JULY 27 - Good Friends, Memories, and Sore Feet

This post really belongs in my Tamar Shags Off blog, but it's going here anyway, as I'm too wiped to write two postings tonight. Thanks to my friend, I'm almost too tired to write this one, as she was dragging me all over Vancouver.

My day started with a bus/Sky Train ride into Vancouver to visit Graham and Audrey, who are friends from my other life, when we were all teachers in a small Newfoundland community.  I got off the train at Granville Station, and then headed up to the Sunset Inn, which I thought was very appropriate  for a couple celebrating their 40th anniversary. It was a longish walk, but very straightforward - walk up Seymour, cross over to Davie, walk up Davie until you see a great big Sunset Inn sign in the sky, keep walking to Thurlow, then turn up an alley that of course had no entrance to the Inn unless you drove in the underground parking, keep walking up to the next main street, walk over a bit, and turn down Burnaby Street, keep walking until you figure you're near the city limits, and there you are.

While I was waiting for Audrey to come git me, a nice young couple with a baby stroller left the lobby. You can be assured that I was surprised when she looked at me and said, "Mrs. Vokey?"

Yes, it was Mr and Mrs Wayne Pond's young maiden, Jennifer, with her husband and beautiful baby daughter, Avery. Now, if you believe there are no coincidences if life, this proves you wrong. Because, if I had taken the bus to the hotel, I would have missed them. If I had gone on inside and not waited for Audrey to meet me, I would have missed them. And they didn't know Audrey and Graham were staying at the same hotel until then, so there Jennifer was with three of her grade school teachers, way across the country at a hotel near downtown Vancouver. I would certainly call that a coincidence.

It was so .... wonderful ... to see Graham and Audrey again after all these years.

We had a few reminiscincesces (whatever) then Audrey and I took off for an afternoon on the Town. Lunch first though, at Hamburger Mary's on Bute and Davie.

I ordered a Pulled Pork Sandwich with Fries, and Audrey ordered a Hot Roast Beef Sandwich with Fries. She actually ordered a Hot Turkey Sandwich, but the turkey who was supposed to take the turkey out of the freezer forgot to do so. We ate, drank and were indeed maryed.

Mine in the foreground. Sandwich was good, but my recipe is better, naturally.  ( Pulled Pork and Coleslaw  - if you want to try mine.) Lots of food, however, the plates were piled high, and half of mine came home with me and ended up as a pre-dinner snack (I didn't know Howard was going to order pizza.)

Then we went walking, downhill mostly, to Sunset Beach (there's that word again) and English Bay Beach. It was so nice to spend some time near the water again, the sky was gorgeous with cotton candy clouds and the breeze was fresh. 

Audrey's pose reminded me of a Christmas verse I wrote for them many many years ago:

Graham gets the Christmas tree

And Audrey's up the stump

Merry Christmas to you both

And to your little lump.

We took in some West Coast Art -

 -

This guy thought my joke was really funny. When I look at the picture, all I can see is my mom trying to whisper in his ear.

It was a wonderful day - up to the time I hugged goodbye (outside a gay bar) and headed back to the Sky Train station. I walked down Davie, then turned when I shouldn't have turned, and walked way past where I should have walked, and ended up God Knows Where. I knew I was out of bounds when I came to the Burrard Bridge. So I cut down a street, and walked too far that way, then cut across in what I hoped was the right direction and obviously walked too far that way too. I stopped a nice looking lady to ask her if I was headed for the Sky Train station.

 She looked at me and said, "Tak , to jest przez tamtędy."  

So I kept on walking .... and walking .... and walking. It took me about half an hour to walk to the Sunset Inn - it took me an hour and a half to walk back. Then it was an ultra-crowded train ride home, with standing room only, between a guy whose elbow was higher than my head and a group of Asian teens who were never taught to cover their mouths when they coughed and sneezed.

Home was indeed sweet - with many thanks from my poor sore feet - I'm glad my feet weren't like these feet, let me tell ya!