When I was a young boy we started making trips to Victoria for Christmas. I think I was three years old when we came for the first time. We came again the following year and it sparked a tradition which lasted until 2000, the last time that my family as a group or in part, came to Victoria to stay at was then The Olde England Inn. The building was owned and operated by the Lane family, who opened the Hotel and Restaurant in the late 1940’s. The hotel was decorated in suits of Armor, hundreds of swords, knives, small weapons, classical British paintings, and always topped off with fresh flowers in every room. The staff uniforms were clothing of styles of the late 16th to early 17th Century. And Christmas time at the Inn was a very special treat. When I was little, after Chrismas dinner…the Hotel staff and the owners, Mr. and Mrs Lane, would host a photo slide show, tell stories, and present a Magic show at the end of the evening (it was the early 1970s).

Mr and Mrs Lane would travel the world every year, going on Safari’s, take river Cruises up the Nile river, etc…and take hundreds of photos. The photo slide shows (when I was a four year old boy) always put me to sleep. I wish I could go back in time a really pay attention now. I think I really missed something back then.

Just a few years later…after Mr Lane passed away, the slide shows and the magic show all became parts of the past. New employees became familiar faces, since we often did more than one trip to Victoria most years. And some of those employees from the late 1970s and into the early 1980s have remained friends with my Family over these many years. Our favorite person, from those days, Todd, we have tried very hard to keep in touch with. Of course, life happens, time moves relentlessly forward and things, and places all change, and people loose touch with each other in that ever changing cycle. I found Todd on Facebook a few years ago, and sent him a message. We messaged back and forth a few times, keeping him apprised of my travel plans this Christmas season, we kept a tentative plan to meet at some point during my stay in Victoria.

Todd and I were able to connect in the early afternoon on Boxing Day. We walked up to Pandora St and found a coffee shop, where we sat for an hour or more just catching up and comparing our life journeys in work, education, and experience. We had a nice conversation, as we walked back towards the Empress hotel and said or good-bye’s for the time being. Afterwards, Sammie and I hopped in the truck and drove back to SeaCider Co. so that I could purchase a couple of cases of Cider to bring home with me.

12/26/2025

A new beginning and some technological lessons learned.  

I just spent the better part of an hour writing a very heart felt and wonderful blog post…all lost to technological difficulties and login errors, in a land far, far away from home! No, not really far, far away. Just Canada.  

I thought I was logged into my server and continued to type and when I was done (for what I thought was a great Blog Post) it was blasted into infinity, because I wasn’t really logged in at all. I was (and still am a little pissed off about it), but I will attempt to rewrite it again, using a word editor and not the F***ing online app/ Tool. Because, it is a total tool!  LOL!! So, lesson learned (Type it off-line, and then post it!).

So, here is the re-write:

After Lisa passed away in August, my Uncle Ron (I know he doesn’t like it when I refer to him with that title, but he will always be that to me), my Brother, and my Sister-in-Law…all persuaded me to get out of the house and start living my life…again, on my own terms, in my own way. Ron had invited me (and my dog, Sammie) to join him on an off road adventure in Nevada.  I was mostly interested in the idea because it would allow me the opportunity to spread some of Lisa’s ashes in one of hers and my favorite places…Black Rock Desert, Nevada.

I struggled to muster the energy to pack for the trip…but I knew in my heart that if I didn’t go, it would eat at my soul and that I would wind up just sitting at home feeling sorry for myself, wallowing in complete sorrow and agonizing over the loss of my wife, my love, my best friend, and regretting forever that I didn’t go on that trip to Nevada.

The past four and a half years were filled with fleeting moments…as we struggled through her metastatic breast cancer treatments, therapies…Dr’s appointments, accidental hospitalizations, and ultimately her hospice care, and ultimate death. It had been a brutal, heartbreaking, and agonizing experience.  It took everything I had to keep going for her and for myself, and after she passed away, I didn’t know what to do or what to feel.  

After her passing, with the constant reflection of nearly twenty years, of the very best years of my life, realizing they were gone forever…in an instant. After such a brutal and debilitating disease…all I wanted to do was stay at home and feel nothing.  

This trip to Nevada felt like I was being duped into an illusion of life after loss…but, to my surprise I actually enjoyed the journey. It had its challenges, but it was an experience that I now cherish and want to repeat. That Journey changed me, and my perspectives on life and death!  It was that experience that made me stay the course for Lisa’s and my plans for Christmas in Victoria B.C. this year. And, since I hadn’t been to B.C. since 1999 or 2000. Lisa and I had it on our to-do list together for the past couple of years. 

So, doing the trip we had planned to do together…was easier to do alone thanks to Ron, my brother and his wife, all thanks to that trip in Nevada, just a couple months ago.  I am most grateful for their kick in the pants!

So, Sammie (my dog) and I made the trek from Portland to Port Angeles, Wa. to catch the BlackBall Ferry to Victoria on December 23rd, 2025. We arrived at the Ferry Terminal…and were in line for the next crossing…with about an hour to wait for boarding, I noticed a car with Oregon Plates that had a Star Trek – Star-fleet sticker on the fender.  after a few minutes…I decided to go and express my utter admiration for their sticker and potentially revel in our collective enjoyment of Sci-Fi taste! 

