Beamers vs shaggin' wagons

Shelley flew out to Victoria to spend the weekend with me. We had such a great time! Even though we are completely broke and can't look rich even if we try, we decided to go all out and enjoy a weekend of gluttonous luxury together. It started out with a night at the Empress. This place is so Victorian, so over-the-top fancy, that we both just giggled the whole time we were there. The ornate wall paper, the flowery carpets, the old paintings of important people of the past, the antique furniture, it was all too much! We had a king sized bed with the most amazing pillows. Unfortunately the bed squeaked, and due to an unfortunate event in Nanaimo involving me having to endure the sexual sounds of the couple in the room next to me for hours on end, and the knowledge that there were old people staying next to us in the Empress, the night wasn't as wild as it probably should have been. Besides, I had to roll over four times to even find Shelley in that damn bed! I think she spent the whole night dreaming about the $24 buttermilk pancakes she wanted for breakfast.....

The next day we started our drive across the island to Tofino. This was a first for us - I drove and she got to be the restless passenger. Both of us wished we were in the other's seat, but due to insurance and blah, blah, blah, I was the sole driver. There was an upside to this - because of my reckless driving, we discovered that Shelley has the car-sickness gene. I tried so hard not to laugh at her, but it was so funny! It was a long and windy, hilly road, and since I have a need for speed and enjoy centrifugal motion, it was literally a roller-coaster ride all the way there!

But there were a few highlights, and breaks from the car, along the way. We stopped at Duncan, the town of totems, and payed a small fortune to enter this outdoor museum and learn all about Native life in the area. It was actually quite fascinating. Part of it involved a short film, and I loved the way this film was made - they talked about the history of the local tribes, their folklore and stories, and they compared it to Christian stories. This was followed by some dancers, one of whom was a little shy boy, who made me smile. We stopped at another town for lunch and had a game of crib while we waited for our food. Well, half of a game. Lunch arrived midway, and we decided we would play one more hand, then call it quits. Shelley ended up pulling ahead of me in that last hand, but I still insist that if you mutually agree to end a game, then it is a draw! Fair is fair.....The funniest thing was my Freudian slip. There was a Yhatzee game on our table, and looking at it brought back memories of my mom always playing it with her coffee in the mornings. I meant to tell Shelley that mom used to play Yhatzee all the time, but what came out was "Mom used to like playing Nazi." Oops.

Perhaps the most amazing stop at all was just a few miles outside of Tofino. I stopped in the middle of the highway because there was a bear on the side of the road! A baby! Now Shelley has had all sorts of bear encounters, but I have never seen one in the wild. She was a bit freaked out, but I was fascinated and had to pull out the camera. This bear really couldn't care less about us, didn't even give us the time of day. It munched on some grass for awhile, then crawled back into the forest.

We stayed in a beautiful B&B for the two nights we had in Tofino. The woman who owned the place was fabulous, and did her best to try to convince Shelley to move there....there are no plumbers in Tofino, and she could make a killing. From the sounds of it, there are some extremely anal, strict female RCMP officers there, so Shelley would find herself right at home! Me, I could surf and do yoga all day, so I would be perfectly happy there too. A life without McDonalds, Tim Hortons, and shopping malls...such places do exist! Anyway, we spent our time strolling on the beach, walking trails in the rainforest, and dining at extravagent restaurants where you pay lots of money to have your small amount of food ornatley arranged on your fashionable plate. But geez was it good food!

Tofino is kind of a funny place - really all you see are two groups of people: the rich people in their BMWs and Porsches, staying at expensive lodges and doing I-have-no-idea-what, and the hippies in their shaggin' wagons with surfboards tied to the roofs and the unmistakable scent of Mary Jane floating through the windows. And everyone finds a way to co-exist peacefully.

It felt so liberating to be near the ocean again. I spent my time there barefooted, running through the water and enjoying the feel of the sand on my feet. It's so grounding, feeling the earth beneath your feet. We also met a man and his dog, Pal, who were spending the day together on the beach. We kept running in to them, and every time we saw Pal we were reminded of our own dogs. We are just like parents sometimes. It was hard not to call our dogsitter to make sure our favourite canines were ok.

I made poor Shelley shake her head at me a few times. I took lots of pictures, and told her she could takes some if she wanted. At this time it was pouring rain, and I couldn't see anything because my glasses were wet and foggy. I kept lifting my glasses up and down to see what was in front of me. Shelley laughed at me and told me she needed a video camera to capture me - a single picture would never do it! It reminded me of an Ani song (....I have the kind of beauty that moves....).

Anyway, it was crash and burn time for the drive home. I was so tired! About half way back to Victoria I caved in and ate 9.5 timbits. The sugar rush was incredible, and went on to narrate the rest of the journey in Spanish....oh, poor Shelley. I'm so glad the girl just laughs at me.