Ok, I must admin, I’m not keeping this journal up-to-date as I had intended.  Life just seems to be throwing me a lot of challenges, chores and tasks.  It’s been difficult juggling everything and maintaining my sanity!  Fortunately I’m already insane, so I don’t nee to worry to much about losing my sanity.

First thing is first…  I want to welcome Daniel Gregory White to the world.  My sister gave birth to her second child (my first nephew) last week.  He’s healthy, happy, and just about as hairy as his Daddy!  I’m pretty excited to finally meet him when I head to Toronto in September.  Crystal gets to meet him next week when she goes home for a week.

I’ve been trying to network and plan some sort of event for this summer.  It’s been slow going because of my hectic schedule, but I still want something to develop.  As of now, there is no official sponsor to the event.  I will be working to put together an formal business proposal for the future of the Skate For Hope.  I know it will be a long road, but I believe with a bit of help, I can put together the largest in-line skate event in Canada.  I visualize people flying in from all corners of the world to participate.  Realistically, I don’t think this will happen this year.  But I know it will happen eventually.

I’m also happy to say that some of my injuries have been healing.  Although i still have not been scheduled for the ankle surgery that I need, my knee seems to be better.  I’d say I’m running at 95% now.  Just a bit more conditioning and I’ll be good as new.  I even got to test it out on the soccer field this past weekend!  Now, if only my cardio was back in top form.

There’s been many small tasks I’ve been juggling including website building/maintainance, wedding planning, and everyday chores like cleaning, cooking and still trying to have a social life.  It doesn’t sound like a lot, but there’s only so many hours in a day, and I spend the majority of them sitting behind a desk at my office.  At least the summer is on the way!  I’ve even been able to rollerblade a few times already.  Can’t wait for the really good weather to roll in.

An interesting weekend, to say the least.

All the wedding planning has been pretty stressful. More so for Crystal than myself. The colour scheme and bridesmaid dresses seem to be giving her the biggest headache right now. So to help alleviate some of the frustration, Crystal wanted to take a trip across the boarder to Burlington, WA to have a look at a bridal shop. I reluctantly agreed to wake up at 6:30 am on a Saturday morning and drive her down so she could see some dresses and try some on. I didn’t mind too much since it was spitting a bit of rain as we headed down Granville Street towards the U.S. What else would I do on a rainy day?

As we sat in line waiting to cross into Washington, the clouds slowly started dispersing. Maybe this was a good idea after all?! Maybe the States will have better weather today. By the time I pulled into the parking lot at David’s Bridal in Burlington, it was just about 10am and the sun was beating down like it was the middle of summer! I made the commitment to watch Crystal try on dresses and snap some pictures of her so she could analyze the colours and styles later. But after 2 hours of sitting in a bridal shop with a bunch of women, I was ready to get out into the sun.

At noon, we were considering heading back to Vancouver for the rest of the day. But I suggested we take advantage of the gorgeous spring-like day and drive the extra hour into Seattle. We stopped for a bite to eat where Crystal was able to find a gluten-free dessert to help easy the wedding stresses. When we finally got downtown Seattle and parked near the aquarium, it was nearly 3 o’clock. But the sun was still beaming down. We walked through the city and explored Pikes Market. We picked up some souvenirs and watched a beautiful sunset behind the mountains on the horizon before hopping back in the Honda and heading for Canada. It took me a little longer than expected to manipulate my way through the confusing streets of Seattle and get back on the I-5. But eventually I got us home.

This morning I had a much-anticipated appointment to get the results of my CT scan of my ankle. It was a quick appointment, but extremely eventful. Doctor McKenzie walked into the room and said to me “Well, we finally hav a diagnosis for you. And I find it absolutely remarkable that you were able to rollerblade across Canada on this ankle!”

It turns out that I have 4 pieces of bone fragments lodged in my ankle. The largest of the 4 pieces is about 7 mm big! So these things have just been floating around in my ankle joint for the last year! Unbelievable! The good news is that my talus seems to be find. The pieces of bones should be able to be easily removed and I will be back in top form. The bad news is that it requires surgery to remove the fragments. I have yet to meet with the surgeon, but it sounds like it’s a very basic procedure and I would only be on crutches for a day or 2. I may even be back on the soccer pitch within a few weeks! Now, I hope my knee isn’t as serious.

What better day to start writing again than Valentine’s Day?!

