Girlfriends

But oh! the blessing it is to have a friend to whom one can speak fearlessly on any subject; with whom one's deepest as well as one's most foolish thoughts come out simply and safely. Oh, the comfort - the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person - having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together; certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.

~Dinah Craik

Judy. Traveling as we do, I do not have a great many girlfriends in my daily life, but I have developed some beautiful friendships over the past years in various places around the world. Spending time with them is a gift I cherish, whether for weeks, days, or even, on occasion, a few hours. 

In the past few days, I’ve had the opportunity to stay with some amazing women. 

Patty and I met in Santiago, Chile, at a church we attended. She is from Calgary, Alberta, a place I knew nothing about. In the few weeks we spent there before returning to our respective countries, we developed a deep friendship that grew over texts and emails in the following years. The recent visit with her was only our second since the time we met, yet despite many different interests, we see like minds in each other. She’s taken me to meet her friends, like Lorena. Seeing Patty is like coming home, with confidences and laughter shared, and a deep understanding as if we’d known each other since childhood. I feel renewed after visiting her. 

Patty (L) and her longtime friend Lorena celebrate Canada Day

We met Leanne and Tony while in Oaxaca, and hiked with them several times, volunteered to feed the refugees, and wandered the city, so we definitely took them up on the invite to stay in their beautiful home in Nanaimo, British Colombia. Leanne and I found time to spend together, and found ourselves pouring out family history and concerns and love. Caught in a traffic jam, we left our fellas in the car and ran to explore the Cathedral Grove of trees, like two kids ducking out of school. 

Leanne is a great friend to hike with and share confidences

Sue and Terry we’ve known for years. They were huge supporters of the drama program I taught, and both their daughters were my students. Somewhere along the line we began to travel together, and Sue and I have shared pride and concern in our kids (the same age), joy in the countries and states we’ve visited (together and separately), and a rising concern for the split we see in our own country. We try to visit them yearly in their present home of Olympia, Washington. This last time, we arrived while they were away for a few days, and they gave us the key and had food and wine waiting for us. There's some trust there.

Years of travel and raising kids

There's Nancy in Santa Barbara, whom we met when going to Iceland. We got along so well that Ted and I drove a couple of hundred miles out of our way to spend time with her and her husband Mike.

Nancy can see right into your heart

These are just a few of the women in my life who make it richer. There’s also Samara in Morocco, Inmita in Spain, Caroline in France, Wakaba in Japan, and Sylvie in Montreal. There's Anne in Vero Beach, Linda in Augusta, and Meghan in Athens. There are Sally and Carolyn in Snellville, and Pam in Gainesville.There’s my daughter, my daughter-in-love, Ted’s sisters, and a plethora of nieces and cousins. Some of my former students come to Athens for a lunch with me. There are the dear women in my Zoom Bible study, several of whom I’ve known in person for years. 

While it’s a lack in my life not to have lots of girlfriends in Athens to go out with for coffee or lunch or cocktails on a regular basis, we do the best we can to catch up when we meet. Girlfriends are a true blessing. 

“Make new friends, but keep the old, One is silver, and the other gold.”

Vancouver Island

Ted. Back in 2018, Judy and I spent about a week in Victoria, the capital of British Columbia but that was the only part of Vancouver Island that we had ever seen. The island is huge; at more than 12,000 square miles, it is larger than Sicily! Most of the people live in Victoria so, aside from a few smaller towns, it is mostly mountainous wilderness. 

For this visit, we chose to focus on a small portion along the southeastern coast of the island. Our first stop was at the home of Tony and Leanne. We first met them on a hike during our visit to Oaxaca, Mexico in 2019. We really hit it off and they said we should visit them at their home in Nanaimo, BC. They made the same offer when we reconnected again in Oaxaca in 2024 which was when we began to think seriously about taking them up on their offer. 

Tony and Leanne live in a gorgeous home with tons of windows looking out across the Strait of Georgia to the mainland of Canada. With a spotter scope in the living room, one can watch passing fishing boats, Alaska bound cruise ships and even whales. 

Our hosts took us on hikes and other adventures “up island,” following the coastal road about a third of the way up the eastern shore. This is a wonderful place with a balmy mediterranean climate so it attracts a lot of Canadian retirees. The trees get really big here and it’s also a good climate for fruit orchards and vineyards. 

