A Big Journey: Wokingham to Squamish
Friday, July 21
I'm not sure how their day started off. Mom and Dad will have to fill in. I think it was something like a 4 a.m. wake up call, head out to Gatwick around ...., take off for Vancouver at 2:00 p.m. and arrive in Vancouver at 3:39 p.m.....same day!!! And we, Ray and I, were waiting for them. The handover from the Air Transat official went smoothly and quickly, and we led two tired but stalwart young people through the terminal, across the road, into the parking lot, and the car. More sitting for them. Lots of questions. Intelligent, observant, and curious they chatted about the differences they were noticing between Vancouver and London, England: more modern, red fire hydrants, larger cars, lots of SUVs.
Being Saturday, traffic was slow leaving Vancouver, but once through Stanley Park and on the Lion's Gate Bridge with the tall mountains towering on the horizon in front of us, and the Burrard Inlet spotted with cargo vessels waiting to be filled or emptied below us, the pace picked up. The journey over the bridge brought a loud "wow" from the back seat!! As we headed up Taylor Way onto Highway 99 towards Whistler, rumblings from the back seat started to fade, and by the time we reached Horse Shoe Bay, the eyelids slowly close, the muscles and tension of flying fade, and our two angels slide into dreamland.
They miss the beauty of the drive up the ragged coastline to Squamish and we have a bit of a job waking them when we arrive at the house. But these kids are tough, and they climb out the car, take a good look around the outside, admire the house on the inside, climb the stairs, choose to choose their bedrooms, which they do in a flash, and within minutes have climbed into bed and Seb has fallen asleep. Annabelle starts to climb into bed, then decides the sofa downstairs looks more inviting...and believing she won't feel she is in bed, and therefore won't sleep too deeply, she relaxes her eyes and rolls into sleep. We agree to allow them an hour...which somehow morphs into two!!
We wake them around six, and our role as the "meanest" grandparents in Squamish starts to form. We drag them outside. We make them walk. Up the paved trail to Brennan Park, around the building, past the outdoor gym, through the football fields, baseball diamonds, horse show arena, and loggers sports ground, along a sheltered forest path, back up to the trail by the side of Loggers Lane. Annabelle says, "Is the house far?" Conversation is minimal. They are tired. When they arrived Annabelle told us: "Daddy says we must stay up very late and that will help the jet-lag!" They try hard! We get back home, and I know I don't have much time before I lose them again. Ray shows Seb how to work the TV, and they start watching a Netflix movie "Thor: Ragnarok." Lots of violence and noise. They are rooted to the screen. I quickly fix some mushroom stuffed ravioli with cheese sauce and salad. I just make it! They go through the motions of eating. Around 8:00 pm Seb fades. He is up to bed and asleep. Annabelle stretches it to 8:30 pm and she is gone. Ray and I clear up, eat our own food, and follow suit.
I'm not sure how their day started off. Mom and Dad will have to fill in. I think it was something like a 4 a.m. wake up call, head out to Gatwick around ...., take off for Vancouver at 2:00 p.m. and arrive in Vancouver at 3:39 p.m.....same day!!! And we, Ray and I, were waiting for them. The handover from the Air Transat official went smoothly and quickly, and we led two tired but stalwart young people through the terminal, across the road, into the parking lot, and the car. More sitting for them. Lots of questions. Intelligent, observant, and curious they chatted about the differences they were noticing between Vancouver and London, England: more modern, red fire hydrants, larger cars, lots of SUVs.
Being Saturday, traffic was slow leaving Vancouver, but once through Stanley Park and on the Lion's Gate Bridge with the tall mountains towering on the horizon in front of us, and the Burrard Inlet spotted with cargo vessels waiting to be filled or emptied below us, the pace picked up. The journey over the bridge brought a loud "wow" from the back seat!! As we headed up Taylor Way onto Highway 99 towards Whistler, rumblings from the back seat started to fade, and by the time we reached Horse Shoe Bay, the eyelids slowly close, the muscles and tension of flying fade, and our two angels slide into dreamland.
They miss the beauty of the drive up the ragged coastline to Squamish and we have a bit of a job waking them when we arrive at the house. But these kids are tough, and they climb out the car, take a good look around the outside, admire the house on the inside, climb the stairs, choose to choose their bedrooms, which they do in a flash, and within minutes have climbed into bed and Seb has fallen asleep. Annabelle starts to climb into bed, then decides the sofa downstairs looks more inviting...and believing she won't feel she is in bed, and therefore won't sleep too deeply, she relaxes her eyes and rolls into sleep. We agree to allow them an hour...which somehow morphs into two!!
We wake them around six, and our role as the "meanest" grandparents in Squamish starts to form. We drag them outside. We make them walk. Up the paved trail to Brennan Park, around the building, past the outdoor gym, through the football fields, baseball diamonds, horse show arena, and loggers sports ground, along a sheltered forest path, back up to the trail by the side of Loggers Lane. Annabelle says, "Is the house far?" Conversation is minimal. They are tired. When they arrived Annabelle told us: "Daddy says we must stay up very late and that will help the jet-lag!" They try hard! We get back home, and I know I don't have much time before I lose them again. Ray shows Seb how to work the TV, and they start watching a Netflix movie "Thor: Ragnarok." Lots of violence and noise. They are rooted to the screen. I quickly fix some mushroom stuffed ravioli with cheese sauce and salad. I just make it! They go through the motions of eating. Around 8:00 pm Seb fades. He is up to bed and asleep. Annabelle stretches it to 8:30 pm and she is gone. Ray and I clear up, eat our own food, and follow suit.
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