05-17-25 Home
I got up and ready, had coffee with uncle Bryan and aunt Lynne, breakfast with Rosie, and then loaded stuff and Mark into the car and off we went. Thankfully, it is a nice day. We only went in and out of a couple of little cloudbursts, otherwise it was sunny and pretty. In spite of it being Saturday of a long weekend, there weren’t as many idiots on the road as my mother calls them.
We listen to Daisy Jones and the six on Audible, chatted a bit, and made it to Kaslo. Town is very busy as it is May days there. I drop Mark with assurances that he would be fine before finding a parking spot and wandering down town to the market to pick up some food to eat before going to see Daphne and meet her partner Dean. They have a wonderful kayaking/adventure store. We had a nice talk before I left. She called me an angel, but I think she is as she really spends a lot of her time looking out for Mark because he has no one else. I did the perceived hero thing by driving him there and being at the hospital and getting him back, but that was a short term thing. He is very grateful and he is making a plan to pay me back for gas and parking which I would really appreciate. And if he does, we can claim it on his taxes next year so win win.
While I was sitting waiting at the ferry at Balfour I noticed a ghost car and I marked RCMP vehicle show up. When the ferry arrive from the other side, the ghost car parked, waiting for the cars to begin unloading. It looked like crew must’ve reported people drinking in a car or errant behaviour as a car was pulled over and a guy very amiably seemed to get out of his car in front of everyone in the parking lot before being breathalyzed, patted down, etc. I don’t think he was going anywhere in a car unless it was the backseat of the cruiser.
I made it home just after 8:30 mountain time and unloaded the car before settling down to have the last of the food that I had purchased in a beverage and relax in my La-Z-Boy with my foot up which really needed it. And I say my biggest disappointment was that the landscapers didn’t come when I was gone like they promised and now it’s even more work than before. It is nice to see how much my trees filled in while I was gone though.
I don’t know how to sum up the last two weeks that started with Rotary convention, involved so many good visits and Vancouver experiences, and included the stress of all things related to my friend having surgery. I like to think that I was a good friend to him, but I also know that I was a little short as I was also grieving the loss of my Jackie. I think the best part of the whole thing though was the time that I got to spend with my Jake. We haven’t spent that much time together since we lived together and it was just easy and good for my soul. I love him so and now he is in Taipei for a bit of a vacation and a trade fair . I look forward to hearing about it almost as much as I look forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight 
triumphgal 