For the last time, we were up at 6AM again, this time to catch the ferry home.
Boarding was pretty uneventful, really, but part way home we got a message... 5 inches of snow at my inlaws. (They only live 3 minutes from us.)
When we got to Victoria, it was snowing like crazy. Our friend Andrea picked us up, and off to her place we went, where we checked the Malahat (semi-mountain) web cam. Snow all over the roads, so we decided to take the Brentwood Bay to Mill Bay ferry, avoiding the Malahat. We missed the ferry by 6 cars.
After counting out that it would take us about an hour and a half for the ferry to go over, return and then get us to the other side, we decided to brave the Malahat after all. I've never seen so much water coming down that road, as the snow was melting like crazy. A couple of near hydroplanes, and we were over, and on our way home. By the time that hour and a half had elapsed, we were about 15 minutes south of Nanaimo, so it was the right move.
By the time we drove into Nanaimo, most of the snow had already melted, but the devastation is wrecked showed everywhere. Nanaimo's main city trail has ornamental cherry tress planted all the way down it, which are in full bloom right now. Many had fallen over from the weight of the snow, some had split in half, and I saw at least 5 where the crown of the tree had simply snapped off. As mentioned, very little snow remained, but these huge tree crowns, covered in pink blossoms, were just lying at the foot of the tree stumps.
Overall, my boss, (who lives 3 blocks from me,) tells me that we received 20 inches at my house. Only 3 minutes away, but closer to the ocean, my inlaws had received 5-6 inches. I understand that in our landscape fair at work that weekend, one of the tents we rented collapsed under the weight of all the snow.
It was a long day of travel, and we got home too late to take pictures of our yard, but I do have a picture of the tulips in the snow at my house from Sunday morning. Of course, Dee has already shut her computer off tonight, so I'll upload it tomorrow.
All in all, a very good and worthwhile trip, packed with fun, food, drink and information. The summit is March 1-4 next year, only 11 months away. By then I need to have someone ready to take my month end duties over so that I can be back down in Seattle, and you'd better believe I'll do everything I can to make that happen.
Not that I'm counting, or anything, but...
🙂
