So I am back home. It’s been awhile since the last update, but know that everything has been going well. The rest of our time at Whistler was just amazing, and Dan even said that he’d seriously consider doing a season here. For me, it was cool to visit, but I don’t know if I could actually spend a whole season. I like the small town feel more. Don’t get me wrong, the nights out in Whistler were just nuts, and we did see a whole bunch of pro skiers and such. A very cool experience for sure.
After Whistler, we headed to Vancouver for a few days and we had a blast! We ended up meeting back up with Jack after we had dropped him off in Kamloops (which he said was a town to avoid the next time you’re around, haha!). We had a good dinner out for some burgers and then called it an early night. Vancouver was really cool. I can definitely see where people want to live here. It’s got a really neat mix of big-city stuff as well as outdoorsy nature stuff. We did get to the aquarium where there was a Beluga whale! and not just one, but three. There was a dolphin show as well… it was a little corny, but it was kind of fun to see. We ended up renting bikes and biking for a few hours. That kind of pushed the knee to it’s limits, but it was good to get it some real exercise.
After a couple days in Vancouver, it was time to move on to Vancouver Island. I was hoping to get up into the north of the Island, but the bottom line is that we just ran out of time. We spent 3 days in Victoria, and I have to say that I was really amazed at how big the place was. I wasn’t expecting much of a big city on an island, but it’s definitely a CITY. Very cool though.
We spent the last afternoon hanging out on the ocean for lunch and ended up staying for quite awhile… not a bad place to chill out.
That night we had a really nice dinner out as it was our last as a group. The next morning it was time to say goodbye and drop Malin and Dan off at the airport. Lots of hugs and goodbye’s later, it was time to take off. I took Jack back to the Samesun Hostel in Vancouver and we said our goodbyes. Leaving Vancouver was hard, but it was harder to leave the 3 of them. It was an amazing road trip and one that every other road trip will be compared to. Cheers, you three, it was GREAT.
After I crossed the border into the US, I headed down to see Kara for a couple of days in Tacoma. Her new place is really nice, and I have to say a step up from Wheeler street! The first night we just caught up on what we’d been up to and I got to meet Lance, which was good, because I’d been hearing a LOT about him! It was good to finally put a face to the stories! We had every intention of cooking a dinner that night, but it kind of got to the point where we just snacked a bunch and weren’t hungry anymore! The next day we woke up and got going, decided to take a hike somewhere and took off. It wasn’t until we actually got to Twin Falls that we realized that we had already hiked this trail the last time I was out here. Oh well, worse things have happened! Afterwards we went back into town and saw a park that had been recently cleaned up. It’s a very pretty time of year over there, and I had forgotten how many different kinds of green there are around there!
The next morning we said farewell and I took off. I had a LONG road ahead of me. 23 hours of straight driving. That first day I did get as far as Billings and decided to sleep just outside of there. I had decided to sleep in the car to save some $$$. The night was long and cold, but it was alright. The next morning I was on the road by 6 and off to Sioux Falls. I got in about 4 in the afternoon or so.
Since I left Sioux Falls, I have put on 6824 miles on the Subaru, or Bert as it’s been affectionately named. To put that in perspective, I could have driven from Anchorage, Alaska to Cape Canaveral, Florida, back to Sioux Falls and I STILL would have had 300 miles to play with. Granted, I drove around a bit in Fernie, but still, you get the idea. And you know, I wouldn’t trade anything for any one of those miles. It’s been great, and I can’t wait to go back to Fernie next season.
For now though, it’s back to the real world and getting a job and all sorts of real life things.
Crap.
It’s good to have you back in Sioux Falls!