OK. I know you’re all disappointed in my apparent lack of effort in journal writing. But I assure you that it has been 100% unintentional. My life has just been a whirlwind since being back in real life.

Just to give you an idea of what has been happening, here’s a quick run-down:

When I returned to work in October, my job was not solidified. I knew before I began this journey that although my company was supporting my decision to embark on this adventure, they could not guarantee that they could hold my position for when I returned. I appreciated their honesty and accepted their terms. So I was happy when they offered to bring me back. However, when I returned, I was put back on a 3 month temporary contract. Since I had left, they had begun training a new employee for my position. But the company had big expectations for growth. So they decided to welcome me back in anticipation that my department would need the extra manpower. From October to January a decision would be made if the company still needs the extra hands. As January approached, my nerves were growing anxious. I was confident that I was performing well, but you never know what the top dogs are thinking! I’m happy to announce that the 3 month temporary contract has now resulted into permanent employment once again! It would be great if I could focus 100% of my time and effort on SeeTheEnd, but realistically I have to earn a living somehow.

In the late Fall, many people contacted me with a common question…. “Do you still rollerblade everyday?” The short answer is No. Not because I don’t enjoy it. But because I don’t enjoy skating in the rain if I don’t have to. And for those of you who know Vancouver, we see plenty of rain!

So what am I doing to stay in shape? Well, my indoor soccer team was happy to see me return to action this past Fall. Sure, it’s only once a week, but the cardio workout I get is incredible! It also helps that I walk to work everyday. That’s about 5km a day!

For those of you who know me well, I’m one of the easiest going, relaxed guys you’ll ever meet. So to keep me on my toes, I have an unusual tendency to introduce various stresses in my everyday life just to see if I can handle them. As November marched on, I started to feel like I was getting to comfortable with everyday life. I needed a new spark. And there was only one thing that made sense. But the thing that was on my mind had been brewing for quite some time. And to make it more stressful on myself, it was something I had to keep a secret until just the right moment. On the morning of my Mom’s birthday (Novemeber 23), I unveiled my master plan to the world. Just before heading to work for the day, I pulled Crystal aside and asked her to be my wife! And so the next chapter in my life begins! What could be more stressfull than planning a wedding?! Oh wait…I know. How about trying to plan a wedding in Toronto from Vancouver! I’ve really out done myself this time! I caught Crystal (and everyone else) completely off guard because we were all focussed on my Mom’s birthday. Within a matter of weeks, we were on a flight back to Toronto to begin the wedding planning. Now were back in Vancouver working on the remaining details from the opposite side of the country. I never seem to do anything the easy way!

On top of everything else, I’ve also been working to find the cause of some ankle pain I’ve been having. I can’t recall if I mentioned this before, but before I began my skate last May, I hurt my ankle playing soccer. It never really healed completely, but I made the decision to go ahead with the journey regardless. I didn’t want to worry anyone, so I kept it to myself. And honestly, skating didn’t seem to aggravate it. But now that I’m back playing soccer and walking everyday, I seem to have a lot of discomfort again. So I’ve been to see doctors, physiotherapists, acupuncturists and specialists. I’ve been in for x-rays, bone scans and CT scans. So far there has been no official diagnosis, but I will be getting the results of a CT scan in the next few days. To make matters more complicated, I was just recently involved in a knee-on-knee collision during my last soccer match. I’m hoping I don’t have any ACL damage. Form what I’ve been told, you usually hear a ‘pop’ if you do serious damage to the ACL. So I’m crossing my fingers on this one.

The most recent project I have taken on to keep occupied has been to rebuild a great website. My friend, Christine, started the website www.CancerGrief.com. Since I work in the industry, I offered to help her out and make some changes and upgrades. Hopefully the changes will save her some time and money so she can put more effort into pursuing the motivation behind the site! It’s a wonderful site helping everyone and anyone who has been affected by cancer. Stop by her site and drop her an e-mail if you have a minute.

At any rate, you can see that I’ve been keeping myself busy. There’s still a lot of details I’ve left out, too.

I’m still hoping I can develop the Skate For Hope into some sort of annual event. If anyone in or near Vancouver is interested in helping to organize a rollerblading event for cancer research, please contact me directly.

Well, time is really flying by!  It’s October already and I’m back at work!

It’s a strange feeling being back behind a desk after being on skate for the last 4 months.

