Holiday within a Holiday

So where was I? Oh yes.

So Sunday, we went to church, a local one for local people. And visitors from abroad. We made it - due to the fact that I missed the turning - on the last stroke of the church bell.
It was an almost entirely female-led service. The vicar is a woman, ditto the curate, the lay reader who preached, a bunch of other people in robes, all women.
On our way out we spoke to the vicar and it transpired that her son plays Canadian rules football for Calgary, Austen had heard of him and she in her turn was pleased to have someone to talk about Canadian Football to.

In the afternoon, we went to Kevin's parents' house for a barbecue, which was amazing. I was the designated driver for the evening, which sounds trivial, except that ..... the behemoth has automatic transmission.
Automatic transmission seems like madness to me, you have the machine straining at the leash and you have to keep it tamed with the brake. Bizarre.

On Monday, first thing, we set out for Birch Bay. We had to take both cars because Laurence had arranged his days off so that he could come with.
Kevin was driving ahead in our car with Laurence because they could get straight through the border and get food in.
All in our car, bar me, would have to 'go inside' for a visa waiver.
And at 11 am on Monday morning, the Peace Arch was backed up for one and a half hours.
But when we did get through and into the immigration office, everyone was in good humour, and boy oh boy does that make a difference, like getting a good crew when you fly.

It was fantastic to see Sue and Austen share the 'wow' experience of seeing Mount Baker, of Fred Meyer, of Bellis Fair and of seeing the RV itself. They really enjoyed their two days, holiday within a holiday.

Kev's parents came down Tuesday evening and we all had dinner together, then drove back as the sun was setting. At nine o'clock on a Tuesday evening we were door-to-door in under an hour, straight through border control, hardly got down to first gear.

We have a free trade agreement with the States, but we have strict allowances of how much in goods we can bring back, dependent on how long we stay down.
For less than two nights, we can only bring $50 worth. Now bear in mind that many Canadians go down for a day's shopping and you can imagine how many layers of clothing some of them wear when coming back.
We only had a couple of books, but we could have brought whatever, the guard didn't even ask the question.

The rest of the journey, as the sun was slowly sinking, was magical, Alex and I were in the little car and we had road music to sing loudly to. An endless train crossed a bridge above us as we drove through Delta, and the mountains and the sea, and the sky were black and coral and gold.

Today, we were up early again and off the the Vancouver Aquarium. Despite the City Workers' strike, it is still up and running.
We had a great day out, but now the kids are pretty exhausted, however the heat is doing what the heat does, and no nearby swimming pool to cool off in.

The day isn't over, Alex, Austen and Laurence are off to see 'The Simpsons' movie.
But me, I have a Marguerita and ....well several more probably.