MarshallAndFamily.com

Yes, yes, I hear you. You haven’t heard from me for several weeks because I’ve been quite sick. (E-mail Marc and ask him for some posts too). We took a trip north to Victoria on Feb 22 and stayed three nights. Marc had a security conference at the Empress and I thought it would be great to hang out with Marshall and pay a short visit to Casey and her mom Sharon.

That’s a great plan if everyone is healthy but Marshall was on the verge of recovering from a cough and cold that he had just passed on to me. He got over it quickly and I was left with it. I wasn’t feeling so well on Monday, was too sick to go to work on Tuesday, and thought I felt better by Wednesday.

We drove up to Tsawwassen on Wed afternoon and barely made the 5PM ferry to Schwartz Bay. Had a minute left before the ferry attendant could have officially denied our pre-paid reservation. Luckily the stars were aligned correctly we made it onto the Queen of Sannich and sailed off into the sunset.

The Queen of Sannich is operated by B.C. Ferries and it was a 90 minute sailing across the Strait of Georgia. As far as kiddie-friendly ferries go, it rocked. There was a dedicated play room on the ferry where Marshall could run around and burn off some steam. Next, Marc brought him into the arcade where he rode the motorcycle. Whoever decided to put these two rooms on the ferry was a genius. By coincidence, Marshall was wearing a black polar fleece turtleneck. Somehow he looked very sea-captain-like, or like someone of the old TV show “The Beachcombers” (Canadians know what this is).

We checked into the Best Western Inner Harbour and I was pleasantly surprised.  Remember – I passed up a room at the Empress to stay at the B.W. It’s amazing how  priorities change when searching for accomodations with a toddler. Top on my list is not finding a place with a spa, high tea, fine dining, or any of those superfluous amenities. I want a fridge in which to store milk for toddler sippy cups, and a microwave so that I can make oatmeal in the comfort of my own room so that I don’t have to subject others to a toddler’s idea of breakfast behaviour. So the B.W. it was and thank goodness because I felt like I had the flu by Thursday.

Low fever, cough, cold symptoms, chills, but no aches. In the morning it took me two hours to get us fed, showered, changed, and out the door. 

Although I was not feeling well at all, I took Marshall to a nearby park in James Bay so that he could run around and chase the birds. Afterwards we walked to the grocery store to pick up lunch and went back to the room to eat. After lunch, Marshall and I crashed on the freshly made queen size bed and watched the Food Network Canada. It was so nice to come back to a made-up room that I felt like a mommy version of Eloise except that we were at the B.W., not the Plaza Hotel in NYC. 

Shortly after, Marshall passed out for his hour and a half nap, and I did too. It was very sunny but cold on Thursday and Friday and it was wonderful having the sun stream into the room. I normally don’t watch TV at all but this was my “vacation” and I was too sick to do anything else. After Marshall woke up I gave him a snack and we waited till daddy came back from his day of conferencing. That was my Thursday (Fever, Park, Lunch, Nap, TV, Daddy!, Dinner) and also my Friday (repeat). 

Friday was a bit different in that Casey came to our room and chatted for a while before we picked up dinner and drove to Sharon’s to eat. Marshall had a great time running around Sharon’s house, nibbling off Casey’s plate, had his hands full in the marble jar, and loved playing with the margarine containers Casey brought out for him. I was so glad that Marc was there to supervise because I was so out of it. We went home and retired early that night.

The next morning we drove across the street to get in the line up to take the Coho Ferry back to Port Angeles. It was bitterly cold and windy, so much that Marshall didn’t want to run around outside. Understand that this terminal had a tarmac on which you park your car, and no building or facility in which to wait. Which meant that Marshall was cooped up inside our car for an hour and a half. Let’s just say that I still need to wipe down the inside of the car, clean off the greasy finger and face smudges, etc. Let’s also say that Honda makes a really good toddler proof (sturdy buttons) control panel. Every button, knob, and moveable part got a good tweak from the resident toddler.  Good to know that their QA is top notch. 

The ferry ride across the Strait of Juan de Fuca was rough. The Coho was lurching so much at one point that I just sat still and stared out into the horizon. It was overcast and windy, so the Olympic mountains weren’t that visible at all. I was so glad when we started to pull into the port – I think that I was shaking so badly from the chills, and my knee joints really hurt as I walked back downstairs to the car. So glad again that Marc was tending to Marshall as I was in no shape to even tend to myself.

Marc drove us home via Sequim (pronounced Skwim if you want to blend in), Kingston to board a second ferry to Edmonds, then a short drive back home. Yay! I was so thrilled to be home. What a trip and then some.