Dodd's Narrows

Tony is quite a chef so we ate well and savored delicious BC wines. I especially enjoyed accompanying Leanne to her weekly Rotary Club meeting where I was impressed with the number of service projects that they had in the works. 

During our time with Tony and Leanne we learned about their lives and the issues that Canadians deal with. We spoke frankly about politics and US - Canadian relations. All four of us were deeply saddened by the rift our country’s leaders have created with our neighbor. The Canadian people seem to be deeply hurt by many of the things that have been said and we all look forward to the repair of the bonds that have always existed between our two peoples. 

Leanne, Judy & Tony

The three days with Tony and Leanne flew by and then it was time for us to head “down island” a bit to an Airbnb in the tiny hamlet of Genoa Bay. With about 10 houses, a marina and a small cafe, the community has little to offer except for peace, quiet and incredible views. 

Genoa Bay Marina

The first morning I woke up and walked down to our little dock, I was able to watch a family of sea otters about 20 yards away. They frolicked on the rocks for a bit and then hopped in the water to search the kelp beds for breakfast. 

Sea otters

One day we took a whale watching cruise our of nearby Cowichan Bay. 

Cowichan Bay Marina

We saw many species of birds as well as sea lions (both Stellar and California), harbor seals and tiny 3’ long harbor porpoises. 

California Sea Lions

Then, we were able to locate, and follow a pod of six Orcas for about an hour. It was wonderful to learn about their lives as well as the challenges these magnificent creatures face. 

Orca

Again, we enjoyed more hiking and great food. 

Kinsol Trestle

Genoa Bay Cafe

Eventually it was time to drive to the lovely city of Victoria where we stopped for lunch in our old neighborhood and paid our respects at the statue to local artist, Emily Carr - a favorite of ours. 

Judy and Emily with her dog and pet monkey

Finally, it was time to board the ferry to Port Angeles, Washington. From the deck we said goodbye to Vancouver Island and Canada. Between this trip and our time in Quebec, we have spent about a month in Canada this year. We were able to renew friendships and remind ourselves that our neighbor to the north is an incredibly beautiful country filled with some of the friendliest people in the world.

So long, for now

Crossing BC

Ted. Judy and I have chosen to take lots of breaks on this trip, keeping our driving days fairly short. Thus we took three days to drive from Revelstoke to Nanaimo, BC. 

We first took a bit of a detour to see some of the Okanagan Valley. Known for farm lands, fruit orchards and vineyards, we spent the night in Kelowna to try some of the local wines. This is a pretty town resting on a lovely part of Okanagan Lake - a dammed up portion of the Okanagan River. Rather than visit wineries, though, we decided to rely on local restaurants to taste wines. That made for a very pleasant stop. 

The next day we proceeded west, stopping at Chilliwack in the Fraser Valley. We were stunned to discover one of the coolest examples of small town renewal that we have ever seen. District 1881 (see district1881.com) is a remarkable live-work-play neighborhood. It appears to have been lifted right out of an old town in France or Germany. The city leaders who devised this plan were truly inspired. 

We woke up the next day, bound for the Horseshoe Bay Ferry but first needed to make one stop. Back in 2018, while Judy and I were staying in North Vancouver, Servas hosts, Marian and partner John, had invited us to join them on a hike. They had followed our blog ever since. Knowing that we would pass through North Vancouver on our way to the ferry, Marian kindly invited us to her home for a delightful tea and catchup chat. 

Judy & Marian

It just took 20 minutes from there to the ferry which carried us to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island where we were to spend nearly a week. I think I’ll stop here and pick that bit up later.

In the middle of the Strait of Georgia, aka Salish Sea

Revelstoke, British Columbia

Ted. Driving west from Calgary on the fabled Trans-Canada Highway we enjoyed incredible scenery, passing Banff and Lake Louise before entering British Columbia. In Golden, BC, the highway begins to follow the Columbia River, not far from its source at Columbia Lake. About a hundred miles later, on the other side of Rogers Pass, we stopped in the old railroad town of Revelstoke. 

View of Mt Begbie from our hotel

Founded in 1880 by the Canadian Pacific Railway, where the tracks were to cross the Columbia, trains still play an important role here. In fact, the town is named for a man who helped fund the railroad. Nowadays, though, forestry and tourism are the main sources of revenue. 

We had chosen to spend two nights in Revelstoke so that we could explore nearby Mount Revelstoke National Park. 

