This trip has been a huge rush. It has always been go go go so it was nice to take a break. We got up, enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with the folks at Granddad’s residence. There were a few things that we wanted to do, but there was no hurry, and like the best vacations there was no certainty or need to push it.
Granddad had a slide show that he wanted to use for a Remembrance Day ceremony but did not know how to convert it to a useable format. With a little Google and a blank DVD I was able to convert the slide show to a movie that Granddad could use. We tested it out and it was perfect... I hope that it worked properly on the actual day.
Still at home, we helped Granddad to upload his photos to his computer from his camera. There we got to see some lovely shots of my extended family. We do not all get together very often so it was great to see them all. They really have grown over the years, although... I guess that I probably have too. But... it is hard to see me so who knows!
White Rock sits very very close to the Canada-United States border. So close that while you are in half the town you can actually look across the water and see the United States. Granddad tells the story like this... if you look at a map you will see a black line separating Canada from the United States. This black line is actually Avenue 0 and happens to rest on the Canadian side of the border. It runs along the border letting you see both Canada and the US. We drove to Avenue 0. It was strange to be in Canada and to see, just a few feet away, Americans living their lives. There was no great wall, or trench, or minefield between the two countries... just some survey pegs and a little stretch of grass. There may have been no physical barrier, but if you cross that invisible one it is not long before some well-build gentlemen with big guns and bad attitudes approach you for a few “simple” questions... It is an interesting thing to see, but I definitely did not venture to the other side...
We drove around for the rest of the day and just spent more time with Granddad. It is always a pleasure to be there and though we do not get to see each other often, we always have a great time. That evening Granddad was heading out to a concert with his Step-Daughter so we headed out to a restaurant with a friend of my better half. Supper was good. We ate at a local restaurant on the shore and the company was also good. The friend was from a small town in Alberta (much like my travelling companion) and was now going to school in Vancouver. I had not gotten a chance to meet many of my better half’s friends so this was a great opportunity.
After supper we took a few minutes to walk down White Rock’s well lit pier. It was dark now, but the town had beautiful lights making their way up the hill. It was a lovely sight and not one that I will forget any time soon.
Saying good-bye to the friend and to White Rock we hopped in the Jeep and headed for Kamloops. There was rain leaving White Rock and then Vancouver but once we reached the Coquihalla Highway it was clear. I think that some people find the Coquihalla boring, but the way down I thought it was beautiful and incredible to see the highway twisting through the mountains. This time it was beautiful to see the lights. There were headlights and taillights stretched through the distance making the highway look like a stretched out snake of fire. Because you can see so far, this snake stretched far into the distance, slithering over a long horizon.
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