Let life come to you.

I guess that's what I have been doing. Just letting life come my way. Of course, amidst this life that we live - there are bumps in the road but - keep the faith because  there's glory over the hill. In this case, glory came with a phonecall.

 A weekend invite to The Gulf Islands and the sun is scheduled to shine!

Phone rings.....
it's my girlfriend shannon, from highschool.

Can I come over to the island to stay at her cottage?
love to!   

hockey crazy vancouver
 the ferry donned the flag!

made it over to galliano island on the ferry.  it was about an hour.   not long at all.
nancy  (who is another friend from
highschool) was able to make it too.  Fantastic!  3 single girls with lots of catching up to do.     so i left my car in tswassen and we drove in hers with our 2 dogs.  

nancy.

shannon met us on the  galliano side of the ferry.
Yeah ! - how do we get so busy with our lives that we forget to spend time with great old friends......   

First stop...breakfast and coffee.
we had eggs benedict at the local eatery
just as soon as we got off the ferry.

nancy noticed the cheeky sign of course but really,
it's good advice.

posing for pictures that make absolutely no sense is my specialty.
these guys are good subjects.
willing anyways!

There is no reason not to hug
"a man of style"

 we planned to have a good time but.....   try to keep it clean
(oh ya.  whatever)

And here we arrive at the home away from home.

this is where we spent the whole day
on the deck.  in the sunshine.

 We never seemed to run out of things to talk about.  that's just girls i guess.   nancy always remembers everyones names and crazy details.  she  could seriously write a column of who's who in west van.  she makes me laugh.   shannon is the business woman.    she has worked so hard and i am proud of her.

It's all good.

The sky is the limit.
this tree is right off her front deck.

Shannon's place is beautiful.  She has been remodeling and it is paradise.

very beachy.  white with pale blue tones.

completely relaxing.  truly a get away.

The main living space.

guest room for nancy
& sadie.

Nancy's dog sadie.

Cottage decorating.

The view from the deck

Cookin chicken...  

evening meal on the deck

of course, sea shell wind chimes

Let's celebrate getting together!

Champagne mornings & sangria afternoons.

Me & charlie's private suite.

now an Island dog.

I loved this bed.   so cozy.
 you look out windows to open water

the shower and sink area of my suite.

Shannon.    she is one smart girl.
she deserves a place like this.
really.

lunch girls.... because sun and sangria with no food
is never a good idea..
nancy is always our voice of reason.

sightseeing the island

evening & we lit shannon's lanterns in the tree.

Sunday we figured we would go for a walk.  Shannon's neighbor said it was about a 20 minute walk through parkland to get down to the beach.
                               perfect.  let's do it.

well - not really.

turned out to be 4 km down and 4 km back.

On the way down to the beach.
not sure how far.....

it was hot.  we had 1 bottle of water.  2 dogs. and flip flops on!     we passed bees buzzing in tons of yellow broom bushes and just missed stepping on a snake on the road.   

green grass and vancouver rain
means garden snakes.
harmless but i still don't like them.

We saw this abandoned car in the trees off the path.. but still no beach.

i thought this would be a great photo
shoot location.
we were too scared to look inside
could be something in the trunk
you never know.

I had no idea that the pavement was so hot on the dogs feet and my pooch ends up with a sore foot.

he is favoring his foot and licking his paw when we finally reach the beach.   

so what to do.....  

i have to carry him all the way back.
almost had a heart attack.
he weighs 40 lbs!

 The girls sacrificed most of the water for me.
good friends.  they even offered to carry him part way - but i was covered in dog hair and it was just not something I could put them through.   So they carried my camera and documented the ordeal.

This is where i almost died.
poor charlie....he knew i was trying to help him
but i just couldn't carry him every step.
I was never so happy to see the car.

 Its amazing what you can do when you have no other choice...

all in all it was a great bonding weekend for us girls again and we caught some sun and some exercise too.
our thoughts are this...  let's do it again soon -
or let's go to italy together!  (of course)

and yes,  love can move the universe.

We raced off to catch the ferry home and gave shan a big hug
for being so great to have us and our dogs.

black cherry ice cream before we leave is a must.
so we just threw calories to the wind.

It sure is....