Halifax-Vancouver : my vacation part one

So what has happened in the last few weeks I have been silent from my blog updates?. Well Chris and I were working pretty hard the few weeks before our vacation to earn a bit more spending money for our trip. Each of us working extra hours as well as baking Gluten Free bread which has been selling as quick as we can make it. On top of that we were packing up and house cleaning to prepare for our trip.

On August 21st, At last after a nine hour shift at work I was able to come home take a shower and 20 minute nap before we packed the dogs/ the luggage/ my neighbours stolen garden gnome and ourselves in the car for our 5 hour drive up to Halifax, to take our 8 hour flight to Vancouver....looooong day and a half to say the least. A few times we had to stop at a gas station and set the alarm on the cellphone for a 20 minute rest as we were both running on fumes at this point.

Before we got to the airport we had to find my Boss' brothers house as he was kind enough to let us park PT at his place for two weeks to save the $175.00 the park-n-fly or airport would have charged us. We arrived at his house at around 5:30 in the morning and parked the car in his driveway, left a set of keys in his mailbox and a note. We phoned for a cab to the airport and began waiting. A few minutes of waiting Chris realises he has to use the bathroom...badly and its a number 2. We cant knock on their door and wake them this early, that would be rude. As much as the thought disturbs me I suggest he craps in a few plastic bags and uses some paper towel crouched in the back of the Pt which still has its back seats all pushed forward after the luggage was unpacked.

The cab company calls us back and says the driver became lost but he is on his way now. Great Chris cant wait!!! He grabs the roll of paper towel out of the car and runs down the block hoping the end of the street will yield some lot of foliage....no such luck it just opens out onto another street. At precisely the moment he runs back (in a panic at this point) the cab driver shows up. We ask him to make a stop ANYWHERE with a bathroom. We pull up to a Tim Horton's and Chris runs in. While we wait the driver casually asks a worker having a smoke out front what time they opened...it turns out they literally opened up 15 minutes before we got there. Chris comes out and were on our way again.

We make it to the airport, check our luggage right behind a cute hippie family moving. Chris teases me saying that whole family has a kid and their moving across country and they have the same amount of luggage as I do....maybe he was right?. I had two large suitcases one medium carry on, my purse and Mushu in a carrier, he had one medium suitcase, a small carry on and Foxy in her kennel. In fact he had to check one of my bags just to make sure I could bring it along. Two weeks is a long time and you never know what you may need, always be prepared- a motto for scouts and women travelers alike!.

We have a coffee and some breakfast then go through security, we get to pre-board with our little beasts and get them settled under the seats in front of us. The flight goes by pretty smoothly as myself and the dogs nap through most of it. When we do arrive in Vancouver I am greeted by my Mom, her Fiance and my Sister. I have not seen my mom in two years and my sister since she visited last summer. We hugged and my sister and I took the dogs outside to make a pee while Chris gathered our luggage up. While at the airport we decided to get pictures of 'GNORMAN' my neighbors garden gnome at some of the tourist art displays throughout the airport.

That afternoon we showered the travel stink off ourselves had a nice long nap and then woke up to get ready for an evening at our old favourite Vancouver bar 'The Blarney Stone'. Chris and I were able to bus/walk from my moms place and be there in about 20 minutes.....which turned out to be about an hour or so too late. Our friend Ryan met us in line and we waited for about 1/2 an hour in line when our other friends decided it was too loud in there and came out to see if we wanted to try another bar. We all agreed and made our way to the next closest Irish pub which just happened to be two or three doors down the road.

This place 'the Irish heather'had a nice quite table out back for the group of us to sit and catch up. Sometimes when you haven't seen people in awhile you wonder if it may feel awkward seeing them again after so long, but once we all got settled at our table it was like old times again...minus all of us agreeing that maybe our crazy Blarney Stone days may be at an end....:( damn you maturity!!!!

After a few hours of visiting we all had to get ready to leave so our pals could catch the last sky train home again. Chris and I decided to enjoy the nice summer evening and walk the whole way back home after picking up a coffee at Tim Horton's. Once we walked across the Granville street bridge my pretty girlie shoes began digging into my heel to the point of drawing of blood and I was tempted to walk home downtown Vancouver barefoot.....yes I had partaken in a few drinks and it seemed like a logical conclusion. Fortunately for me, Chris had the sound judgement to say NO!. Instead he piggy backed me from the bridge uphill on Granville street a few blocks until we were almost home....ahhhhhh that's romance :).

We got back to Mom's place and crashed on the air mattress set up for us and slept like a couple of babies...without the need for midnight feedings of course :).

this concludes part one of our vacation...stay tuned for the saga to unfold.....