I was really looking forward to going home for Christmas to visit family and friends.
Buying Spree
One of the first things to do was go on a buying spree for not only Christmas gifts but also things I needed to replenish for my adventure. But first was to see a doctor and dentist. The doctor was easy, and I got prescriptions renewed and a 6 month supply of medication purchased.
With the dentist I got my teeth cleaned. However, he also advised that I really needed a tooth pulled and an implant put in 🙁 Well … that was going to have to wait. No time to do it now and I wasn’t feeling any pain anyways. This could come back to bite me 🙂
One of my biggest purchases was a new phone. If you remember, mine had gotten water inside and the screen wasn’t working.
Visiting Family and Christmas
Getting medical checkups, and buying stuff, was the dull part of Christmas. The best part was visiting family, especially my 3 kids, spouses, and my 2 grandkids. Well ….. soon to be three grandkids 🙂
One evening we went to the Stanley Park Christmas train. Very cool …. both the weather and the park. Not use to cool weather after being in heat for such a long time.
And of course there was celebrating Christmas 🙂
The second best part of Christmas was the food … homecooking. My diet on the road is crappy. I know. I eat a lot of processed foods and once in a while I venture out on my own to eat a good meal at a restaurant. This isn’t the same as home cooking though. So I really enjoyed the Christmas meal made by my ex-wife. Thanks!
Visiting Friends
Visiting friends was also a priority. First, was a dinner with old high school friends. Some I hadn’t seen since high school over 40 years ago!!
While at home I took a bit of an excursion for a week to Vancouver Island to visit friends. For the 2 years prior to my adventure I worked at the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner in Victoria on Vancouver Island. So it was really nice to visit with some of my former colleagues.
I also went up island to visit another former colleague from my Abbotsford Police Days.
Panic and Stress
Interrupting my good time was an email I received on my first morning on the island. It was instant panic and stress that would stay with me for weeks. In my next blog post I will reveal what it was all about.
In any case, I made a conscious effort not to let it interfere with the enjoyment of being home.
Coming to an End
My Christmas vacation was coming to an end. One last meal with my kids and their families and it was time to go.
As far as social media goes I was pretty much dormant over Christmas. There were a few reasons for this. Of course I was busy. But also my life appeared to be in a state of transition and stress due to that email.
My Route on December 8, 2017
My Location from December 9, 2017 to January 9, 2018
