July 12-13

Terrible to wait until Friday to get the photos up and post... but here we are. One pic in here is of my annual start-of-sandal-season pedicure, which I had done at Le Sooke Spa. It lasted a month! Very impressed.

I was oh-s-close to finishing contract work and being free last Friday, on the 11th. A day I'd waited for for quite some time--but I simply couldn't do it. I got material too late in the week to finish edits, and so we scrambled, me working until 2:15 when we had to leave at 3 to catch the ferry. The house looked like we'd been robbed, but we were packed, and on our way to Salt Spring, to Ruckle Park, where we camped for two nights. I can't describe how wonderful it was--the weather was hot, and we got a wonderful site right on the beach at Ruckle, where we sat the first night and watched the ferries float by, and the colours change with the amazing sunset. I must have taken a hundred photos, trying to capture it. That first night when we got there, I played on the beach with Anna while Tim did the multiple treks from the car to get our camping gear to our site. The smell of dry grass, the salt water, a bit of decaying crab, all rolled together with the sandstone and the calm waters took me back. The east coast of the Island, and the gulf islands, have such a different character from our new home in Sooke, I kind of forget what it's like. Until I'm back. And then I get a little home sick... not for Victoria, but for the peaceful beaches.

In the morning we met our friends at the amazing market, and I was instantly overwhelmed by the many ways to spend money on crafty things and local food. We bought some treats, and salt spring cheese, and some collard greens and fresh fish and other things for dinner. We picnicked at the top of Mt. Maxwell, then back to our site for a gourmet meal with our friends. They left to catch a post-supper ferry, and Tim, Anna and I trekked around the Ruckle Point trail trying to find geocaches. We were 50% successful.

On Sunday we went to St. Mary's Lake for a dip (well, I dipped, but my landlubbing family preferred to stay on shore), then caught the ferry and tried to right the mess at home. It didn't last.