slowly, slowly, slowly

It has been a challenging few days since leaving Salmon Arm. We checked into my sister's house in Burnaby on Friday for some much needed R&R. On the second night (Saturday) we were told by their realtor that he had scheduled two house showings for the next afternoon (Sunday) so we wandered around, had dinner at our daughter's and returned to my sister's around 8:00pm. An email advised us of another showing booked for the next day (Monday).

After nine stressful months of showings in Salmon Arm we decided to lighten our stress level and deposit ourselves at our friends' apartment in the West End of Vancouver. Everything went back into the trunk of our car and we hauled most of it into their small penthouse apartment.

View from the living room.

Instant weight loss mirrors!

Later that day we received an email from my sister (in Mexico) to say that they had accepted an offer on the house!! We have decided to stay in the apartment and enjoy the sights and flavours of this area.

Our first coffee stop on Davie Street.

The musical mural across the street.

We were interested in the variety and diversity of passersby

...a full gamut of musicians, children, ethnicities and ages.

The next dilemna was to acquire a phone. After attempting to unlock an iphone that was gifted to us, we discovered that it had been purchased through Virgin and needed to be unlocked by them for a $50 fee. We had to contact their service department through a 1-800 number. Hard to do without a phone!! So, I walked over to Telus on Robson Street... bought a flip phone and arranged for $10 per month "pay as you go". Yeah! We are connected!

John has been struggling with fatigue so he enjoys naps in the afternoon while I make treks along the streets, exploring this neighbourhood.

One of the protected trees along Beach Avenue.

We are gradually catching up on sleep and taking deep breaths...slowly, slowly, slowly!

From home to the trunk of our car

It was a tight fit but almost everything squeezed into the Honda this morning. 

The keys were left on the kitchen window sill and we closed the front door for the last time, 

ending an important 24 year chapter in our lives.

Our final stop before leaving town was at Java Jive 

for morning coffee and many goodbye hugs.

Miranda and Hunter joined us as we were leaving.

It was an easy, uneventful and quiet drive down the Coq to my sister's house in Burnaby. 

We were quite reflective along the way, processing the busy events of this past month.

Strangely, it felt much the same as past years when we have left the cold

to visit warmer sites for a few months.

I suspect that our jolt of reality will be when we face 

a"homeless" state after travels end next year!

The day before departure day

Another busy day as we finished cleanup at the house and delivered more stuff to the Thrift store and ran around with several hundred other things. Finally, with everything done, we took a walk around downtown and stopped for a relaxing afternoon tea break.

On our return to the Hotel at 3:00pm we discovered this character waiting on our bed.

He had borrowed John's glasses!

After a much needed rest we joined Brian and Diana for dinner at Andiamo. Joyce Lank provided beautiful piano music while we shared a delicious meal. It is so hard to say goodbye to good friends so we just agreed to see each other in 2016.

Tomorrow morning we'll load the car and head south.

There are many emotions at play this week! 

Haven't figured it out yet.

Time to rest!

The movers arrived at 7:10am and everything was locked in the storage unit by 10:00am...around 45 boxes and other stuff. We are exhausted...probably a combination of emotional and physical fatigue.

Before they arrived

After they left.

Tomorrow is another day...final cleaning, vacuuming

before locking the door for the last time in 24 1/2 years.

View from our room at the Prestige Hotel.

We were upgraded to a balcony room....Hah!

Not much chance that we'll sit outside on the chaise lounge!

Happy to have some adjustment & relaxation time.

...still snowing

Made it out for lunch and back up the hill successfully. The plough just cleared the road and spread sand. Yeah! Expecting another 5-10cm of the white stuff tonight. Lois donated a lovely bottle of red wine to the weary packers. Many thanks!

Decided to leave a few of our chimes and hangings for the new owners.

They will provide some colour and music to their winter days!

Damn!

I knew that everything was going too smoothly. Mother Nature had to interfere and drop a white blanket on our lives. Snow boots went to the Thrift store last week, snow grippers went to a friend on the weekend, shovels are neatly stacked in the shed!

We made it down the hill uneventfully, carried on to our appointment and successfully completed the search for "another box". Coming back up the hill presented another problem that I was not able to solve so John took the wheel and fishtailed the vehicle into the carport. Not sure when the plough will reach us after doing the main roads but we have other appointments this afternoon. Updates to follow.

OMG!!

I managed to get a lot done today in the absence of my sweet man. He visited the gym and then spent two hours with a hospice client while I tackled the packing agenda again. It was a good day for both of us. Around 4:30pm we took some groceries over to our neighbour and shared homemade wine with wild stories of our experiences over the past two weeks. Returning to the house we discovered more "unpacked" items hanging on the back deck in the form of chimes and lovely glass hangings!

Entering the kitchen John also discovered three large bowls nestled on a shelf above the fridge! Yikes! At my height I didn't notice them! How many boxes will I need to complete this move?! I still haven't found the appropriate sized box for two pieces of glass that serve as night tables on top of large baskets on either side of our bed.

The freezer is empty...moved over to our neighbour's deep freeze so I will be able to clean the entire fridge-freezer tomorrow. All of the kitchen cupboards and drawers are empty. Closets are almost empty! Important reminder to other movers: keep the hangers!...that required another box!

There are now three fully packed suitcases...two for Mexico/Greece and one for Vancouver as well as a bag of meds, camera equipment and computers, European hairdryer and cell phone, baggies of various currencies, money belts, books, pens, shampoo, toothbrushes & paste, lotions, bug spray, jewelry, gifts, Xmas cards, writing books, art supplies, address/tel  book, etc. What to do with all the other clothes?...oh, right!...more boxes!!! And...don't forget to pack the phones and TV remote!!

OMG...just spotted the CD's!!!!!