It will likely take me a few days to get back into the groove of things.   But when I do, watch for new changes to this site.  And be ready to hear about my plans for next year’s event!

I promise to start ‘journalizing’ gain soon, too.  Keep checking in.

By now you’re all foaming at the mouths waiting for more stories from me. I’ll do my best to continue writing journals to keep everyone up to speed on the developments on the Skate For Hope and the other wacky aspects in my life. Over the last week or so, I’ve been incredibly busy trying to easy back in to civilization and living a regular life. But I think it’s safe to say that my life is far from regular. I’ll spend some time filling you in on what has happened over the last several days such as having Adam here for the week, bumping into Gene Simmons, getting back into soccer, flying to Vegas, and much more.

So don’t forget to keep checking in on SeeTheEnd.com. I may have completed my trek across the country, but the journey will forever continue.

The day has finally arrived. My journey across Canada on in-line skates is coming to and end. But the battle against cancer remains.

I couldn’t let myself get too excited, though, because I still had some skating to get done. I strapped on the blades on the north side of Nanaimo pretty early today since I had to be at Departure Bay ferry terminal by 8:00 am. When I rolled up to the docks, it felt like the crew was already expecting us. They put us in a separate lane and explained that we would be the last vehicle on the boat so that I wouldn’t affect traffic when we depart in Horseshoe Bay. I was hoping to have some time on board to catch up on journals and pictures, but when the Captain announced that I was there, my morning just got busier. During the announcement you could sense that everyone was listening intently and trying to figure out who I was. My Dad was about 30 feet away from me chatting with some people and began yelling “Stand up! Stand Up!” I rouse to my feet and gave a bashful wave as everyone around turned to look and applaud. Almost immediately people began coming up to me and hand me donations.

Once the congratulations died down, I had the chance to meet a few interesting people on board. An incredibly generous and caring family from Aruba spent some time talking to me and asking about my journey. Then Bill Robinson introduced himself to me. He told me about an organization he started called Hidden Heroes. It is basically like a leadership camp for children in BC. He then asked if I would consider being a guest speaker at the camp. I’d love to, Bill.

When the ferry floated into Horseshoe Bay I waited patiently with my skates on as all of the cars departed. Finally I was given the ‘All Clear’ and was permitted to roll down the ramp onto the mainland. I hadn’t been on the pavement for more than 3 seconds when a policeman on a motorcycle pulled in front of me to begin my escort through West Vancouver. After another 35 meters, I looked to my right and saw 3 smiling faces watching me. Eugene, Ryan and the one and only, Adam didn’t want to wait at the Inukshuk for me. They came right to the ferry to participate in the final convoy of my journey.

Just before heading thorugh West Vancouver towards downtown, I had to make a quick stop at Trolls Restaurant to meet up with a few members of the Vancouver Torrent In-line Skate club. 3 of them decided to join me for the last leg of my trip. So off we headed across the rolling hills of Marine Drive with a dual police escort. I think the hills would have been tougher for me, but I had a pretty big surge of adrenaline to keep me going. It also helped having a crew of people to skate with.

The group grew even larger when we arrived at Park Royal mall where we were joined my several other members from the Torrent inculding Conny who helped set it all up, as well as my friends Kirsten, Pat, and Dave. Crystal also hopped out of the RV with her skates on for the final haul into Vancouver. It was pretty impressive to see about 20 or so skaters huddled around and then funnel down the road and over the Lions Gate Bridge. Once over the bridge, some more friends, Kevin and Jay, joined the procession on bicycles. Like a swarm of bees, we all followed the police into the heart of Stanley Park and around Prospect Point. We eventually met back up with Georgia Street and took over a traffic lane on the busy street. Cars were bumper to bumper, so our momentum was creeping along at a slow crawl. We worked our way up Georgia to Richards Street (ironic, I know), went one block south to Robson Street where we hung a right and headed back down towards Denman Street. The exposure was incredible. People couldn’t help but notice us. There was clapping, cheering, honking, sirens and flashing lights. With a final turn onto Denman Street, I was now heading down the last few hundred meters of a historical journey. I could see the bright red Boston Pizza tent down by the Inukshuk and crowd of people anxiously waiting for me to roll in. And then, just as quickly as I took my first few strides in St. John’s, Newfoundland, my trip came to an end at English Bay.

