Greer Family News
May 5, 2005
Karalee, Allen, Jocelyn, and Kevin at Blackcomb, Whistler
We did far less skiing than we expected this ski season. Karalee and David would like to believe that it was the terrible skiing conditions up at Whistler (worst since 1976 and we're hoping that such conditions won't be what we see for the 2010 Vancouver/Whistler Olympics). The reality is that this is the first time in over a decade that we have not had one or more of the children in a ski camp. Combine this with the fact that we are reaching that stage where teenage life, especially teenage sports life, has taken over all of our lives and you get few ski days.
RVYC Sandwell Offshore Trophy
In January, the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, where we have been members for twenty-five years, awarded us the Sandwell Offshore Trophy. The Trophy is awarded to those who have gone offshore and promoted RVYC. We proudly flew the RVYC burgee throughout the Mediterranean and posted regular updates to the RVYC Seabreeze newsletter. After the award ceremony, David did is two-hour presentation on our two-year adventure to an audience of over fifty people.
Jocelyn in Seattle, Washington
Sports were good for David in high school. It kept him busy and out of trouble. As Jocelyn points out, when you are so busy, you keep yourself very organized. When you sit down to do homework, you do homework and you don't fool around. As Kevin has got more involved with basketball, he too is finding that his schedule is getting much busier. Since the start of January, Jocelyn, Kevin, and Allen have had sporting events just about every weekend. Karalee and David act as taxi drivers some of the time, with Jocelyn and Kevin taking the bus the rest of the time. . In April, Jocelyn and Kevin's basketball teams did a weekend trip to Seattle, Washington to play in a tournament. Their teams are one of the few from Vancouver that can compete against American teams.
Jocelyn, Karalee, Allen, Kevin, Barb (Karalee's Mom)
Karalee and David celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary by doing an eight day driving trip. It was our first break without the children in four years (and over two of those were spent living on a 43 foot sailboat). Karalee's Mom drove the thousand kilometers from her home in Cranbrook in order to look after the kids while we were away.
One car from making it on the ferry
Our first stop was a tiny island called Saturna. We had to take two ferries in order to make connections to Saturna. The first was the large Vancouver/Victoria ferry at 7:00 AM. We packed until midnight and then were up at 5:30 AM in order to catch the ferry. Karalee had asked me three times whether we should get a reservation and each time David told her "don't worry, the 7:00 AM ferry won't be full." We arrived at the ferry terminal at 6:40 and were told that we had a 50/50 chance to make the 7:00 AM ferry. We got in line and soon cars were being loaded. With only one car in front of us we were stopped and told that we wouldn't make the 7:00 AM ferry.
With David's name in the bad books, he took Karalee to the make shift dining facilities (the ferry terminal is in the middle of a construction project). After breakfast and reading the morning paper, we headed back to the car at 8:30 with plenty of time for the 9:00 ferry. David let Karalee into the car, slipped the car keys into his jacket. To be more comfortable David took off his jacket, put it in the trunk, and closed the lid. As David rounded the corner of the car, David thought "oh, oh." The remote trunk release was locked. The back seats were locked. The trunk was locked. The keys were locked in the trunk!
Ferry Entering Active Pass
David rushed off to the crew office - they couldn't help him (by this point, probably no one could). David made a phone call to the Automobile Association and was told that it would be at least a half hour until a tow truck could come and help us. David sheepishly crept back to the car where the doors were open so that David couldn't see visible signs of steam coming from Karalee. As we waited, all of the cars in line drove around us as they boarded the 9:00 ferry. At 9:30 the tow truck arrived and the pleasant driver spent twenty minutes figuring out how to unlock the trunk. With keys in hand a ferry work directed us to the start of the reserved line. This way we would be first on the 11:00 ferry to Victoria. Will David make a ferry reservation next time? You bet he will.
Plumber Sound and Pender Island from Saturna
We eventually did make it to Saturna Island and had a lovely two days at the Saturna Lodge. We drove around the island, which we had only visited by boat before. We even took in Saturna Vineyards, had a wine tasting, and purchased some wine.