 I approached their car and motioned for the driver to roll the window down so we could talk.  When he did so, I mentioned that I too was a huge Star Trek fan…and it sparked a conversation that lasted about ten minutes.  We ended our conversation and then I popped back to my lane and back into my truck, realizing that I had a few spare Star Trek Magazines from the early 2000s that I always have in my vehicles for reading, in case of long waiting situations. I grabbed a couple of the magazines and popped back out of my truck and ran over to offer them to him. His name is Adrian, and his Girlfriend is Kat. I then headed back to my truck and sat with the dog in great anticipation of the Ferry ride to Victoria.  

Less than five minutes had passed when Adrian came over to my truck to tell me of his Star Trek Celebrity moment with Jonathan Frakes…I then told him of my legendary interaction with Mark Leonard in 1987, we each laughed at the other’s story, and once those stories were told, he headed back to his car. 

Sammie and I boarded the Coho Ferry, parked the truck, made our way to the dog friendly out-side seating area and made ready for our first ever, together crossing to Canada.  Shortly after we departed Port Angeles for Victoria, Adrian and Kat joined us in the aft outside seating area.  We spent most of the crossing just talking about Portland, Star, trek and our dogs.  We agreed to meet-up when we were in Victoria and as we got close to our Victoria arrival, we parted ways politely.  

I really didn’t expect that we would meet again. I was happy when Adrian texted me on Christmas Eve, with potential plans to meet for Christmas day brunch.  Sadly, on Christmas day the weather turned quite sour…with rain and winds that would detour most anyone from venturing outside. Sammie and I had been walking through Beacon Hill Park for an hour or so when the rains began, and we started heading back to our hotel when Adrian texted me cancelling out for the day.  I was not offended at all by the cancellation.  Sammie was soaked like a wet bath-mat as was I.  My camera was a little moist too!  

Adrian and Kat were able to meet up with Sammie and me at the Commons, this evening (Boxing Day) across from the Fairmont Empress (or simply “The Empress Hotel”) for those who know! We had a lovely time…again talking about Portland, Europe (Kat is originally from Poland), work, life, and everything else. We had a great night.

I think Sammie and I have made some new friends, that are local to our home-town area (Portland, Oregon) and they are genuinely my type of people.  I was honored to spend a little time getting to know them here in Victoria, and I hope to connect with them again when Sammie and I are home again.  It was nice to meet such wonderful people with so much in common, while being abroad in a “foreign land” (even though Canada is anything but foreign to me).

All of this…thanks to my family and their concerns for my mental health after Lisa passed away.  If I had given up, stayed at home back in late September – early October, I wouldn’t have found the courage to do the trip(s) that Lisa and I had planned together.  That I am doing them now…has given me the chance to make new friends and enjoy new experiences. Thanks Ron, Drake, and Heather!  I deeply appreciate your concern for my well being, and I am grateful for your recommendations for me to move forward with my life!  

Thank you to Adrian and Kat for making the time to join us. I/ we, look forward to our next meeting, abroad or locally in Portland! 

Victoria, Christmas day, 2025. Woke up late this morning (loving the sleeping in part!), ordered Eggs Benedict for breakfast with a side of Yogurt with fresh fruit. I like Coffee… Lot’s of Coffee, Fresh Coffee…drank some coffee! Lol! Showered, dressed, and took Sammie for a walk in Beacon Hill Park, and wound walking more. We trekked all over the park and then popped out at Spiral Beach…then we started back towards town along Cook Street. It was at this point that the rain started in, first a light mist, then a full-on shower. I realized at this point that I had no hat, and the camera was getting wet…and Sammie looked like a soaked bath mat. We were still more than a mile from the hotel at this point and had already traversed about five or six miles along the trails in the park and on the beach. Sammie was not happy with me, but she soldiered on.

We got back to the hotel, and dried off. Sammie hopped on the bed an promptly took a nap. Before I knew better I found that I too had fallen asleep on the bed with her. We woke a couple hours later and went to scout out more coffee. This time, since it is Christmas day, it was a little harder to find. Now, in Canada, most shops are closed on Christmas…with the exception of some Restaurants, and Coffee Shops. However, by the time we got in the truck to find some coffee it was too late, all of those options had closed on us.

We went back to the hotel and dropped off the truck and then headed to “The Commons” Restaurant for Christmas dinner. It was a three course meal…I decided on the Vegetable Salad for the first course, the Turkey Dinner for the main course, and the Pecan Pie Slab with Ice cream for the third course.

I discovered, (to my complete surprise) that my fifty-years long, and most persistent objection to yams…is wholly incorrect. I actually enjoyed the yams. Shocking! I know. Who Knew? It is kind of like the same objection to butternut squash. I have long stated that squash sucks…I am beginning to think otherwise. I am still hesitant to try Pumpkin again. That has been forced on me recently and I still don’t like it. So not going there! Along with dinner I had a cider and an eighteen year old Macallen with water on the side. It was a lovely dinner. I was glad they were able to accommodate Sammie and me. Yes, sammie got some bites under the table. She always does!