Towards the end of our stay at the farm we met up with friend, Trev, who, in the generous style for which he is famous, insisted that we stay with him (if we wished). The next night, he picked us up on his way home from work in Sidney. Trev had previous commitments for the first two days, not to mention his work in Sidney, a bit up the eastern coast of the island. We used our time to gathered our wits together, got some business done and had some excellent hikes. Then it was the weekend and we spent a lot of time yakking and visiting with Trev. On our last day, we helped Trevor with some yard work. He was pruning his apple trees. We collected the prunings and raked up the leaves. There was also the interesting assignment of removing all the unripened figs from the fig tree -- they would only go rotten on the tree at that point. Finally, later that Sunday, we met Trevor's girlfriend, Karen. The previous day, Trevor had taken us to see the salmon. It had been perfect timing and there were many salmon at different stages of spawning. Some just completing their movement upstream against the rapids, some spawning, and others dying and dead as their salt water adapted bodies turned yellow/white and gave out in the fresh water stream essential to continue the life cycle. Mission accomplished. They had spawned. A new generation of salmon would have a chance to grow to maturity.
The next day, we were to leave for Sidney with Trevor when he made his commute at 7 a.m. Back at home, we came and went as Trev made a roaring fire and he and Karen had snacks. It was a very pleasant backdrop against which to pack.
While common wisdom might suggest that 3 or 4 days would be a maximum for staying with friends or relatives, we had survived (and enjoyed) 5 nights. Thanks, Trev! You are an uncommon host. With Trevor's encouragement, we reduced our baggage by another carton which we sent home. Also, we received some great flossing tips as Trevor works as a dental hygienist. I had been sad to leave behind our dear dentist, Perry Kimmelman, in our city of Winnipeg. Now we received some last details for the care of our teeth before leaving our country of Canada.
Blooper! We had researched our routes and opted for the short ferry begtween Sidney and Ana Cortez (in Washington State, U.S.) After arriving in Sidney and saying our good byes, we pulled our suitcases (1 medium sized and 1 backpack on wheels) down the lovely streets of Sidney to an internet cafe. There, we did some further research, and Dave breakfasted, before leaving for the ferry. It was about 9 and our ferry was to leave around 11. The morning was fresh and bright for our little jaunt over to the ferry, but when we got there, there were no signs of life. Coming up to the gate we found a sign that said that the ferry would be closed that day. All day. Then I remembered what I had been trying to remind myself of all along: the Monday after Remembrance Day in Canada is Columbus day in the U.S. The U.S. bound ferry was run by an American company and it was a holiday. Another couple coming in the direction of the ferry saw us stop at the gate, and stopped. They decided to head over to B.C. ferries and catch a ferry to Swartz Bay, Vancouver. We decided to do the same.