There was more cheering and clapping from an amazing crowd consisting of friends, family, colleagues, sponsors and strangers. The Deputy Mayor of Vancouver was there to congratulate me in my efforts. So many people from Hostway Canada were on hand to witness my finale. Hostway has always been supportive, but it was incredible to see so many people out to greet me. I posed for a few quick photos before removing my skates and plunging head first into the cool waters of the Pacific Ocean. Sure, it was cliche, but I bet if you skated across the country, you’d have the same urge.

The ‘Thank You’ speeches were filled with tears, embraces and surprises. In a moment like this, you might feel prepared with words to share. But when it comes down to it, nothing can make you ready for the flood of emotions that come gushing out. I tried my best to recognize and acknowledge everyone who played an important role in the Skate For Hope. But I’m sure I missed someone. To anyone I forgot, Thank you. The crowd listened as I spoke, the deputy Mayor spoke, my parents spoke, Robbie (Hostway) spoke and Andrea (Boston Pizza) spoke. But I was at a loss for words when Andrea and Brian walked over to me from the Boston Pizza tent and handed me a giant novelty check in the amount of $5000. The support they have provided across the country has been wonderful, and this was just icing on the cake.

After some mingling, chatting and pizza, another big moment was awaiting me. I was finally going to my apratment! As comfortable as the bed in the RV was, I’m really looking forward to sleeping in my own place again! But my work wass far from over. I still had to unload everything from the RV in lug it up to my apartment. Once I felt confident everything was out, I took a peek in my living room wich looked like a bomb had gone off. There was skate gear, clothes, shoes, papers and parcels everywhere. It’s a good thing I don’t have to go back to work until October. I think it’ll take me a month to organize everything.

Adam, Ryan, Eugene, Crystal, my parents and I went out for a celebratory dinner before heading to the Rivers Reach pub in New Westminster for the after-party. As I walked around the pub talking to frineds I hadn’t seen in months, part of me began feeling like I had never left. I especially want to thank Jordan for putting together the wrap-up party. You went above and beyond any expectations. The posters, the table settings, the food, the baloons and even personalize doonation envelopes. It was truley remarkable. And thank you to the Rivers Reach for hosting the event and the suprise donation, as well. This was exactly what I needed to conclude my journey.

Having Adam with me at the end of this trip made the entire struggle worth every grueling stride. 10,000 kilometers. 4 intense months. 1 amazing country. And countless lives changed forever.

The Skate For Hope is far from over. It’s only just begun. Together we can fight cancer one stride at a time and we will See The End

It’s hard to keep focussed today since I know that this will be my last major blading day. Sure, it’s only about 50-60 km from Duncan to Nanaimo. But knowing that I’m so close to the finish line is exciting.

The sun may have been shining down on me today, but the conditions were far from perfect. My worst enemy decided to make one last appearance. The Weather Gods were huffing and puffing trying to deter me from reaching my goal. It’s never enjoyable skating through wind like I was today, but I’m pretty sure I would have bladed through a tornado if I had to today. The road was smooth, but generally up hill most of the way. I had a few nice downhill grades, but for the most part I was battling into the wind and towards the sky. About an hour after starting from Duncan, I rolled into Ladysmith where we took a break for food. I also had a chance to stop at the local BMO to deposit the latest donations.

When I finally arrived in Nanaimo, the Police met me at the south end of town to escort me through the city to Boston Pizza. Crystal strapped on her blades and joined me through the city. The Officer in fornt of us had his lights flashing and sirens blaring for the entire escort. My Dad looked in his rear view mirror to see a 2nd officer join the convoy. As we got north of the city, the wind picked up more and the ground was a constant incline. Crystal hopped back in the RV and I tried to speed through the last few kilometers. As if uphill and into the wind wasn’t hard enough, the pavement suddenly turned extremely rough just as I passed Departure Bay Road. It just seemed like nothing was going my way.

My determination hasn’t let me down yet, and today was no exception. I pushed through the conditions until finally arriving at Boston Pizza where a local reporter met me for a few quick photos. We thanked the policemen, met with the BP staff and headed over to Jinglepot Campground sos I could have a shower before coming back to the restaurant later tonight.

