Christmas in Sechelt

First let us apologize for all the cat photos - she is so darned cute! And she's the first feline in our family.

The SuperShuttle picked us up right at our campsite in Austin on December 20 at 4 pm. We arrived in Vancouver at 12:30 PST, after smooth clear flights from Austin to Phoenix and Phoenix to Vancouver. We only had 22 minutes between the flights and we were a few minutes late getting into Phoenix. We walked as fast as we could to get to our next gate, being picked up by a golf car partway along. We got on the plane out of breath (we had no checked bags) and were told we were waiting for 17 people coming from Cancun who had been delayed at customs. Phew! We checked into the Fairmont at YVR. It's a beautiful place to stay, very comfortable. They also provided us with toothpaste. We couldn't bring any because we just had carry-on bags. Our seaplane to Sechelt left just after noon on the 21st. There was a shuttle from the main airport to the South Terminal. It's just a 20 minute flight and it was a clear day so we could see everything. It's much smoother landing on the water than on a regular runway. Kelly met us on the dock and carried our 2 bags as we walked the 100 or so yards to the cottage.

Then the eating began - pizza the first night, hamburgers the second night, then a Southern themed dinner cooked by Aaron the third night. We went into Gibsons to shop one day and stopped for sushi for lunch. Larry looked up and there was his cousin and her husband with their grandchildren (they live in Gibsons).

The boys had earned an 18 pound turkey by doing some work for a friend of ours and they were in charge of cooking it Christmas Day. Maureen did the veggies, cranberry sauce, gravy and stuffing. Aaron did the mashed potatoes. Dessert was homemade butter tarts and ice cream. Boxing Day was our annual Appetizer Feast. We usually go to Extra Foods and buy some boxes of appies but this year the boys decided to make food instead. We had meatballs with cranberry/BBQ sauce and a hot broccoli dip made by Kelly, with Neptune cups made with won ton wrappers by Aaron. Maureen made a layered shrimp dip. It was a full day (in more ways than one).

Through it all the cat was very entertaining. Maureen had begun the project of going through all the old photos eventually planning to put them on a CD. The cat was very helpful. The last evening we went to our favourite place for dinner - Saffron - they have excellent Indian food and pizza so everyone's happy.

We left on the 29th on the seaplane at 3:00. This flight was a little bumpier but still okay. We stayed again at the Fairmont, going for Japanese food for dinner in the airport. Our flight left at 8:00 on the 30th and by 5:30 CST we were settled back in our coach. The shuttle brought us right back to the RV. Excellent service and because it was later Friday of a long weekend, the traffic was light.

As you can see the holidays were mostly about eating (also football and hockey). We had a great time!

Wishing everyone a healthy and prosperous New Year! On to Yuma where it hopefully won't rain for two whole months.

Larry and Maureen

Dec 30, 2011

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