Christmas was quiet and Kirk didn’t have time off over the period. Instead, we booked a few days to unwind after the holidays, when most people have gone home and left the little corners that populate wildly during the holiday season. Our timing was excellent (so far), although a day or two ago we were wondering if that was the case or not.
There is a running joke with a few friends that has some basis in fact. When we travel during the winter, the weather seems to take a turn for the worse. A few years ago I started to think it was actually about me and had nothing to do with Kirk; two trips to the US in December, two years in a row, saw me chased by snow and ice, and hit by an ice bomb off the Port Mann Bridge following a night of heavy snow just before I had to drive south of Seattle with two out of town colleagues. There have been 12 hour airport delays, landslides, closed highways, blizzards, and so on.
Over this past weekend the wind came through the coast and caused hundreds of cancelled ferry sailings. Then the snow came in after dinner last night and caused chaos on the Lower Mainland roads.
Luckily, we live close to the ferry and so, with a reservation in hand, we made our way to the terminal early and gingerly on an icy highway that was only lightly populated when we left. As we sat waiting for the ferry to arrive, unload, and begin loading at our end, we amused ourselves listening to the traffic report and the growing chaos on the roads. We were glad to have the time off.
The ferry ride was uneventful, but it snowed most of the way across the Island.
But by the time we arrived in Ucluelet the ground was bare and dry, though it was crisp out.
The one hiccup we encountered was the discovery that there was pretty much nothing open for a late lunch, and the one or two places that had been open for lunch, were closed from 2-5pm. The pubs didn’t open until 4 or 5.
Oh well, we brought our own food, so off to our little cabin on the beach, with its perfect little path from here to there, for a sandwich and a drink and then out for a walk before the darkness settled in.
I do love the sounds and smells of the West Coast.
The fresh salty odour of seaweed tossed on the beach by yesterday’s wind and wave action.
The chittering of a bald eagle in the tree above our cabin.
The constant heartbeat of the gentle waves hitting the beach and then hissing backwards through the pebbles.
And to round out the day, we flipped the television on and watched the mess that was Vancouver today.
But we shouldn’t laugh, because karma might get us.
The caretaker tells us that 20cm of snow may arrive in the next day or two. Although the odd flake was falling as we wandered the beach, the sky doesn’t bode poorly. But the weather forecast does seem to indicate that our drive home night not be as straightforward.
Worst case scenario?
We get stuck here.
Gee, that would be awful.
It’s not Hawaii, it’s better 🙂
(13/365)
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