With the help of Dan, Ricki and Alvin, the evening was very successful. The store offered a draw for a $50 gift card at Boston Pizza for anyone donating to my cause. Being a friday night, the restaurant was busy and donation rolled in as soon as Ricki announced I was there. Alvin suggested we stick around until after 10pm since the Clippers hockey team would be coming in with 100 other people. We tried to drag our feet, but by 8:30 we were exhausted. Tomorrow is going to be a big day and we know we need some rest. So we didn’t get to meet the hockey team, but I raised a lot of money regardless.

You can imagine how anxious I am to get back to Vancouver tomorrow. It’s been 4 and a half months since I was last in my own apartment! But the day is finally here. I’m excited to see all my friends and everyone who is waiting for me on the mainland. It’ll be hard to sleep tonight, but I need to have energy to complete the last 30 kilometers from the ferry to English Bay.

I didn’t leave Langford today until nearly 10 am. Although I had the Malahat to climb, I figured that I only had 50 kilometers to Duncan. The Police had shown some concern with me being on the Malahat and had offered some suggestions to get through it safely. But when I look back at some of the ugly situations I’ve managed to work through, the Malahat doesn’t intimidate me.

Shortly after 11 am, I had come down Ice Cream Mountain through some narrow, winding roads and climbed my way to the summit of the Malahat. Other than an excessive amount of scattered stones on the shoulder, the road conditions were immaculate! The pavement was like new! However, I can see why there are so many accidents. The road could be treacherous if it was foggy or wet.

I coasted down easily into Duncan shortly after noon. After a visit at BP and lunch compliments of the Subway, we drove over to my parents’ friends house. Herb and Joyce used to own a cottage (or cabin, depending on which part of Canada you’re in) on the same road as ours. They welcomed us in with Joyce’s kindness and Herb’s thunderous laugh. Being avid travelers, I’m grateful they were around to allow us to indulge in the luxury of a clean hot shower!

I received an e-mail from a woman telling me about a Dragon Boat team near Duncan. Apparently the Dragon Diva’s, so they’re called, are a team comprised completely of breast cancer survivors! I was told that they were practicing today in Cowichan Bay and I should stop by to meet them. So Herb drove Crystal and I over to see them before going to BP for dinner. The women were a riot! So much energy. So much spirit. And so much love. Without even knowing too much about me, they greeted me happily and made amazing donations of their own. Thank you Dragon Divas. Good luck in Australia!

Herb and Joyce’s daughter, Laura, and her husband, Joel, also came up from Victoria for supper to show support. We were also joined by a few other of Herb and Joyce’s friends for our meal. The most ironic guests tonight would have to be Lisa. She had read about me and came to BP with her family just to meet me. The reason I say it was ironic is that Lisa works at the Empress Hotel in the Tea Room! Had my mom known this a couple days ago, she would have been in heaven! And speaking of the Empress Tea Room, I also received another e-mail telling me that my facts were inaccurate. Forgive me, Barb. Apparently when my Mom went for Tea 27 years ago, it was with my grandmother, Barb, and Barb’s children, Malc and Trish. Barb, did Malc still have a black eye from the Tonka Truck I threw at him when you took him to the Empress?

With only Duncan and Nanaimo Boston Pizza’s left on the tour, I wasn’t expecting to see any new tricks come out. But they managed to find another creative way to bring in donations in Duncan. The store had gift certificates for various vendors around town. For every donation of $3.00, customers would be entered in a draw. It was that simple! It worked amazingly! It was another incredibly successful night. Only one more BP to go, but I’ve been blown away by the response from the Islanders. I hope Nanaimo is ready for me!

Four months ago today I strapped my skates on and dipped my fingers into the icy waters of the St. John’s Harbour and took my first strides of an epic adventure which took me across the entire country. Four months ago. The number sounds staggering. Over 9,000 kilometers. The distance sounds unachievable. One in 3 Canadians will develop cancer. Four months of my life and 9,000 km suddenly seem like a small, insignificant sacrifice when you look at the bigger picture. If I had really wanted to, I could have finished the journey in less than 4 months, but as it would be, I still have some ground to cover.

I back-tracked slightly towards the ferries to begin skating today at Royal Oak Drive. I was met by a small procession of Police motorcycles. The 2 officers were ready to lead me out towards the University of Victoria and down along the water front until I reached Mile Zero. I had just started blading when an A-Channel cameraman caught up to me for a quick roadside interview. We’ve worked incredibly hard to get media coverage to help spread awareness about what I’m doing. It always feels great when television, newspapers or radio stations put out the effort to let the public know. I have to rely on the media for exposure. Without the them to let people know what I’m doing, I wouldn’t have raised over $40,000 from individual donations to this point. I only hope more media will see the significance of my efforts and run a quick story. I’m very grateful to A-Channel in Victoria for taking the time.

