The Grand Hotel Nanaimo

I'll be leaving in 2 days. I would like to say that its been a bit frantic getting ready and all. But it hasn't; when you live out of a backpack for 300+ days a year, packing for a trip just feels like part of the routine. <br><br>As mentioned in the intro, the plan is to hit Ireland for a week and see the sights with my long time friend Michelle. She lives somewhere in the south, I think, but it doesn't really matter, because she's picking me up from the airport and ...

... great time, I'm so glad I was with Sue- if I had gone on my own like I first planned, I would have spent about half an hour looking round and then the rest of the time reading my book. Instead I got to meet lots of people, chase after Christopher and have some great company! I had the sweetest corn on the cob too, and some blueberry and apple pie- I had a checklist of 3 pies I wanted to work my way through over the next 6 months: blueberry, pecan and pumpkin, so that was one down ...

We made it on the ferry - with seconds to spare! But for some reason,<br>just based on how everything worked out on this trip, we both knew we<br>would make the ferry, even when all the factors seemed stacked against<br>us. And even if we didn&#8217;t, the next one was only 2 hours later. <br>But we made it, and we are excited to be home in a couple of hours!<br><br>Some<br>might look at my Honda Shadow 750 and think it was only a piece of<br>complicated ...

... 5:00 pm Toronto) It was warm and sunny when we arrived, about mid 20s and no humidity. We stayed at the Painted Turtle Guesthouse in downtown Nanaimo, very close to the harbour. George Wassef was first to arrive and then Tinker and I checked in around 2:30 pm. Mike Payne showed up around 3:00 pm. So then it was time to explore downtown Nanaimo. We ended up at the Old Station Pub ...

I just heard the terrible news about the rioting in Lhasa. I have no idea if things will have settled by the time I am supposed to fly into Tibet. Time will tell and there is nothing I can do except hope that peace prevails. The Tibetans have kept their cool (pretty much) for 50 years; can't blame them for "being done" with the whole thing. Watch; wait: pray if you do so. Peace. Cindy

... lazily drifted under us, and it was far, far away. My palms started to tingle. Somehow I managed to snap a quick picture here and it shows CJ's jumping experience perfectly. He grinned and visited with the guys like he was going for a cup of coffee. I was amazed at his composure. Once they had checked everything one last time, CJ stood up and waddled over to the platform. He stood on the edge with his arms spread-eagle and the guys began to count him off, "1 , 2, 3, BUNGEE!!" CJ ...

... had full-on turkey & stuffing, candied yams, mashed potato, cranberry jelly, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream for dessert. Joshua had said 'ooh-yuck' to pumpkin pie when we told him it was traditional earlier, but when a piece was put before him (and no one bothered to tell him it was pumpkin pie) he gobbled it down, and later went back for seconds!! What a wonderful evening.

Monday morning arrived and Henri and I set off for his dentist appointment - on a boat at Whaletown, which is near the terminal for the Cortes-Quadra Island Ferry. While he was doing the dentist thing (actually a crown!) I visited with Lorna who also lives nearby. She came down to Whaletown and we sat and talked. Her hand was feeling better and even without the results of the x-ray, she was sure it was not broken. Whaletown is really just a harbour. There used to ...

... more.We had lunch there.Damien helped himself to the salad bar which you pay by weight..Hidemi had a vegetarian pea soup with a sourdough roll.We also bought some healthy snacks and trail mix for the car journey ahead. With energy to burn, we hired a bicycle each for 2 hours from Denman St using a coupon in the Entertainment book. We rode around Stanley Park admiring the harbour and the totem poles on display. We then walked our bikes up Denman St checking out the busy scene in English ...

... for a bit at the beginning - not so much now. We had pho for dinner - a welcome meal. Found that a lot of times - since we're given a short time limit in an area to shop and eat, we usually just get something quick to eat. Most of the times, it was a sandwich or ice cream or something like that. SO having pho was very good. mmmm.... Overall, this trip was very good. Got a chance to see a lot - the history, the cultures, the lifestyles - it was good. It's not a ...