| Wednesday, May 21 Hello you [to the 70th power], "Nicole, you're getting bacon in your wig." So we went on a big vacation to Vancouver Island last week. Not the least of our adventures was bringing a dog from the village (Little Bear) out on the seaplane to move him to his new home with a guy on a local island a couple hours away. If I had a nickel for every time I've carried a dog onto a seaplane, I'd have just under six cents. Driving the speedboat down river with this big fluffy mutt only led to his doggie friend (Loopy) running along the beach trying to catch up nearly the entire way. Now instead of Loopy jumping on us like his brain is long gone, he just sits in lonely despair for the loss of his doggie friends, murdered and relocated. It's actually kinda pathetic. Anyway, back to us. We had a great time visiting a beach on the west coast of Vancouver Island, going on a whale-watching expedition and riding a tandem bike through Victoria. It was our first time on a tandem (you know, bicycle built for two). And it was our last. I can put forth a good case that bikes were built for one and only one person, but I won't. We stayed in a hostel in Victoria with, I kid you not, the world's smallest rooms. Our first room had a foldout futon and a sink/counter-space jammed into a 6' x 12' room. We got a single mattress added and then there was no floor space. We ended up moving to a different room that was close to 6' x 7'. Once we put the single mattress on the floor, we couldn't open the door to get out. But we were thankful for shelter. We partook in (some) hiking in the wilderness. Not much because Nicole cannot hike in western British Columbia. She has an intense fear of slugs. I cannot overemphasize the words intense and fear. She literally freezes and will not walk if a slug is within eyesight. One of those childhood irrational fears that cannot be explained away. Believe me, we've tried. Nicole's strongest memory of our trip out may be her newest addition to her wardrobe. She bought a waist length blond wig. She wears it all day, wherever she goes. In public, in the hostel, in restaurants. She loves the stares and attention from strangers, but hasn't seen the look on peoples faces after they walk by staring at her. If you see a black Lady Godiva in your town, look twice because it may be our daughter. We also got a Motown CD, from which Nicole's new favorite songs are Edwin Starr's "War" (for the Mennonite in her) and Rick James's "Superfreak" (for the funky disco queen in her). As we will be moving from here in 5-6 weeks, please don't send anymore postal mail from this point. I can't imagine that if we got mail forwarded from here after it came from the states that we would see it before retirement. Thank you incredibly for the postal mail and it pains me to ask for it to cease, for logistics sake. Canadian factoid: Did you know that, per capita, Canadians eat the most Kraft Macaroni and Cheese per year than any other country? 75,000,000 boxes per year. Nicole's quote: Before we left for our trip, she looked at the lack of clothes left in her closet after clothes had been packed and cried, "I only have ten pairs of pants left!" rough life. love, JohnKristinNicole |