Sorry I wrote this on the plane and couldn’t get online to verify where I had left off so there is a a little overlap here and there.

I dove down to Seattle and picked Casey up.  The drive back was way better than the way down, having company in the car makes the drive significantly more pleasant.  We Got to the border crossing and I was a little worried about it, just because Casey is American and they can be a little weird at border crossings about things.  But driving across is a lot more mellow than flying, the guy just asked a few questions and off we went.  Although, it was kinda funny that I had no cell reception on my mom’s cell until I reached the border, and then the phone was ringing off the damn hook.  Dude looked a little cranky about it and told me no phones, I was like sorry we’re late and I had no cell reception so my sister is trying to get a hold of me.

We drove into town, stopped by the liquor store and supermarket to grab some stuff for the BBQ and as soon as we got to the house we were practically attacked by a very excited Dee and Becky.  They were super stoked to finally get to meet Casey, it was cool to finally get to introduce him to some of my people.  I always forget how shy he is, but I remembered really fast when the girls swarmed him good thing we got beer .  It was actually quite fun, but I was kinda bummed that him and I didn’t really get anytime to ourselves to hang out other than in the car.  My nephew Doug was a star and grilled all the food for us so we hung out drinking and eating most of the evening, unfortunately we were really tired after the little sleep the night before and the long drive so we ended up crashing out much earlier than everyone else.  Plus we were getting up nice and early because we didn’t want to be late for the Ferry and meeting up with Chris and  Shane.  I made crepes for everyone, and then on the road again!  That GPS came in mighty handy, I gotta say.  We made it to the Ferry terminal in really good time, and had some time to chat before getting on.

Oh I had this huge dilemma, because I didn’t realize that we were taking the Ferry to Duke Point in Nanaimo, but Ray lives in Victoria.. uh oh.  So while I was last minute debating whether to drive on and pay loads of money but have the convenience or I don’t even know what the other options might be.  I got a hold of Richelle and it turned out she was going to drive from Nanaimo to Victoria to see me so last minute working out of the plans!  Richelle picked me up from the Ferry and we drove down to Vic together, which was really great we got some us time before meeting up with Ray.  I really miss a lot of my friends, it’s not that I’m sad when I don’t see them, but I’m really stoked when I see them.  When we got to Victoria we hung out at the bay until Ray joined us, then we went to a pub for lunch and after Richelle had to head back.  Ray and I wandered around the town, and ended up paper bagging drinks in the park and getting take out.  We got a little silly, but I had a really great time.  We even stopped at a little pub on the way home (ok we had to pee) had a drink and played pull tabs.. that was new for me, it’s like scratch and win only actually easier.

That night we went to bed early, and I was conked on the couch for a while, when I got up we basically went to the bus and off  I went back to Vancouver, bus, ferry, got to the car and I was so damn done!  I popped by the bus depot to get my birth certificate, to the drivers license place and then home. And I swear to god I refused to leave the house again that day!

It was a crazy weekend, but it was really awesome.  Unfortunately I was so worn out that I had to chill at home for days!

More coming soon

A little note at the beginning of all this…  From Thursday to Sat I had a total of  6-7 hours of sleep, I faired a little better on sun mon but I think I drank every day but Friday so even when I did sleep it wasn’t a good sleep.

Between Thursday and Monday, slept on 3 different couches, visited 6+ cities, 2 countries and drove for more that 16 hours, took two ferries and met up with 6 different close friends.  Packed .. I’m telling you action packed… now I’m run down sickish and hiding at my sister’s place.

I was supposed to have dinner with Jordy on Wed but we postponed so I could go to roosters.  I tried to get downtown in time to meet up with Amanda on Kits beach but I was too slow and missed her so I went to MEC instead and then met up with Jordy for dinner and drinks.  I had a super great time catching up with Jordy (did you know he is getting married??)  and then I decided to crash on his couch because I just didn’t want to drive all the way into Vancouver for dinner then back to Maple Ridge only to spin back to Vancouver in the morning.. just stupid and a waste of time and gas.

Ended up staying up silly late chatting with Jordy and sipping wine and beer, the next day I got up made myself purty and met up with Troy!  Horray.   (oh in between there I was hella upset because I was trying to arrange meeting up with Casey and he was being FULL of suck and unhelpful.. but it was all ok in the end.. my sisters rescued the situation by essentially giving me her car for the whole weekend!).

Troy and I went for a little drive downtown and a coffee, we also stopped into little sister’s book store to check out possible books for my new job as a dominatrix (really I just want to wear leather and hit people for money).  Tee hee.  After hanging out with Troy, I had to rush home because my sister needed the car for her Friday night delivery job (she had a great night, averaging like 6 bucks each time in tips.)

So while she was at work I chilled at home and packed and prepped for my crazy weekend.  As soon as she got home from work, we did a little catch up and then off I went to Seattle to meet up with Casey.  At 1130 at night, well that sicked a little mostly because I was bored out of my f-ing mind in the car.  I do have to say.. nice highways USA.. really.. plus nice high speed limit and not a soul on the road at that hour..  Thank Christ I pilfered my mom’s  GPs unit for the trip though… I would have gotten so lost trying to find Chris’s house (Casey’s friend in Seattle).  I arrived at 2am and had a nice long hug and a great chat with Casey but then we decided to crash out.  Unfortunately I just couldn’t fall asleep until 5 am and then as usual was up at 7.. sigh, I even tried going downstairs and napping but that was foiled by someone digging holes in the ground next to my head… booo.

