The Perfect Plan

It was the perfect plan, well thought out with contingencies for all kinds of things. I went to bed early on Wednesday so we could make the drive to Vancouver in one day. We allowed time for traffic and meal stops. We had a hotel booked by the time we got to Vancouver with two beds and a wheelchair access bathroom, albeit without a roll in shower. That one is really pushing our luck. I even booked the room for three nights, using points for one night so I could save a bit of money. It was the perfect plan, until Mother Nature got involved.

This morning we got up, David and I, secure in the knowledge that we had a place to stay for tonight, and plenty of time to go see Mary, Albert, Rose, and Quinn over in Victoria. We had a plan for both the 11:00 AM ferry and the 1:00 PM ferry, little knowing that there was also a noon ferry, which is the one we ended up taking. We thought we had gotten lucky.
1Unfortunately it was also the last one to make the trip, either too, or from, Victoria, or Nanaimo for today. The weather was lumping up pretty badly as we crossed the Strait of Georgia. Heavy winds and rough water do not a happy voyage make, especially for high sided, flat bottomed vessels like the BC Ferry fleet.

Thus it was that, just as we met up with Mary, we got the message. All ferries returning to the mainland from Vancouver Island have been cancelled for the day. We were, and are, stuck here in Victoria with none of my gear, no clothing for David, no commode chair, no M-rail, no nothing. Fortunately, I am flash of brilliant planning, I brought my suitcase this morning just in case I had a catheter failure or something like that. So at least I have clothing and my medications. Nonetheless, what we didn't have was a place to stay. it wasn't in the plan for Victoria. We were supposed to go back to Vancouver tonight.

Mary and David got on the phones and began the search. We've ended up at a motel in Victoria, not all that bad, one I've stayed in before, but fairly basic. On the other hand, since the ferry was cancelled and everyone trying to get back to Vancouver needs a place to stay, there are no discounts on rooms tonight. I am likely to be paying as much for my motel here on the island as I am paying for my four star hotel in Vancouver; you know, the one I am paying for but not staying in. In Nanaimo.

In the meantime, we have a reservation on a 7:45 AM ferry tomorrow out of Nanaimo, a two hour drive up island. We couldn't get anything from here. So we will skip dinner with Mary, Albert and the kids. We will drive for 2 hours. We will hope to find a hotel within our budget, or any budget at all. Then it's up early tomorrow, breakfast on the ferry, and who care where we sleep tonight, so we can get to my Mom's 85th birthday celebration tomorrow. That assumes, of course, that the weather cooperates tomorrow morning.