Over winter break from school, I went on a road trip to Victoria, BC. Well, some might call it a road trip.... In reality, the only traveling I had set in stone was a ferry ride up to Victoria from Seattle, my return the following evening, and a train ride from Seattle to Portland the next morning. All other transportation and accommodations were blessings organized by the Big Man. And truly they all fit together so perfectly, that I could not have organized it better myself.
My trip started in Klamath Falls were I caught a ride home to Bend with a friend. That same friend and I then drove to Portland the following afternoon to beat the approaching storm. I stayed in Portland for a few days with my aunt and uncle who graciously hosted me. Together we toured Portland, shopping, seeing the sights and listening to 200 tubas perform Christmas carols.
From Portland I caught a ride with my cousin who happened to be heading up to Olympia, WA. I stayed in Lacey with my other cousins for a couple of days. Together we hiked, went swing dancing and toured downtown Olympia in a snowstorm. We then decided to drive to Seattle a night early to once again try to beat the approaching storm.
While in Seattle, we stayed with a friend of the family. It was very relaxed. Together we even got invited to a birthday party.
The following morning we awoke to snow in Seattle! The time we had allotted to get to the ferry, barely got me there in time to run up the gang plank. But I did make it.
The ferry was very fast and got me up to Victoria in two hours. I arrived at 10am with plenty of time to drop my bags at my hotel and begin sight seeing. I did a scenic tour along the marina, an alley tour that ended in China Town, toured of Cragdrich Castle, walked through the gardens surrounding the Governor's house, walked along anteich row, toured a couple of old churches and the Empress Hotel (Which had a display of 200 Christmas trees decorated). I concluded the day with a lighting ceremony at But chard's Garden.
The following morning I continued touring. First I went to the legislative buildings. Then toured local gardens, parks and a walking gallery tour of the city. I left Victoria on the ferry once again to arrive in Seattle at 8pm.
Once back in America, my plan was to catch two buses that would eventually take me to my friend's house in Seattle to spend the night. However, the storm that I had fled left the city very scattered. The first bus I caught no problem. The second bus though was not running the same route it normally covered due to the heavy snow and ice. Not only that the bus driver had no idea to which bus I could possibly take to get to the address I needed. An hour and half later, I finally found a bus that would take me in the direction I wanted. I only had to walk six blocks to get to the house. Praise God I made it. (Just two hours later than I had planned.)
The next morning, I was prepared for another bus fiasco as I once again needed to get to the far side of town to catch a train at 9am. The bus was on time! Unfortunately, three stops later it broke down and all passengers had to catch the next bus coming along. Well, we maxed out the capacity of the next bus, but I did make it to my train on time.
The train left an hour late. When we did leave I was assigned a glorious window seat and a partner that slept most of the way to Portland. I very much enjoyed the gentle rock of the train and the glorious scenery from Seattle to Olympia. The winter storm had been heavy along the Northwest. so, there were a couple stops we had to make to defrost frozen switches on the rail tracks. Five hours later we arrived in another blizzard. One of my girlfriends from school was kind enough to take me in that night, as no buses were traveling over the pass to Bend.
Together we had a great time playing in the snow and walking to the near Thai restaurant for dinner. The meal was great and just what I needed to warm me up. We finished off the night with movies and wine.
The next morning, I managed to snag the last seat on the bus out of Portland after an early morning walk in the snow. The bus ride was long and probably the most arduous part of the whole trip. What normally is a three hour drive took us eight. I was very glade when we finally reached Bend.
I spent Christmas with my family there in Bend. It was really nice to be with my family to enjoy the white Christmas together.
But relaxing was not an option yet, as my family traveled back over the hill to Corbett for our bi-annual family reunion. The reunion was great! I got to see family that had been travelling abroad for a while. We also had a wedding at the reunion for my cousin and a ping pong tournament. I also managed to run down to the Sandy River in the snow, and back in an hour before my family left.
Back in Bend, I finally had some time to relax. I did some reading, watched movies, went snowboarding with my family at Hoodoo and went xc-skiing with my mom up to Todd Lake. Overall, it was a great break. I was constantly on the go- the way I like to be.
I still need to go snowshoeing before the snow leaves for spring... I think I can manage it now that I am back at school.
School is pretty easy this term. I only have two classes, am teaching a kayak class again and am working six hours during the week and volunteering every other weekend for the Outdoor Program. Yep, life has definitely slowed down a lot. I am finding there is much I need to do to prepare for my radiology ex tern this coming summer, and much I need to do around the house. (Somehow, all the not so fun things, I suddenly also have time for.) I am also looking for a job close by, preferably on campus. So, you can keep me in your prayers. It is only the second day of term and boy, has it been a long day.
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