Fisherman and Halibut at Port Renfrew Marina
From Saturna, we took the ferry to Victoria and traveled to the village of Sooke. Sooke is located on San de Fuca Straight to the West of Victoria. We had never visited Sooke before and stayed in a lovely the Tides of Seagrit Bed and Breakfast. We drove out to Port Renfrew where we visited the marina and watched as fishermen filleted freshly caught Halibut. When Karalee said that Halibut was her favorite fish, one of the fishermen ran off, found a plastic fish bag, cut off a fresh Halibut fillet, and handed it to Karalee.
Karalee Visiting Sooke Harbour House
After driving back to Sooke, we both prepared for our big night out. For our twenty-third wedding anniversary, David had booked dinner at Sooke Harbour House. The restaurant is rated as one of the top restaurants in North America by both Conde Naste and Gourmet magazines. The restaurant prides itself on only using organic products and sources as many of them as possible. Earlier in the day, we had visited the restaurant and walked through the garden which is filled with herbs and fresh lettuce. We had a lovely four-course fixed menu dinner with a palate pleasing combination of flavors.
Gardens at Royal Rhodes University
From Sooke, we traveled to Victoria stopping at Royal Rhodes University along the way. We spent our two days in Victoria visiting every art gallery that we could find. As part of our house upgrades, we wanted a painting for our entrance hallway. We eventually decided on a Vancouver island landscape painting by Steven Armstrong. In one of those "it's a small world moments", we discovered that the owner of the gallery had sold David's parents their first painting over thirty years ago.
Sannich Inlet from Prancing Horse
Our final stop was the Prancing Horses Bed and Breakfast in Malahat. We have cruising and explored the coast line for over twenty-five years, but we had never spent time inland on Vancouver Island. Malahat is the highest point on the island highway between Victoria and Nanimo and this was the first time we had seen it. We went to Shawnigan Lake for dinner and passed by Shawnigan Lake School where sailing friends Dick and Marian Leighton's son Steven is going to school.
David in the Cowichan Valley
The last day of our eight day trip was spent exploring the area from Malahat to Duncan on Vancouver, Island. We followed the coastal road, stopped in Cowichan Bay right next to the ocean (it's hard to get David very far from the ocean) for cheese, then drove thirty kilometers inland in the Cowichan Valley to the start of Cowichan Lake. After a final dinner out, we were up early to make the drive from Malahat to Nanimo. David and Karalee had never driven the Victoria to Nanimo road, so it was another first for David and Karalee. We enjoy still having some "firsts" together, even if it is getting a little harder after twenty-three years of marriage.
Nabiha and Jocelyn Inside Aya Sofa, Istanbul, Turkey
Our summer plans are coming along. Jocelyn is spending almost three weeks in Europe and the Mediterranean. She is flying to Monastir, Tunisia where she is visiting with her friend Nabiha who we met during our Mediterranean adventure. After spending a couple of weeks in Tunisia, Nabiha and Jocelyn are going to take the ferry to France. They will be traveling to the town of Barby to spend time with Nabiha's husband Frédéric François. The town of Barby is near Annecy which is the administrative capital of Haute Savoie. Back in Vancouver, the rest of us will be attending a family reunion in early July. We will then be chartering Dragonsinger for a two-week holiday. We are still figuring out what we'll be doing in August.
David has looked at over 150 business deals in the last year. It requires patience to wait for the right opportunity, but David continues to be actively involved in the local technology community so that he is certain that something will happen. He has also joined the Board of Acetech, a volunteer organization founded and run by technology CEOs to help mentor and develop technology CEOs in BC. He has also made an investment and joined the Board of Mailchannels. Mailchannels was founded by Ken Simpson and Will Whittaker to solve the problem of assured message delivery.
Karalee is confident that one of the five agents she met at the Surrey Writer's Conference will like her first book and take her on as an author. She is actively approaching the agents she met last September. While waiting for the agents to make their decision, she has started her second book.
If you have made it this far, congratulations on making it through our lengthy update. All of us are healthy and doing well. We always appreciate hearing from our friends and we hope that this update prompts you to let us know how you are doing.