Snow, Scottish Dancing, & Facebook Friends
Mari
As Ty backed the car out of my dad’s drive this morning, the car started skidding all over the place. I had to get out and push her up the drive. Hee hee - that would’ve been a good video clip!
Then, it took us four-and-a-half hours to drive a mere 124 miles. The snow had been falling steadily since yesterday afternoon.
[Photo: Near Malahat, on Hwy 1, headed south to Victoria, B.C. - view from inside the car!]
Driving In Serious Snow Without Winter Tires
For the rest of the journey, we managed to make our way gingerly down the highway. I kept thinking the locals must be saying, "Crazy California drivers - probably never seen so much snow!" Yeah, well, I grew up in the Kootenays, but I’m sure not used to driving in these conditions.
Fortunately, Ty did a stellar job the entire way and we arrived in plenty time for the 4:00pm ferry back to Port Angeles, without any bumps or scrapes! (Though the ferry was almost an hour later in leaving due to waiting for three buses held up by the weather).
Snow turned to rain in both Victoria and Port Angeles. We’ve got a fair bit at Elwha Dam RV Park though - sure hope we get the RV out okay in the morning! It’s time to head back to Seattle.
Facebook Friends Meeting In Person
While visiting with my dad, I happened to receive a note from one of my Facebook buddies, Matthew Clark. He’d made a comment on my recent travel pics, and mentioned he and his family also enjoy traveling and the mobile lifestyle.
After exchanging a couple of Facebook messages, Matthew and I realized we were both on Vancouver Island and should meet up! (Turns out, he lives in Parksville, just 30 miles from my dad). So, this morning, on our way back down to Victoria, Ty and I met with Matthew and his two adorable children, Nate and Georgia.
Matthew and his wife, Allison, have a fabulous lifestyle. They spend January to June on Vancouver Island, and July through December in various (warm!) locations such as Australia, Florida, and Baja, Mexico. They run a successful business together that affords them an abundance of freedom and flexibility. Ah, kindred spirits!
Scottish Country Dancing: Great Exercise and Social Life!
My dad is an avid Scottish Country Dancer. (In fact, he’s an avid anything Scottish!) Last night, Ty and I joined my father at the annual dinner dance for the Port Alberni Scottish Country Dance Club, and we got to learn a host of great dances. (If you’re familiar at all with line dances or formation dances, you’d understand this kind of dancing too).
We jigged and reeled and strasthpeyed all night long to the sounds of accordion music.
Dancers wear special light shoes - almost like ballet slippers (without the extra padding!) One dancer loaned me a spare pair; I have to tell ya though, my feet were a tad sore this morning. Still, Ty and I are inspired to check out SCD clubs in other locations now! Stay tuned. 
Okay, so how’s the weather in your corner of the world?!
Posted on: Sunday, December 2, 2007 at 10:30 pm 
Canadian Towns, Climate, Culture, Dream Lifestyle, Income Strategies, Mari's Musings, Marriage, Money Matters, People We Meet, Personal Stories, Report from the Road, Where We Are. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
[...] We played ten rounds of Bingo… and Ty won a round! $11.50 and a snow globe - way to go!! (Goes perfectly with the miniature Christmas tree we won at my dad’s Scottish Country Dancing shindig). [...]
December 15th, 2007 at 11:23 pm