We rose with some port sounds outside, and took our time making our way to the Lido where throngs of people were already waiting in long lines at their favorite stations, waiting for Eggs Benedict, or Waffles, or Scrambled/Fried Eggs, or Omelets; and, others were just trying to squeeze between people in line to get some dried cereal, pastries, yogurt, juice or other items not requiring a substantial wait. More than a couple people in my Omelet line gave up and settled for a Danish instead. Sharon waited in the waffle line, and then asked for a few chocolate chips and the server must have poured half a pound of chocolate onto her waffle. We ate outside by the pool and had a wonderful view of the town and hills rising to snowcapped peaks. Sharon couldn’t ... read more

I’ve got this ear-worm ringing through my head, I’m thinking maybe it might have the makings of a great pop song: “I’m leeeeeavin’… on a cruise boat.” It almost seems like we’ve been on the road for weeeeks to get to this point. Well, first thing, we have to get Sharon to church. There’s a cathedral nearby, within walking distance; although, we haven’t come across it yet. The lady at the front desk warned us, “Don’t follow the bells, because there are none.” Sharon replied that she’d already learned THAT lesson in Quebec City, and she shot me a glancing Shirley Smirk, recalling the time my intuitive insight landed her right in the middle of an Anglican mass. It was just under half a mile walk to the Holy Rosary Catholic Cathedral, a massive stone building ... read more

After falling asleep in the wee hours of the morning, we barely noticed the 10 x 10 foot size of our hotel room, with an additional 10 x 6 foot bathroom which actually seemed much more spacious in comparison. The morning light barely filtered in through our third floor window which had an excellent view of the neighboring building about ten feet away. Still we managed to drag ourselves down to the Tim Hortons on the corner. The line wasn’t quite out the door; but, we seemed to have a fifteen minute wait. We seemed to be in a bustling part of downtown Vancouver on a Friday morning. Many locals were popping in for a donut and coffee. I ordered the breakfast bagel with bacon and Sharon went with the chocolate chip muffin. I also got ... read more

We slept in and were in no rush to go down for breakfast. We took our time and did our Sudoku Challenge. After a number of “DNF’s” Sharon did manage to put one in the Win-Column yesterday; and, I didn’t think my 85% was going to hold up for the Intricate Weekday challenge, but it did! Each puzzle on our “Enjoy Sudoku” app grades your performance as a percentile against others who have done the same puzzle, and depending on the level, this is usually in the many thousands of other players. Today we had the vague notion that we were going to drive up and see Mount St. Helens. It’s sort of like when we were on Maui and had the notion to drive up Haleakala to see the sunrise and I joked with Sharon ... read more

We awoke to the sun filtering into our lofty abode, with the faint sounds of surf rushing to shore and a crisp breeze rustling the blinds as it refreshed us. We started cleaning up and rearranging things to be sure that we repacked everything later in the morning. It was then that I noticed that Sharon was mostly already packed while I still had much to do. Sharon spotted several deer next door, which seem to have an affinity for the garden flowers to be found there. “There are three, no four, I see three, no there ARE four!” Sharon exclaims. “Shoot them,” Sharon orders me as I’m about to do my morning Sudoku. Sharon claims that “she hasn’t had time” to keep up with our daily challenges, so I’ve racked up a nice little streak ... read more