Back in Canada
04 July 2012 | Cowichan Bay
Ellen
Well here we are back and Canada and what a different place it is from Mexico. We can't help but compare everything to there since we've been there for 20 months now and it feels almost like home.
We arrived on Saturday in Vancouver and spent the weekend visiting with good friends and sharing meals and stories together. Our friends Harvey and Lynne that we stayed with were kind enough to drive us around as we looked for an old car to buy to see us through the summer and maybe even get us to Mexico. Our criteria was easy: air conditioning, runs good, cheap and a 4 cylinder. We weren't too worried about looks or models and we were hoping for something around a thousand dollars. We looked at about 6 cars all told and ended up with a 1992 Honda Accord for 1400 which is more than we wanted to pay but as someone put it we have 40% more car than for a thousand. So wish us luck with it. So far it's been great - all of the 2 days we've owned it!
Now that we are mobile, we are on Vancouver Island. My very good friend Maureen has left us her apartment for the month of July as she is out of town. It is in Cowichan Bay and the view is fantastic. Sitting in the living room or bedroom, all you see is the bay with the sailboats, docks, tugs, fishing boats, native canoes and various other water craft making their way here and there in the bay. It's lovely to gaze out at and a beautiful sunset too.
Spent today out driving around the area getting to know whats around. We ended up the afternoon at a Bird of Prey sanctuary and got to see owls, hawks and other birds flying about but always coming back to the handler. Very interesting.
The weather has improved today as well. The first 3 days in BC were raining and cold (not that we were complaining as it felt rather refreshing to us) and today is sunny and warm. I know that everyone here is feeling a big sigh of relief with the possibility that summer might actually happen. We are enjoying the cooler temps ourselves and find ourselves wondering how Kasasa is faring in the hot weather down south.
For the next week we plan on exploring this part of Vancouver Island to see if there is something here we might like to come back to in terms of living and working. Later this month we will go a bit further north on the island and explore that area. And along the way we have friends to visit some of whom we met in Mexico while cruising.