Canada, O Canada

Here it is, the Canada post. It will be kind of lengthy so get ready. I'll try to get things in the order that we did them, but no promises.

Day 1 (August 1)
My mom and I went to San Antonio on the evening of July 31st to stay in a hotel that provided a shuttle service to the airport and long term parking. It was also easier because our flight left at 6:30 am on August 1st. The hotel was pretty crappy, but oh well. We actually got up on time and were eating breakfast at the Denny's next door by 4 am. For anyone who knows us, being on time is an amazing feat for anyone in the Priest family. We got to the airport and went through security and all without a hitch. We slept on the flight from San Antonio to Denver, had a short layover, and then dozed on the flight from Denver to Seattle. We had about 3 hours in Seattle before the ferry left for Victoria. We took a cab, my second cab ride of my life, to the ferry, checked our luggage, and ate. Then we walked around the pier area of Seattle. We went to the Harbor Steps where there were quite a few sculptures to look at. Then we waited in line to get on the ferry. The ferry ride was uneventful. I went on the back deck and enjoyed the cold and wind. I didn't see any whales, but it was a beautiful ride. We got to Victoria at about 7:30 and Daniel and Fanny were waiting for us. They took us to the house where we had a wonderful dinner of corn picked that day and sausage from Monsieur Saucisse (Mr. Sausage) in Quebec. These are wonderful sausages that Francine and Guy bring to Fanny when the come. This German guy makes the sausage and sells them at the market. We had chicken lemongrass, orange ginger, diablo, chorizo, and maple something. I don't like sausage and these were wonderful. We stayed up talking a while and then went to sleep.

Day 2
We slept in, then got up, had a leisurely breakfast. Daniel and Fanny made us wonderful cornmeal pancakes. I know, it sounds weird, but they were delicious. Then we went into town to run a few errands. Fanny went to get some things for the wedding and Daniel took us to Chinatown. Chinatown has the narrowest street in North America-Fantan Alley. That day we ate lunch at a Thai restaurant which was wonderful. It is called Baan Thai. We barely squeaked in for lunch, they close at 2 and we got there at 1:55. Then Daniel took us to Beacon Hill Park, which is very lovely. It has the tallest totem pole in the world at 127 feet, but we saw that another day. Daniel also took us by St. Anne's Academy which is where the wedding was held. And right next to that is Humboldt House which is the bed and breakfast that they stayed in the night of the wedding. Daniel and Fanny also got their new bed delivered that day. They had been sleeping on a futon and Fanny's parents bought them a new queen size bed. They are very happy with it. Mr. Darcy, one of Fanny's cats, was not happy. He was used to sleeping under the futon and it was also his refuge during scary times. He freaked out and went under the chair in the living room. But by the end of the trip he had adjusted.

Day 3
Fanny had to work in the afternoon/evening on this day. I don't remember what we did before she went to work, I think we just hung around the house. Then Daniel took us on a Sightseeing Marathon. We went to the breakwater, to the beach, to Beacon Hill Park to see the totem pole, to Mount Douglas, and to the Government House Gardens. The breakwater was very cool. Daniel and I walked out to the edge and had a look. We saw some interesting tubular seaweed. It had a spherical bladder that made it float and the rest of it was basically like a tube. You could step on it and it didn't give way. The beach was wonderful. We picked up some rocks and beach glass. We put our feet in the freezing cold water. The ocean up there makes the San Marcos River feel like a hot tub. It is interesting because the beach has rocks, not sand. The sound of the waves rolling back to the ocean over the rocks is an incredible sound. It's a combination of hissing and waves. The driftwood is also huge. I thought of driftwood as little pieces of wood but there it is trees. The totem pole was next I think. Anyway, it was dedicated in 1956. The art of totem pole carving had almost been lost so this guy decided to revive it and he made this totem pole. The figures, in order from bottom to top are: Gee-eskem (First Man), Hohoq the cannibal bird, Mukinookw the killer whale, Kle-akin the sea lion with a brown back, Kwikw the eagle, the grey colored sea otter with a halibut in it's mouth, Gwoy-im the whale with a man on it's back, T-sow the beaver, Lak-tote-pis the servant man of Gee-eskem, Miquat the seal with the spotted back, Uli-gun the black wolf, Hosagami who was Gee-eskem's potlatch record keeper, La-lox-undya who was a first man of another tribe (he was born a Kolus which is a mythological bird who was covered with down but never grew feathers), and Sinklah-ee who was the first man of another tribe (he was first created as Klesela, the sun). Then after that we went to Mount Douglas, or Mt. Doug as the locals call it. I'm not sure how tall it is, but I took a really cool 13 panel, 360 degree panoramic from the top. You could also see a snow covered mountain that is located in Washington from the top of Mt. Doug. The last thing of the day was going to the Government House Gardens. It was breathtaking. Victoria is the City of Gardens and they have something like 300 growing days per year. By that point in time we were exhausted and didn't see very much of the gardens. We got back, ate dinner, watched High Fidelity, and the Fanny got home. She had a rough day at work so we just did our own thing after that, I think.

To be continued with day 4