible help but it seems the medical system is so bogged down that its hard for him to get the care he needs. We took Liam out to his favorite Indian Restaurant and enjoyed a delicious dinner. He seemed in good spirits and we were able to convince him to join us the following day – Mother’s day for an outing. The next day after fetching Liam, we met up with Lucy and Cay at Aylard Farm in Sooke and after a walk through the forest around the water we had a picnic. Both of them had gone out of their way to make tasty things to eat for lunch. Cay laid out an entire tea party with different types of scones and Lucy made some fancy crustless sandwiches.
Tuesday we left for Vancouver to work on the new batch of K9000 dog wash machines that had just arrived from Australia. It was very busy with me stripping off decals and organizing soap shipments and credit card devices and Derek mounting the credit card readers and new decals. At the end of the day I was exhausted and feeling very under the weather. We stayed over that night at the River Rock Casino hotel and I had a really bad night. Wednesday Derek returned to the warehouse to continue the work and I stayed in bed at the hotel. I was running a fever and my throat and chest were sore. Derek arrived back later with a Vietnamese takeout for dinner. Unfortunately he was unable to complete the work as the note reader he was trying to install would not fit the machine. So we had to order another one and made a plan to return to install it at a later date. The following day we returned to Victoria laden with spares and soaps.
Cay had especially taken Friday off so that her, Lucy and I could go to a spa together. Unfortunately, I was really sick so we cancelled. She still came over to visit but spent the day with Derek instead. They went to Costco to get some things and she also helped him offload all the shampoos. Later Sam came over and they BBQ’d with Derek while I kept my germs to myself in the bedroom.
The following couple of weeks were really hard. I had a very bad cough and felt extremely shaky. It was really disappointing as I had to cancel appointments, not wanting to make anyone else sick. After about 2 weeks we did visit a few friends – Kristy and David and Ian and Carol, and I was also able to get some antibiotics. Derek completed the Oak Bay 10K in 63 minutes – the first time he has run in about 10 years, so that was a major achievement. Luckily the route went right past Lucy’s house so the two of us were able to cheer him on.
The night before we left, the family got together for dinner at Lucy’s house. Lucy had made a nice spread and took advantage of the male strength to help move some of her furniture around and also get the soaps moved from the truck into her spare room.