The police escort wound me through Oak Bay and down to Beach Avenue. I’ve been warned about the drivers on the island but I was still caught off guard not once but twice today. Even with the Police in front of me. Both incidences involved drivers who were completely oblivious to what was going on around them. It was quite apparent that these people had severe tunnel-vision. They had only one thing on their mind. Fortunately I’m a superb athlete with cat-like reflexes. So I was able to react to the carelessness unfolding in front of me and avoid any catastrophes. I’m not sure if the sweat rolling down my forehead was from the beautiful morning sun, or from the near misses with traffic.

With the sun shining down and a thick, low fog rolling across the water, I was able to lose myself in the majestical setting of Vancouver Island. The gorgeous houses, the lush golf courses, the haunted cemeteries and the ocean breeze all contributed to make this morning one of the most enjoyable. I worked my way along the water until the moment of truth was upon me. “It’s just ahead,” the lead officer called back to me. I came around Beacon Hill Park to an open grassy area. And there it was. A big wooden sign. “Mile ‘0′ - Victoria, BC”. It was hard to believe that I was actually there. I had really done it. I was the first man to in-line skate successfully from Mile Zero in St. John’s, Newfoundland to Mile Zero in Victoria, B.C. But it was a very odd feeling. I thought it would be much more emotional. I think knowing that I still have over 100 km before I finish my trip prevented me from absorbing the significance of what I had just done. And to make it even more weird, the water wasn’t accessible from this point, so I had to skate an extra 2 kilometers past Mile 0 so I could dip my fingers in the Pacific Ocean. 4 months to the day, and I had gone from one side of the country to the other.

After a short break, Crystal laced up her skates and started from Mile 0 with me towards downtown Victoria. As the 2 of us headed away from Mile Zero, it almost felt like we were at the beginning of a journey back to Newfoundland! I think once across the country is enough for me, though. Just get me back to Vancouver and I’ll be content.

Crystal was 98% excited and 2% scared. Or maybe it was 2% excited and 98% scared. That’s what makes it so intense…the confusion of it all! But I’m happy to report that even with her gitters, Crystal was able to skate smoothly with me, hand-in-hand, all the way up Government Street and out of Victoria and almost to Langford! She even got to experience what it was like to skate on the Trans Canada Highway for a while.

While we were making our way out of the city, a car pulled over in front of the Police officer and jumped out with a bill in her hand. “Do you remember me?” she grinned. Last night when we had stopped for gas, the attendant had donated all of her tip money to my cause. She was now standing in front of me again with another donation! Another multi-donater! It’s people like her that make me proud to be Canadian.

We arrived in Langford and stopped by the Boston Pizza quickly to meet Janice before heading over to the All Fun RV Park. We still had a while before we needed to be back at the restaurant, so after a much-needed shower we drove back to Victoria. Jess from the Saanich Boston Pizza had asked us to stop by if possible to pick up another donation that had been dropped off. Of course we’ll take any opportunity to go back to his store, so we swung by for a few minutes. Just before we had to leave Victoria and head back to Langford for supper, we made another quick stop. This time it was a request from Crystal to stop. She was pretty excited to find out that there was a pizza place called The Joint on Wharf Street which makes specialty gluten-free pizzas! It’s been torture for Crystal to watch us eat pizza at the various BP’s. So she was in heaven when she found this place.

Back in Langford, there was a familiar face smiling at me in the parking lot when I arrived at the store. The woman standing in front of me was the same woman I had met at the Boston Pizza in Merritt a couple weeks ago who had suggested I stop in Langford! She runs a dance studio across the road and brought her daughter and 2 other dancers over to meet me and make another substantial donation. Thank you to everyone at the Westshore Dance Studio!

Inside the restaurant, I was able to meet a lot of amazing people. I young boy named Chris walked up to me to congratulate me and handed me an incredible donation. Rhea and Sawyer were another couple of great kids with their parents. Sawyer, don’t worry about the chocolate stain on your shirt. I know it wasn’t you. I saw your Dad drop the ice cream on you! And of course Janice, Vic, Mark and everyone else at BP…Thank you. The Boston Pizza’s on the Island are stealing the thunder from all the rest! You’ve all been fantastic.

