Sunday, November 16, 2008

After the usual flurry of excitement, we left the house with just over an hour's drive to the Nanaimo ferry terminal. (The disadvantage to living on an island.) Who would have thought that the ferry would be so unusually busy? Although we arrived at the dock at 2:25 for the 3:00 sailing, we were told we would have to wait for the 5:00 boat. DH wasn't looking forward to driving through Vancouver in the dark and we thought our trip was off to a bad start but those ferry workers know their stuff and packed the vehicles in like sardines in a can. We were the 5th to last car allowed on the 3:00 ferry.

The Holiday Inn was nice; clean and quiet. We checked in and went for supper at the Red Robin. It was the first and last time we'll go there. We didn't realize the menu was 98% burgers. The massive mud pie we shared for dessert isn't going to help me loose any weight.

Monday, November 17, 2008

DH woke me up, as requested, just as he was leaving for his business stuff. I got up, showered, dressed and opened the curtains to this beautiful sight:



I was surprised to find more than just a continental breakfast waiting for me downstairs. The Express Start breakfast consisted of coffee/tea/milk.juice, muffins, bagels, toast and assorted spreads, sausages/bacon, eggs, cereals (hot and cold), yogurt and fresh fruit. I chose a muffin, yogurt and decaff coffee.

The stores, all 450 of them, in The Mall were just opening when I arrived at 10:00. I was surprised they didn't open at 9:30 like in Port Alberni but everything in Port Alberni shuts down at 5:30 sharp and The Mall doesn't close until 9:00.I was shocked and dismayed to discover that my "drop", as in shop 'til I drop, occurredmuch sooner than antisipated. I wasn't much more than half way 'round the ground level when I decided I'd had enough and just wanted to go back to the room to rest my weary dogs and try to rid myself of the headache but I had to keep going. My plan had been to keep to my right and I'd eventually end up back where I'd started. If I didn't hold to my plan I would get hopelessly lost.

Through my suffering, I did manage to make a few purchases:



I made it back to our room and was so loath to go out again, I skipped lunch and ate an orange and drank hot chocolate I'd brought from home. I spent the rest of the afternoon with my feet up, watching movies on TV. I didn't even have the energy to knit.

There appears to be a shortage of fine dining estabilshments within walking distanceand an over abundance of fast food and burger joints. We ended up having dinner at a mybloggers spoon called Ricky's and it was our waitress's 1st night on the job. DH enjoyed his omlet but my meal tasted prepackaged and frozen. I swear the mashed potatoes had come powdered out of a box and I was doomed to taste the meat loaf all night, over and over again.