Goof number one was major, although its eventual solution was simple. For months emails have flown back and forth across the Pacific Ocean, along with occasional phone calls for a more personal connection.
“My brother and his wife are coming from Canberra for a lovely long visit,” I’d tell anyone who would listen. “John and I will meet them in Vancouver and we’ll travel together to Vancouver, over to Vancouver Island, down into the States and circle back to BC through Banff National Park. Their cruise ship leaves Sydney on April 13 and docks in Vancouver 23 days later.”
Since we’d be away from home for almost a month we were plenty busy getting everything done before setting off.
“Thank goodness we have one more day to do stuff,” we said to each other, on the Thursday before leaving. We anticipated a relaxing drive to the coast on Saturday, May 4 and, our usual “hostess with the mostest” being away on far-flung travels, had booked one hotel room for that night, and two rooms after that. Their ship would dock at 7 a.m. on Sunday and I had great hopes of having camera at the ready as it entered Burrard Inlet beneath the Lion’s Gate Bridge before we drove across it to meet them.
First we had some stops to make in Kamloops. The final one was to have U.S. coverage added to my brand new, totally unfamiliar Smart Phone.
“You’ve got voice mail,” the friendly, helpful gal who’d sold me the phone a week earlier said, when I passed it over for the upgrade.
“How do you know?” I quizzed, gulping, “and how do you access it?”
Quickly finding it, she passed the phone back to me as the message began. My brother’s voice came through loud and clear but my brain was in a total muddle as I tried to make sense of his words.
“I’m waiting in such and such a spot at Canada Place,” I heard, “and Rose is by the Information Desk in case you go there first.”
“They’re here!” I gasped as two young salespeople stared at my shocked face.
“They’re here,” they echoed, looking at each other blankly.
A few trials and tribulations later for both brother and sister, we were finally talking to each other.
“Get a taxi and go to the hotel,” I advised, adding, “and get another room for us for tonight” All’s well that ends well, and we found each other in the sunny garden of that convenient hotel several hours later. How did it happen? We’ll never know for sure, but it was indeed Sunday, May 5 – in Australia!
Fun and games, so to speak, continued the following picture-perfect day as we attempted to show off favourite spots in Vancouver. A marathon involving some 16,000 runners and some 45 km was in progress. Access to Stanley Park was blocked, so was the Planetarium, followed by beaches at Kitsilano, Jericho and Spanish Banks. We couldn’t even get to UBC which John and I had been attending during our courtship.
“How about Queen Elizabeth Park?” we wondered, then discovered the race started there. Driving along suburban side-roads, we consoled ourselves with seeing an abundance of spring flowers and rhododendrons in full bloom. Finally we drove to Port Moody to picnic at Rocky Point Park in glorious sunshine, with hundreds more – families, boats, pets and munchies, sparkling water lapping nearby.
Thus began our time of travelling together. Such places we saw, adventures, and other giggles will have to wait for future Trekking Tales.