A quick trip to Vancouver

So, we had to head back to Vancouver for a few days into the land of rain and cold so we could replenish many things. We also "had to" leave Mexico as the tourist visas we had expired after 180 days. We stayed for 179 just to make sure. In Mexico they let you return on a new tourist visa for another 180 days as long as you leave for a 24 hour period and then re-apply for another visit (can't do that if you want to remain in the USA). I must admit that it was difficult to leave those palm trees behind and fly north. However, we had the promise of a nice visit with our kids and some of our family members, and perhaps a turkey dinner that I didn't have to make. :-)

We needed to visit our family doctor and get a prescription for more meds to last another 6 months, get permission from MSP to buy 6 months worth then fill the prescription at our pharmacy, visit Cyndi's eye surgeon to confirm that the surgery she had is still in good shape, go shopping for many food related items that we can't get here in PV (Imperial cheese, gravy browning, our favourite hollandaise sauce, cajun seasoning spice) and, grocery list pads, shorts and tank tops for Cyndi, handles for carrying plastic bags so they don't cut into your hand, and pick up doggie collars, poop bags, and leashes for donating to the Colina Spay and Neuter Clinic.

We arrived at the airport in the wee early hours of the morning and the car rental place was closed... darn, and other relevant expletives... We returned the following day and they rented us a brand new (7 km on the odometer) Ford Mustang GT. Cyndi nearly did a cartwheel right there in the rental place as that is her favourite car. OMG... that thing was scary fast! It was VERY difficult keeping it within the speed limit no matter what streets or highways we traveled. It had four “modes” for operation - normal, sport, track, and a wet/snow operation that lulled you into thinking it was a safe mode for us old folks... not.... But, what a fun car to drive! :-) A word of caution for potential buyers of this car....the most prominent gauge on the dashboard - front and center - was called "distance to empty" and it told you the number of km you could drive before you ran out of gas. Obviously this was a major necessity. In the "normal" mode you could TRY to drive like grand parents would be expected to, but it still kicked into a gas guzzle frenzy and took off like a rocket if you weren't careful. In sport mode and track mode you could almost see the steady flush of gas on the gauge. But, it's good to have fun sometimes and not worry about things like that....and I digress...

We stayed with Jenny and Derek at their place. They had just finished another set of renovations on their place so we could use the spare bedroom and bathroom. Jenny was tiling and grouting the bathroom and finishing off right up to the day we arrived. It looks fabulous. :-) Jenny and Derek have a beautiful home and have worked hard to get it that way. They have worked very hard doing all of the work themselves. The "hotel" service we received while we there was excellent and I would certainly recommend that all of Jenny's and Derek's family and friends stay there. I think we will come back for a second pampering too. :-)

On Friday we did another round of shopping and then my sister Eileen and her husband Erik came over for a visit so we could all get caught up on what each of us had been doing. It was good to see them.

On Saturday we had a wonderful Easter dinner with Jenny, Derek, Christine and Mike. Jenny invited some friends to join us and we feasted on a 25 pound turkey with all the trimmings and then four or five pies had to be sampled and devoured if we had room. Awesome! We had several nice walks with Molly and Hailey in the neighbourhood and a great time was had by all.

On Sunday Tyler joined all of us for brunch at De Dutch Pannekoek House – another great meal – I had a number four with ham and bratwurst. Yummy! It was great to get caught up with Tyler and to learn that he was moving into his own place tomorrow to "house share" with 4 friends. :-)

We reluctantly returned the Mustang to the car rental company and then headed back to the hotel for and early lights out. We had to get up at 3 am so we could get to the airport in time for a 6 am flight to Puerto Vallarta.

It was a nice visit but we are both glad to be back in PV to land of sun, sand and warm weather. It was good to unpack the long pants, jeans, heavy shirts and socks and put them away for another 6 months. This is the sunset photo taken from Los Muertos Beach on the day we got back...