This Christmas, we drove out to Vancouver to spend time with our extended families. This was the first Christmas since 2016 and the first time since September 2018 that we had been to Vancouver. Ash stayed home, but Regan, Ace, Quillan, and Siobhán all came with us.
We stayed overnight in Spokane on the way there and back, and also stopped off at the temple in Seattle, where we were married back in 1995. The trip through Snoqualmie Pass was pretty stressful, as we drove through a snowstorm. Luckily, shortly after we began our ascent, two snowplows entered traffic in front of us. We stayed behind them until we passed through the storm. The trip back had much better weather.
We stayed at a hotel in Langley, and spent most of the time in Surrey with Kim’s family; although, we went out to eat with Mary’s dad at IHOP in New Westminster on Saturday night. We spent a few hours with Kim’s parents Friday night, then had family photos on Saturday; spent a couple of hours at Kim’s parents on Saturday; attended church with Kim’s parent and two of his siblings and their families; had brunch with his parents after church; then spent most of the rest of Sunday with Kim’s family having a meal, opening presents, and playing games.
During our final leg home, on Tuesday, we hit a huge puddle in Cranbrook, which tore the protective fabric covering our battery under the vehicle. While it was being serviced at Canadian Tire, we took everyone out to eat at East Side Marios.
One thing we learned from the trip is that Kim’s arthritis won’t allow him to drive long road trips anymore without leaving him in a lot of pain.
