Travels of Bob & Sharon: The Surprise!

It seems forever since I last updated the blog and I am happy to be back at the desk and writing about the wonderful summer (so far!).

June 27th: Our dear girl Kim and I flew to Victoria for Darla's first ever art show.

It was all meant to be a surprise and for some reason (while in meditation at yoga) I knew I had to tell her that I was coming (we are supposed to bat thoughts away while meditating so you now know how good I am at it). I also knew that Kim would be surprise enough.

Darla was thrilled and told me that Peter and her friend Carly said that they knew I would be there for her. I know that Darla was a tad disappointed that I let the cat out of the bag. We had planned to stay at The Red Lion Suites, advertised as being "right downtown". They looked beautiful so I booked a suite with a kitchen, bedroom, livingroom and pullout sofa. Darla had a fit when she heard and said we could stay at a friends garden flat while she was away. She also informed me that The Red Lion Suites...no matter how beautiful, are a very long walk from downtown and are right above a strip club. See? There was a reason to tell the girl...although I must admit, the possibility of earning a bit of change while out there was pretty tempting.

We left Toronto at 8 pm and arrived at Ray and Jan's in Vancouver at 10:30 p.m. (1:30 a.m TO time!!! This old girl normally goes to bed at 9:30....yiikes!!!). These two wonderful people were waiting for us at the airport and by midnight Vancouver time, we were in their kitchen. Off to bed then a whirlwind tour of Vancouver on Thursday for Kim since it was her first visit to the west coast.

Kim's first daylight view of the mountains

Photo's: Me, Jan and Kim; Ray and Jan outside their lovely Burnaby home; just one of the beautiful inlets around Vancouver

Fabulous seafood lunch at Horseshoe Bay

Ray and Jan's daughter Claire, who is now VERY pregnant, came for dinner and regaled Kim and me with stories of her life as a funeral director. A great time!

"Mommy Claire" and the cat Ginger who seems to think it's a lion.

Friday morning we caught the ferry to Victoria and by 1:00 we were in the apartment where Darla was waiting for us. What a surprise when she saw Kim! She was thrilled that finally Kim had come to visit.

Peter appears pretty surprised too!! Cortes? Well, he just takes everything in stride.

The flat was a 10 minute walk to the beach in one direction and a 10 minute walk to downtown in the other; perfectly situated.

Beautiful Dallas Beach

Photo's: Watching for our ship to come in; A yoga instructor's idea of "having a ball"; another beach (can't remember the name!)

Every day was exciting; preparing for the show; dining in pubs and nice restaurants; meeting Darla and Peter's friends; oh, did I mention dining in pubs?

Peter, Kim, Darla and Cortes outside of ONE of the pub

A pub!; Another pub!

The gallery, Rave 'N Iron, Market Square

The show was wonderful! Over 100 guests attended and best of all... came to buy!

Darla's work is now in the U.K., California, Australia and many provinces of Canada. It was a wonderful experience to walk into the gallery and see her paintings on the walls. What started out as a one month "feature artist" appearance has turned into a "to be continued". Giselle and Tim want Darla's work there on a permanent basis.