I called Sarah, and actually got a hold of her!  She met up with me at Chris’s place after the guys and I got back from Breakfast.  Oh the guys, Casey’s friend Chris who lives in Seattle was a really nice cool guy, I really liked him (in the little time we had to chat anyway) and Casey’s other friend is Shane from Milwaukee who is also Casey’s Taichi Student, he was also nice.  Casey in his usual dumb-ass fashion pissed me off so much I wanted to kick him in the nads.   Seriously, check this.. lets me read a paper with something on it that totally shocked and upset me, and then when I was a big person about it and said well I’m glad you’re happy (because sniffling and being sad isn’t cool in front of strangers) and he totally ignored it and kept reading his book.  And then wondered why I was upset.  *shake my head in wonder* gawd some boys are seriously retarded.

I had a great (though short) visit with Sarah on the lawn and then we headed back to Canada.  On the drive Casey and I had a good talk, I enjoyed the drive back so much more.  Unfortunately, mom’s cell didn’t work in the states which I didn’t discover until I got back and it started ringing off the hook at the border.. lol.. border dude was like.. uh no phones.  oops.   Finally was back in Canada and still hadn’t figured out what was going to be happening on the damn island!

oh and it’s long again… more tomorrow!!

Founded in 1960 BC Ferries has become one of the world’s largest ferry operators growing from two ships and terminals to 36 vessels and 47 ports of call.

In 2003 the provincial Liberal government spun BC Ferries into a separate independent commercial entity that operates under the Coastal Ferry Act with an executive team that reports to private sector board of directors.

The current CEO, David Hahn, joined the corporation as its CEO in 2003 and since then has assembled and led a team that has, in my opinion, made great strides forward in improving the customer experience with BC Ferries.

Now, with a company that employs 4,700 people, carries 8 million cars and 21 million people annually there is undoubtedly going to be imperfections.  Obviously it’s best to do a great job and minimize problems, but it’s more how a company reacts to and handles problems that differentiates it from other organizations.

Last Sunday afternoon I was returning to Vancouver through Departure Bay in Nanaimo and had a less than stellar experience.  So, while waiting in the ferry lineup I thought I’d email the company’s CEO (I know the email naming convention at the company) and tell him, in real time, about my experience.  I don’t know him and have never met him, so there’s no reason why my name appearing in his inbox would get his attention.

Pleasingly, he replied within twenty minutes (at 5:42pm on a Sunday, no less), apologized for my experience, offered an explanation and, more importantly, copied the relevant vice president and director level management in order to raise the issue with them and work toward solutions.

I haven’t heard back from either the VP or director on how they’re going to solve this problem, but I was, nonetheless, very pleased with their response.  This is clearly a CEO who cares about the company he is running and its paying customers.

If you’re interested in the email thread then let me know and I’ll forward it to you.

It has been a while since I posted anything here.  But during my absence, we have been out for a total of 2 times, with the Shasta.

Our first trip for a couple of newbies, was exciting, and scary.  We took the ferry to the Sunshine Coast for a quick weekend trip.  

Silly me, I didn’t make any ferry reservations on this trip, thinking it was still off-season, traffic shouldn’t have been a problem.  I was wrong.  We waited for 1 sailing, forcing us to eat dinner at Horseshoe Bay, instead of a much anticipated first dinner at our campsite.    I found a place in the village that serves up very yummy YAM FRIES, my new weakness.

Because we had to wait a sailing, we didnt arrive to our site, until dark.  With an out of date map in my hand, which I obtained from the campgrounds website, we drove around and around looking for our designated spot.  A man came running after us, and introduced himself as a caretaker (who smelled like he just came out of a beer can! lol).  He showed us our spot, and offered his help to set up.  We sent him on his way, thanking him.  

Set up was a breeze, and we settled into our trailer for our very first nite, with a glass of wine.  

When we woke, we discoverd our part of the campground was mostly quiet.  The other part, was full of full-timers.   I was happy to see we were near a creek and we had a nice view of tall trees.

Our trip was fantastic, although we discovered we need something softer to sleep on.  The foams were much too hard.  This was solved for our second trip to Harrison.

Our second trip, we headed up to Harrison Hot Springs.  Again, thinking it was off season, I thought it would not be a problem to get into our favorite campground.  I was wrong as we pulled up to the gates and saw a “Closed for the Season” sign on them….. So we drove through a community and pulled into the first “RV Resort” that had an open sign.  This park, was a parking lot, which was pushing “Season-Long” rentals.  There were many large units, that were obviously set up for the long haul with fancy decks and sheds built around them.  We didn’t care too much, it was a place to stay and plug into.  And it was quiet.  No one was around, except the few that came to work on thier fancy decks.  

Pulling the Shasta, seemed easier, and we both seemed more relax during our trip.  Almost like, we were not pulling a trailer behind us.  

It was a nice quiet trip.  A perfect weekend break.  

Now, I am planning our BIG trip.  A 10 Day road trip to California, with a couple stops in Oregon, and a few stops in California, with our home base being in Escondido, in San Diego County.  We also have been talking about a quick day trip to Catalina Island, California.    

The only time we could do this, is during our only holidays of the year, between Christmas, and New Years.  I am looking forward to watching fireworks and celebrating New Years in Escondido California.

In the meantime, we are going to set up the Shasta with a Cable outlet, and a small flat screen LCD before, which I will post on here.