Last week I was in beautiful Victoria, BC.
My daughter and her High School Marching Band were there to march in the Victoria Day Parade. They even made the front page of the local paper!
My wife and I were there to celebrate the beginning of 20 years of Marriage in the place we honeymooned.
While we were there we met so many very nice people and saw so many beautiful things.
You might know, I'm a hockey fanatic.
The Stanley Cup is named after Lord Stanley. He also happens to have a park in Vancouver aptly called Stanley Park. We had to stop by and say Hi.
I also was able to go by GM Place, the stadium of the Vancouver Canucks. The truth is they have never been one of my favorite teams. Can you tell?
We had lunch in a cute little tea house up island called Adrienne's.
Who would have guessed it was owned and run by the parents of one of my favorite NHL Goal Tenders of all times, Ron Hextall! Ron wasn't there but I did manage to get behind the cash register for a photo.
On the way back we had to stop off at Timmy's place. No, I wasn't hungry for a Timbit.
Wait - did you know Tim Horton was a NHL Hockey Player? Now you do!
Hey, I met another famous Ron along the way...
While touring the gorgeous Butchart Gardens we were able to recreate a picture my wife and I took almost 20 years ago, this time with a small addition.
It was a beautiful time.
On the last day, my daughter surprised me with a little something.
A small pocket reminder in pewter.
You'll recognize this as the symbol Yin Yang. Good vs Evil. Light and Dark. Chose your own label. My interpretation is simply, Balance. In everything there is balance.
I was reminded of that balance on our return home.
One of our best friends live in Colorado.
Windsor, CO to be exact.
This is a video of her neighborhood.
She wasn't hurt. Her family is ok.
Her toddler son was in the Day Care but came out ok (the restaurant next door was leveled).
Right now we're looking to help those that didn't.
Balance...
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Sounds like a lot of congratulations are in order. 20 years of marriage... daughter in marching band... and meeting Ronald McDonald!? Wow. What an honor! LOL
Hi, Mike!
Glad to see you back and a big congratulations on your anniversary! Thank you for sharing the occasion and the pictures with us.
Sad to see the damaged area. I'm glad your friends are ok.
Sounds like a wonderful trip, our hearts go out to all of those affected by these awful storms! We are glad that you friend and her child were ok!
Lisa - Thank you. The kids had been standing in the staging area for hours. I saw Ron and asked him to come over and meet the kids. He was awesome! I looked for Jack but I think he was already on the parade route.
Yolanda - It was nice, we had a great time. I wish there was more I could do for those that lost their homes in CO. Very sad.
C Team - Thanks. She is actually a grade school teacher. She took care of her class first. Can you imagine how she felt not being able to run out and check on her family first? Yet Police Officers, Firemen, Doctors, Nurses, Bus Drivers and School Teachers do it every time there's an disaster. Wow!
Mike - I starting reading your post thoroughly enjoying your hockey photos & all, and you caught me off guard with the end. My son actually plays hockey about once a year in Windsor at the old rink up there for the Northern Colorado teams so this is just closer to home than I would like. I am glad to hear your friends are ok. It sounds like there was a higher power involved in that day care being spared - if you believe in that higher power sort of thing. Which I do. I watched the whole video. I don't think the news crews got into the neighborhoods like that at the beginning so that is actually a bit more than I saw on tv.
Steve - You got it! That was in part, the intent of the post. Everything is balance. When we're feeling great there's someone close to us that isn't. The same goes for those dark days. If I'm having a particularly bad day - I know there's some sunshine close by. Every cloud has a silver lining? Every silver lining has a cloud as well. Thanks! Hey, what position does your son play?
He is mostly center or left wing. He just made the jump to Pee Wees in a rec summer league and so we are learning how to check before the next "real" season begins. I wasn't so sure how he would handle it, and sort of thought this may be it - but he is really liking it so far. I don't know if his momma can handle watching anymore though.
I am glad your friends are ok.
Hey Mike, You missed a great opportunity to pop over the Strait on the MV Coho and visit Port Angeles and Sequim. I'm glad you enjoyed your visit. Great photo in the Garden.
When you said on twitter this was your last hockey post of the season, I was expecting to see something about the Detroit Redwings winning the Stanley Cup. The parade was yesterday for those of us here in hockey town. ;-)
Maureen - Neal Bloom and I are two of the biggest hockey fans (at least as far as we know) on AR. Congrats to you and your RedWings! Out of the over 100 hockey jerseys I own, i have more RedWing Jerseys than any other team (including my SJ Sharks!)