Day 2 - Victoria to Courtenay
Another early morning for everyone. The train leaves once a day for Courtenay and it leaves at 8am. Fortunately, the train station was only two blocks from the hostel. We had breakfast stuff and we thought that we would be able to get coffee on the train. We thought wrong. And I didn't go to the nearby Starbuck's so I had to wait for coffee until we got to Courtenay.
The train itself was a diesel railroad car, which means that there isn't an engine separate from the car. They are the same thing - like a trolley.
The trip took almost 5 hours. There were several stops along the way but we couldn't get off the train. Of course along the way, every one got hungry so we got out the food again - and realized that we didn't have utensils. So the foil lids on the yogurt became spoons with which to eat the yogurt. And one of the kids discovered that if one broke off part of a bagel, one could use it as a spreader for the peanut butter and cream cheese. Necessity is indeed the mother of invention!
The kids took pictures and talked and slept. The adults took pictures (except me because the kids started using my camera for some reason) and talked and read. The kids and adults talked to each other. My idea of a great train ride.
Courtenay has the perfect little small town train station. It was probably built sometime at the beginning of the 20th century. It had a waiting area and a snack bar.
We made our way to the hostel. Did I mention that everyone packed light? After dumping our stuff we went out for lunch. And COFFEE! It had to have been one of the best Americanos I have ever had in my life - not because it was the best coffee or made perfectly but because I had been waiting so long to have coffee.
After lunch, we headed back to the hostel. I stayed with a couple of the girls who wanted to nap. Everyone else went to the river to swim. When they got back, we went back to the place we had lunch to have dinner!
During dinner, one of the girls asked me if I thought of the kids as my kids. I said no, I thought of them as people I enjoy spending time with. She smiled a great smile and said that was cool. A bit later during dinner, the kids came up with a "family tree" for our group. Two of the girls were the matriarchs of the family - a grandmother and her sister, the great aunt, the crazy cat lady. H. and I were Mama and Papa. R. was the crazy weird uncle. The other three kids were, well, the kids.
After dinner we found a grocery store that was open but about to close. For a bunch of dazzling urbanites like us, stuff closing at 7 pm or 9 pm was a bit rustic. We got breakfast stuff. And back to the hostel.
The kids hung out together and the adults hung out together. Eventually we all went to bed knowing that we got to sleep in in the morning! Yeah!
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