After spending a few weeks in California, I flew from there to Vancouver to spend a short five days helping Dill to settle into her start at UBC. The trip started out pretty bumpy - my guaranteed 2-day result Covid test from Berkeley in fact took 4 days, so I had to get another test at the Seattle airport (my flight was SF-Seattle-Vancouver) at great expense, only to miss my flight by 15 minutes waiting for that result…The good news is that our great friends the Watts live in Seattle, so I got to have an unplanned catch up with them.
Beautiful Seattle
After that little interlude, I made it safely to Vancouver, where I met Dill’s boyfriend Jack for the first and Dill and I settled into our airbnb. Our parents arrived the next day, and we set to work exploring the city.
Beautiful Vancouver!
My grandparents also joined us for a few days, which was so nice. I haven’t seen them in years, so it was great to catch up, hear all of their news, and share all of mine.
A birthday run for Dill.
Followed by a birthday dinner at the Cactus Club.
Lunch at the vegan pizza place - very delicious.
We went to the rose garden.
Slow mornings in the airbnb.
After a short trip there, my parents and I said a sad goodbye and flew on to Montreal.
A typical lunch spread.
We took a lot of walks along the canal by my parents’ house.
We did a little bike pub crawl.
Of course, as in California, we went on many little walks and hikes along the rivers and hills of Montreal.
Sumac bushes near a bird sanctuary.
Little bee!
We also walked through town, of course. Montreal is a lively town full of different cultures and exciting things to see.
But mostly, it was just good to spend time with family after a long, covid-enforced separation.
We tried making home-made coconut cream/chocolate chip ice cream - delicious success!
Then, it was back to Vilankulo, via France, via South Africa, via Maputo. Full moon outside my airplane window.