We are heading over to Victoria for the weekend to visit our friends, Michael and Dolores Todd. It's funny; when we first came out here I expected to see them more often but having to rely on the BC ferries for part of our transportation, really affects our decision to visit. The BC Ferries are wonderful, reasonably priced and comfortable however you can always expect to wait anywhere between half to one and a half hours just to board the ferry. Then there is the one and a half hour ferry ride to the island and that doesn't include the drive to the ferry on this side or from the ferry when we get there. All in all it is a good half-day commute and once you factor in the $40 - $50 cost each way, planning a trip to Victoria is no small matter.

We haven't been over to the island since September, when we left Nanaimo to come here to Vancouver and we haven't been to Victoria since August. We had planned to go over and see the Butchart Gardens at Christmas time but with Makai's arrival day unconfirmed and my trip back to Ontario in November being extended, there was no time left. So now, finally we have coordinated a weekend to visit when both Mike and Dolores have some time as well. Karley, Ian and Makai are also heading over there to visit with Ian's folks, Becky and Lachie, so hopefully we can all get together at some point.

The weather is quite lovely today with the sun peeking through the clouds so we are hoping that it holds and the weather remains fair all weekend. We really have been very fortunate with the weather lately so even if we do get some rain, we can't complain too much.

As I add this last paragraph, the clouds came down and engulfed the shoreline with a thick fog and for the first half of the ferry ride, there was little to no visibility. The only picture I managed to take was of Rick, while he was reading his book as we sat on the ferry.