Now that the kids are older, the trips to Victoria have become fewer and much farther between. It has been a year since we were last there. This trip was timed to encompass two of life’s most touching and emotional events. The cold and damp weather of our first week was a fitting backdrop to the emotion surrounding the one-year anniversary of the death of Brent’s mom. Since Eli chose to be cremated, we waited until the anniversary of her passing to inter her remains at the cemetery. On the day of our service, the weather finally broke, echoing the closure we felt as we marked the end of the unofficial year of mourning.
The next week was a near opposite of the one before as we began the festivities surrounding the marriage of two dear friends. It was the perfect antidote to the difficulties of the previous week. The wedding week began with an invitation to dine with Stephen (“The Major”) and Rusty Petzing, the parents of the groom. We spent an absolutely lovely evening in their very British home furnished in the comfortable, casual, yet proper way of the English country style. Rusty and Stephen are perhaps some of the most enjoyable people I have ever known. It is always a pleasure to be with them. Later in the week, as the couples’ friends from the U.K. began to arrive, a cricket match was played between the native Victorians/Canadian friends and their friends from “the world.” Brent was somewhat disappointed to discover that he was no longer considered Canadian in such events. He was forced to play on Team World with the other Americans and the Brits. In the end, Team Canada was victorious. The wedding that followed was a casual but elegant garden event complete with Pimm’s cocktails and croquet as well as bar-b-qued Pacific salmon reflecting the couple’s roots as well as their “new” lives living in the U.K.
In between these two events, we spent as much time as possible with family and Brent’s incredibly loyal, entertaining, and loving friends, many of whom have added to their families since we were last together. In the time since we have seen them, four new babies have been born among this close-knit group. Our get togethers begin a little earlier and end a little sooner now, but we are never at a loss for conversation. You know how with some old friends all you can think to talk about are the old times? It isn’t this way among these guys. They never miss a beat.
As a mother of three kids, I fully acknowledge that a tantrum-throwing toddler is easier to leave with a babysitter than the one who sweetly asks you not to go. Victoria can be such a child sometimes. When we arrived at the ferry dock this morning, Victoria politely and humbly asked me to stay. See, she said, I can behave. When I am good, I am very good; I am perfect. I almost forgave her for the miserable way she treated us the week before.
We have taken the Sidney-Twassen-Blaine-Seattle route so many times that it is no longer a challenge. To shake things up and to allow a side-trip to Twilight country, we took the Port Angeles ferry known as the Coho to the U.S. The Coho boards right in the inner harbor within sight of the Empress Hotel and across the street from the parliament building. The ship is smaller, older, and much less crowded than the B.C. ferry to Vancouver; however, she held a certain understated charm. The coffee shop is also smaller with fewer selections, but it was only breakfast. We got by with coffee and pastries. Upstairs, the observation deck was generously appointed with rows and rows of theatre style seating. We took a row of seats for ourselves and settled in for the trip.
The route is a straight shot due South to Port Angeles, Washington. As the Coho began her slow journey across the water, the view in front of us was just as magnificent as the one we left. It was a perfect day for ocean travel. The air was completely still and the water was as smooth as glass. Rarely is it possible to see one’s reflection in the ocean but today was not one of those days. The water was an undisturbed lake. Even several miles from shore, there was no need for a jacket. Victoria was her sweetest, most beautiful self.
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