Pulling up to the park entrance on a bright Sunday morning over Labor Day weekend, we were surprised by a line of cars that wasn’t moving. It turns out that there is just one road into the park called the Meadows in the Sky Parkway. The road ends near the peak in a small parking lot holding not much more than 100 cars. When the lot is full, the park uses a “one in - one out” plan. This means a car can only enter the park when a car leaves. The bad news was that it took over an hour to pass the gate. The good news was that we enjoyed a quiet morning in the forest with nice music and friendly chats with the very apologetic rangers.

Ranger Ben

Ultimately, we made it to the top which was, for obvious reasons, nearly deserted. We took the short hike up to the peak and enjoyed wandering around and admiring the views of the mountains that lay in every direction. 

Lake Revelstoke

The Old Firetower

Selkirk Mountains

Back in town, we had a very nice dinner and then took a walk around town. As the sun set, I walked across the Columbia River.

Three bridges cross the Columbia River here

We found Revelstoke to be a peaceful town with magnificent views and good restaurants. 

All too soon, it was time to resume our westward trek.

Back on the "Friends & Family Trail"

Ted. Judy and I had made the most of our month back in Athens, Georgia but now it was time to hit the road again. This would be our second two month road trip in 2026, but now we would focus on Western North America. As with our recent journey, our route was shaped by our friends and family. We knew it meant driving a lot of miles but these people are important to us and it had been too long since we had seen some of them. 

On Wednesday, August 26, we flew to Denver, Colorado, rented a truck (cheaper than a car!) and drove to the nearby home of my sister, Kathy and her husband. We had lots of good food and conversation and Steve (a Yankees fan) even put my Atlanta Braves baseball games  on his TV so I could watch my team sweep the LA Dodgers! 

At the end of our short but sweet visit, we exchanged hugs and headed out on the road, bound for our next destination. Missoula, Montana. 

This is one of our favorite towns in the US. It’s a perfect size, with lots of things to do, especially hiking, as it sits at the junction of five valleys. 

We were able to stay with our good buddy, John which was important to us. When we first met John, he was married to a wonderful woman named Susan. Sadly, she passed away two years ago so on this visit we tried our best to lift his spirits. 

At the Nat'l Museum of Forest Service History

Leaving Missoula, we drove north, across the Canadian border to Lethbridge, Alberta where we stayed in the home of a great couple named Eller and Tess. 

We had met them two years ago on a Transatlantic cruise during which Eller and I and some other nice folks played pickleball every day. One evening, we were able to have dinner with Eller and Tess and their group of travel companions. It was a memorable night and Eller said, “If you’re ever in Alberta, please look us up.” Well, you know how that usually ends… 

Back on the courts!

From Lethbridge we continued our wanderings of Alberta with a visit to Dinosaur Provincial Park in the “badlands” region of the province. We took a fascinating hike through outcroppings that were full of Cretaceous fossils. Bones of over 60 species of dinosaurs were literally emerging from the soft rock formations all around us. The most famous variety is called a Centrosaurus which is the size of a rhinoceros but looks like a one horned triceratops. 

An emerging Centrosaurus horn

Not a souvenir - a sample from our guide!

After our walk through the badlands, we drove on to Calgary for a stay with Judy’s good friend, Patty. 

The two ladies first met in 2018 at a church in Santiago, Chile. Patty's husband, David works in the mining industry and was temporarily assigned to an operation in Chile. During our six weeks in Santiago, Judy and Patty became very close. We visited them once four years ago but the two friends still chat weekly over the internet. 

When we arrived, they hugged like sisters and the party immediately got underway!

Together again!

There was one more person we wanted to visit before leaving Calgary. We first met Mavis, a sweet Jamaican woman, at our church in Georgia more than 20 years ago. Mavis is now 101 years old and still retains that spunk that we so admired on first meeting her. We see her from time to time when we are in Georgia and she always keeps up with our travels. Four years ago, upon hearing that we were headed to Calgary, she asked us to call on her niece, Connie. We immediately hit it off back then and promised to come see her again when we returned. Connie, is now into her 90's but still stays extremely active and we had a fun visit with her.

Judy and me with the always lovely Connie

After a final day catching up with Patty, it was time to head west on the Trans-Canada Highway as more adventures awaited in British Columbia.

The glorious Canadian Rockies