First world problems and opportunities. 

My husband is off driving Mehl to the airport. Now I have a rare hour alone. I have a chance to reflect how our life has changing since retirement. 

One of the benefits of my past job was that I had hours of built in quiet time to sit, to reflect, to meditate, to write, to work. I enjoy that quiet and miss it. It's difficult to schedule while we are traveling or hosting guests.

And I do mean quiet time. Not downtime where I turn on the TV or scroll social media on my cell. Hearing voices bursts the quiet time bubble. I immediately fixates on that conversation instead of my chosen activity. I am looking for genuine quiet.

I need to gently discuss this with my husband. He is more of an extrovert than I and is excited by our future travels.

We are on our way home now. I greatly enjoyed Victoria. 

A pic from our morning stroll in China town…

Today we saw the BC Legislature, the Craigdarroch Castle and the Malahat Sky Walk. 

We also spent hours in our condo watching the gulls fly from roof to roof, the boats tooddle around and construction happen. The harbor in Victoria is endlessly busy and interesting. We pour some tea, watch the cruise ships dock and try to decipher how the gulls choose the most interesting place to be. 

This morning we toured the Butchart Gardens. They are 120 years old and becoming more gorgeous with every passing decade.

 

Did I mention how beautiful Victoria is?

Today we took the ferry up to Victoria. We are staying here through the weekend. I forgot how gorgeous Victoria is on fine summer days. 

Tuesday we did tourist things with Mehl. We visited the Museum of Flight in the morning where we walked on a Concord as well as Nixon’s Air Force One. 

Later in the day we dined at Marenki Sushi. There is much history at Marenki. It first opened in 1904. During WW2, its owners were incarcerated. The restaurant and building were ransacked. After the war, Marenki was rebuilt where it stands today. 

The sushi and tempura were delicious. 

Our friend Mehl is up from New Mexico. He greatly appreciates Seattle’s cooler summers.

Mehl’s health has constantly been on the decline and mend. It’s given him a dour look on life. Four years ago he had cancer. If his next test is good, he will get off chemo. Three years ago he broke a leg and a wrist. That mended over months. CHF started a few months ago. They don’t know why. It’s slowly reducing, but during the latest scan they found a tumor on his liver…

There but for the grace of God go I. 

Today we will explore Tacoma. Tomorrow we head up to Victoria. 

The Dahlia’s are still blooming like crazy. Judging from the number of unopened buds, we are half way through the season. 

My husband is down in Sacramento for a couple of days. His stepmother passed away a couple weeks ago. Her celebration of life is today (Saturday.) It looks like he’s having a good time catching up with his stepsister and her side of the family.

Wednesday we had lunch with Clem and Bates. Coincidentally, we both have the same make of vehicle. Our vehicles both needed maintenance. We scheduled our maintenances at the same time and then went off for lunch together.

They are doing well. Clem is about to do a backpacking tour of Thailand. It was very inexpensive, but it is also in Thailand in August. I’m glad I don’t have to travel bug like that. 

At home, we are getting into a routine for days when we have nothing planned. 

We still go to bed by 9 PM and wake up early. 

Morning is coffee and contemplation then maybe a small breakfast. One of us will feed and walk the dog. 

After that, we will do a little prep work for anything big coming up. Do we have to make calls pay bills?

After that is gym, or a long walk/hike. 

After that… whatever comes up. Right now that’s mostly house projects and reading. 

 Quiet day today. We have both started teaching ourselves / youtubing videos on how to fix various minor home problems that have been around for months. 

And we are home. I’m excited to be back in Seattle, to sleep in my own bead and shower in my own shower. We returned in time to see the garden in full bloom. Sometimes it’s the simple things.

Saturday morning we started off with a flat. Fortunately (suspiciously?) there was a nearby tire store. An hour later we were on the road.

The boarder crossing in the US was slow, delaying us by another hour.

From there we drove to Missoula and met up with a former coworker of my husband. He is an interesting character. He has a biology background. As a hobby, he grows various strains of weed and magic mushrooms. We did not partake. 

We are making our way back to Seattle. Tonight we stay in Medicine Hat Alberta

On the way we drove past the largest windmills I’ve ever seen, stopped at the worlds largest tee pee, visited the Medalta historic pottery works and ate at Rib Fest.

The Canadian Special Olympics are on in Medicine Hat. Our hotel and a restaurant we ate at are full of the special athletes. It’s fun talking with them. Some are very chatty. Others are shy. 

We are in Saskatoon. There is a bit of a dairy theme here, though I can’t tell id that’s our host or the city.

The celebration of life will be in a few weeks. As such our current schedule will not change. My husband will be a pallbearer.

Tuesday we explored Edmonton. We walked around downtown, took a Segway tour in the rain along the River Valley, then rode roller coasters at West Edmonton Mall. 

Edmonton is a great city. The North Saskatchewan River Valley Park runs through the center of the city. It is huge. 7,400 acres and well worth visiting. The West Edmonton Mall is also huge. It’s the second largest mall in North America. Aside from the shopping, it has a water park, amusement park and an ice arena.