On the charms of red broadloom and apartment living

B and I have moved into a one bedroom apartment with a bathroom big enough to spin around in, reclaimed kitchen cabinets, an acceptable amount of storage space (thankfully we pared down our belongings before making the move out west), and a nice big living room with wall-to-wall tomato red carpet. As far as living arrangements go, I think it's a pretty good find - what seals the deal is that, if you make a right turn out our front door, it's a ten minute walk to my office, and if you make a left turn, it's a ten minute walk to the beach. I'm sure the novelty will wear of eventually, but having migrated from the relatively, flat, waterless expanse of Southwestern Ontario where the closest substantial body of water is a forty-five minute drive away, this location seems like somewhat of a dream scenerio. All that's left to do now is to pick up some furniture so that we can stop sleeping, eating and lounging on the floor.

B seems to be settling in and is mostly recovered from the drive across the continent which in the end only amounted to three days of driving stopping each evening to bunk down in a roadside motel. The first evening he and Karen spent the night in Walnut, Nebraska, the second in Ogden, Utah and the third in Port Angeles, Washington, where they caught the morning ferry to Victoria the next day. Compared to the experiences I've had making this journey, they made pretty good time - of the three times I've travelled to the west coast from Ontario by car, the fastest was two and half days and that was driving non-stop with two drivers trading off. The total cost of the trip, which put about 4,500km on the odometre (gas, food and lodging included for two people) was about $770.

Tomorrow we plan to take in the Royal BC museum and hopefully pick up some new (old) bikes at one of the Victoria's many second-hand bike shops. Getting acquainted with a new environment is a bit of an adventure for Baasje and I and we're enjoying the unusual sense of accomplishment that accompanies even the most everyday experiences, (e.g. shopping for groceries and going to the laundromat). Most of our trips by car include at least one u-turn and we have become accustomed to explaining our behaviour to people we encounter by mentioning that we are not from around here. Interesting times!

By the way, Mother Mother and Hawksley Workman are both playing here over the next few weeks. It'll be a treat to see Mother Mother (I'm curious to see what effect the departure of Debra-Jean Creelman has had on their sound) and am pleased to get another opportunity to catch Hawksley as we had to eat the tickets we purchased for his concert in London which took place a few days after my departure in November. Anyway, we've got our tickets purchased and the routes all mapped out! Can't wait!