Well, the long weekend is officially over. Back to regularity. Today is just like any other day. Kids are back in school and people are back to work. Oh yeah, and it’s also my Dad’s Birthday! I think he was feeling a bit left out since I spent my birthday in Wabigoon and Mom had Mother’s Day in Newfoundland. Dad is spoiled to be in a beautiful place like Vancouver Island for his big day. So to make him feel better, I put him back to work as soon as he opened his card. We have work that needs to be done!

Dad got on the phone started arranging Police escorts and media coverage. By the sounds of things, I should have at least a couple of Officers taking me through Victoria tomorrow. We mapped out the route through the city and decided to take a drive to see where I’d be skating. The area around Oak Bay and near the University of Victoria was breath-taking (even with the intense fog that was blanketing over us) with unbelievable mansions and ocean front property. I was driving at this point and pulled over when I saw a family of deer crossing the street. It seemed bizarre for deer to be wandering through this urbanized area. But it was awesome to see them up so close.

The weather network was calling for sunny skies, but all I could see was a sheet of white. And then the rain even began to fall. But we weren’t going to let it get us down. We park near the south end of Victoria and walked into town to look around. I figure that I won’t have time to stop and see all the sites tomorrow when I’m blading through, so I best be looking around now.

I knew Victoria was a small place, but I can’t believe how small the world is. As we headed towards the city, a young couple was walking towards us. My mom took one look at them and said “That’s a Vettorazzo boy.” Sure enough, it was a boy my mom had taught and Beth Caulfield who had also both gone to my old high school. It’s amazing who you run into when you’re skating across Canada.

The Legislative Buildings stand out as a memorable part of the day for me. Sure, the buildings have incredible arcitecture, and the history inside is amazing. But I was most impressed with their rules. While we walked through the halls, I came across an unusual sign. I could understand it they had signs that said No Talking, or No Cell Phones. But to see a picture depicting a person picking their nose was just plain weird. The only way I can interpret it is that they want us all to pick our noses while inside. So of course I had to oblige.

I was still giggling about the sign as we walked towards the Fairmont Empress Hotel. It’s a pretty impressive building, but has more meaning to my Mom. She explained how she has memories of having tea in the exclusive tea room in the hotel with my Grandma, Barb Darnley, Becky and Trish about 27 years ago. I wanted to see what all the hype was about so I walked right into the Tea Room and asked how much afternoon tea would cost. I walked away with my tail between my legs when the hostess explained it would be $55 per person without even batting an eye! Well, I wasn’t prepared to drop that kind of money since I don’t even drink tea, but I wanted to give my Mom a chance to re-live her glory days. So her, Crystal and I headed up an elevator and found ourselves in a private ‘members only’ section of the hotel on the 3rd floor over looking the harbour. Although there was no tea, there were a couple of tea cups which we took the opportunity to pose for a photo so it looks like we had afternoon tea there. Simple things for simple minds, I guess. It doesn’t take much to amuse us.

The sun finally broke through the clouds and burned the fog away. We jumped at the chance to stroll through the Old Town of Victoria with the sun beating down on us. Crystal and I did some window shopping which turned into real shopping and soon found ourselves in Chinatown. There some pretty neat shops and a remarkable area called Tan Tan Alley. This tiny alleyway is not even wide enough for 2 people to walk side by side. And yet when you stroll through it, there are some great shops an stores that you would never normally know existed. It was very unique.

We treated my Dad to dinner at the Cactus Club Cafe on Douglas street for his birthday. I know it’s not quite the same as the truck stop I was at for my birthday in July, but it’ll have to do. As great as Boston Pizza has been, you can imagine that Cactus Club came a refreshing alternative.

The West Bay Marine Village RV Park didn’t even hesitate when we called them looking for a site. It was a very different style of RV park than we’ve ever stayed at, but it was really nice. We were right on the water in the heart of a Marina. We were surrounded by boats and floating homes. And if you haven’t seen a floating home, it’s nothing like a house boat. They literally are gorgeous homes that float in the harbour. Marie, the woman who checked us in, was so warm and welcoming. She eagerly handed me a donation of her own as we chatted for while. Sometimes I don’t realize the importance of what I have no accomplished. Although I set out with a goal in mind, you never really know how it will turn out. And Marie helped by reminding me that I’m living proof that anything is possible if you just believe.