Awake at the Darkest Hour and Other Short Stories

That is what I saw when I looked outside just before starting this post. needless to say, it is quite early in the morning, made even earlier by the time change adding an extra hour to the night.

I was suddenly wide awake at 4:12, which was actually 3:12. After a valiant try at falling back asleep, I came downstairs and gave in to the pre trip wakefulness.

Since coming down to my grandparents is a bit of an adventure just on its own, let me rewind to yesterday morning when I left my house, and tell the story of the ride down.

Unlike this morning, last night I slept until just about 45 mins before I usually get up. Very good considering it was my last night in my bed before leaving for so long. I wrapped Christmas presents for my family, the first time I have done that more than about a week before, and tidied my room up a little.

After saying goodbye to the cat and the dog, we all piled into the car with a quick pause on the stairs for a picture(with my good friend Travis you will no doubt notice).

We actually managed to leave on time, pretty much to the minute pulling away just a minute past 8:30. We were delayed half way down the driveway when my mom's tea spilled, but after a quick shake of the rubber mat a crises was averted.

Onto the highway via a recently graded gravel road we went, Cruising only 30 kilometers, stopping for a record pit stop for gas and washer fluid, then 6 minutes later, back up on the highway.

Nothing eventful occurred on the drive to a very grey Nanaimo, and our arrival at the Departure Bay ferry terminal was nothing special either, although the white chocolate mocha I had in the terminal was nothing short of delicious.

The ferry arrived on-time, and shortly we drove up the ramp and onto the upper car deck. I went outside to take some pictures of our departure, and I ended up with these.

The ferry was a little bit crowded, and I had a lot of energy, most of it probably nervous energy, so my sister and I spent much of the crossing walking and running around outside with my camera taking many a picture some goofy, some a bit nicer.

I am awesome, and I can hover, as demonstrated in the picture to the right. It is kinda cool on the top deck at the front, because there are a few places where all the air that gets pushed aside by the ferry traveling at 20ish knots seems to go. If the ferry is running into the wind as well you get airspeeds getting high pretty fast.

There is one spot where you can lean forwards almost 45 degrees, and if you try to leap forward you just look silly. That is the one thing we neglected to take a photo of.

Here is my sister doing her "Bond" imitation.

Part of the reason to go on adventures, and travel the world is to be able to come back and truly appreciate the place you live. Part of you wants to see if there is a more beautiful, or vibrant place somewhere out there, and while they are all different and certainly wonderful, they are missing something, and that is the feeling of home that you only truly feel in one place. 

For myself, finding a nicer place is even harder. This is because where I come from, my home province, my slice of the true north strong and free, British Columbia, is truly the Best Place On Earth. 

This time of year, the colors of the water, the mountains, and the clouds all blend into a beautiful image of serene beauty.

Now that I got all the mushy, reflective stuff out, I am going to move on to a nice, and kinda different thing that happened near the end of the voyage. 

As my sister and I descended from the top deck back into the stern lounge, we could hear the sound of music coming from ahead. When we got into the lounge, we saw that in fact there were several musicians playing at the front of the lounge. They were totally amazing. 

The band was called Behind Sapphire, and they had CDs with them. My sister liked it so much that she bought one, and when they moved away to another part of the ferry, we followed them to hear more of their sweet melodies. 

My mom happened to be sitting right where they went next, and after a couple songs she bought a CD as well. She liked them so much that she stood up and told everyone in the side lounge that they should buy a CD. Many did. The band was so pleased. I got a picture with them, and I am going to take their CD to Europe with me, wow, later today. 

They were one of the most genuine groups I have ever heard, and the way they were playing was how all music should be played. As soon as we got in the car, we put their CD on, and it is an amazingly alive album that captures the spirit of their music without crushing it. http://www.myspace.com/behindsapphire That is their website if you want to check them out. 

I like funny signs, and on the ferry we saw a pretty funny one on the bathroom doors. One is from one door on the left side of the hall, and the other is from the door opposite.

We thought it was pretty funny.

Once off the ferry at Horse-Bay-Shoe, or as most of the rest of the world calls it, Horseshoe Bay, we headed straight to my Aunts for lunch. It was a wonderful affair with lots of yummy yummy food.

After a stop to pick up my sister's grad dress, we headed to my grandparent's house in Point Roberts for dinner. It was a tasty selection of salmon among other things. 

I had a lot of fun playing with my grandpa's new toy. He bought an iPad recently, and it is SO cool. They are very neat pieces of technology. 

I went to bed at around 11 on the most awesome mattress ever. My grandparents have had them since before I remember. We call them the happyface mattresses. 

As both my sister and I were kinda wired, we just lay in our beds and talked for an hour before finally going to sleep. I woke up at what the clock said was 4:12, which was actually 3:13 because of the time change, and that brings us up to right now.

It is still dark out, although the sky is showing signs of light. I leave for the airport in about four hours, and I am very exited, albeit somewhat tired. 

Looking forward to what today holds in store.