On an Island by the Sea

We didn't have any definite plans of things we wanted to do while visiting my sibling in Washington, except one: leave. :-)

My friends, the family that we lived with for a month after returning to Alberta from Arkansas in 2009, had moved to Vancouver Island in B.C. later that same summer, and we had rarely seen them since. When I discovered how “close” we would be to the Island while visiting L (which, at nearly a seven-hour-one-way journey, was still not as close as my imagination originally thought when looking at a map), I convinced my mother and sibling that a trip to the Island would be a great idea, contacted my friends, and arranged an overnight stay. The best time for all the schedules involved seemed to be the first Sunday night of our visit.

Great! we thought. That will allow us to get a little sight-seeing in before we leave!

Poor Munchkin’s cold had been leaving him pretty tired, and he had a dry cough that seemed almost perpetual at times. I didn't want to tire him out too much, and I didn't want to spread germs more than necessary, so our plans for the moment were constrained to driving around, walking around, or hiking.

(On the plus side: Munchkin got pretty good at covering his mouth with his elbow with this cold!)

After a little bit of shopping for rain gear at Target (yes, SO touristy) and the health food store, L took us to the amazing Coho Cafe for supper. My mother's sixtieth birthday was the next day, and this ended up being our celebration for it, so I am glad it was memorable.

(Like, WOW! I am salivating just thinking about the Thai Coconut Ginger Curry dish I had.)

Unfortunately, we had had to wait for our table for an hour, and by the time we were seated it was already past the time Munchkin had been putting himself to bed (yes, you read that right) out of sheer exhaustion, so he spent the entire meal laying against me on my lap and whining that he wanted bed. I ate as quickly as I could and opted to have my companions bring dessert and my leftovers out with them and took the munchkin out to the van so he could rest.

I didn't actually eat my Caramel Apple Crisp for another week, as that night, my throat started getting scratchy, and I could feel the exhaustion of a body fighting an invasion coming over me. L started showing symptoms that night, too, despite having only been exposed the day before.

By the next morning, there was no mystery—I was sick. I wasn't up for walking, let alone hiking or leaving the house. L must have been feeling a little better than me, because he and Mom still went out to the grocery store (which we hadn't managed to hit the previous day) and did a few errands. I napped. Then napped again.

Munchkin was super-clingy the entire trip, only getting nominally better by the end when he was healthier and more comfortable with the surroundings. At this point, he pretty much had to be glued to my side, so although he was starting to feel a little better at this point, he just cuddled with me during my naps (and benefitted from the rest, too).

The next morning, we got up bright and super-early so we could assess the situation and see if we were well enough to go to the Island.

L decided he was not. After all that sleep, I was feeling pretty good, and Munchkin was starting to have some good energy and be a little more back to his normal self. Mom and I decided to go and let L rest (and let his cats have a reprieve from Munchkin’s attentions). We would contact my friends on the way to warn them about the germ invasion, and if they would rather not risk it, we could just go do touristy things and head back. (We had hopes of seeing Craigdarroch Castle before heading back, either way.)

Turns out, it takes more than a few little germs to scare these folks. We had a wonderful time with them, and I am SO glad we made the effort to go. I was sad that my older boys couldn’t be there to reconnect with their boys, since they were all pretty good friends once upon a time. Their youngest, Z, who is the same age as Superkid, reminded me of the latter so much—they were both only two years old when our friends left, but I bet they would be best buddies if they got to hang out now.

After visiting Goose Spit (not exactly a white sandy beach, but it was still an ocean beach!) and the Marina, we had an awesome supper and introduced Mom to Settlers of Catan, stayed up way later than my sick body would have preferred, got to see E’s new clinic (from the outside) and J’s new studio (from the inside), and just generally had fun.

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E found a crab on the beach. Munchkin thought looking was close enough.

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Looking at the boats at the marina.

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The ocean view from Goose Spit in February.

We had thought of trying to get a tour of Craigdarroch Castle on the way home, but it turns out we didn’t allow enough time before we left my friends’ place on Monday. So we drove straight through Victoria to the ferry, and put the Castle on our list of things to see next time we go.

Other than the near-perpetual rain on the drive back to my sibling’s, we had a great time. Thanks, J and E! So great to see you all again!