Easy to Gage

In my best effort to channel Doc Brown, I will now whisk you back in time to complete my detailing of our time in BC. Please bear with me, the Delorean's been in storage for a while...

I last left us after a night in Victoria eating fresh seafood chowder and having a pint at the Sticky Wicket. We crashed that night at the local (dingy) hostel and were pleased as punch to see the sun rise the next morning. We stretched out and beelined for breakfast at a restaurant called John's Place, which we scoped out the day before as quite the popular spot. The food was decent but the waitresses had good senses of humour and the walls were plastered with sports and celebrity memorobilia. It was a fun place.

We made it back and waited 5 minutes in the lobby for Robyn's high school basketball coach and guidance counselor, Mr. Gage, to pick us up as he and his wife Donna live in the area and offered us a night's stay with them. Robyn and Mr. Gage have been close since she was in grade 9 and she speaks of him very highly and with utmost respect, so I was anxious to meet him. Donna was also a guidance counselor at Robyn's high school, where she met Mr. (John) Gage. John walked into the lobby and I could see why he played and coached basketball - he's a tall drink of water with salt and pepper hair and a wizened moustache. He embraced Robyn and then introduced himself to me, followed by a very sincere "it's very nice to meet you." We already had our heights in common, and his genuine interest in meeting the guy who's marrying Robyn further solidified a frienship. We were off to his house, which is on Bear Mountain in Langford, which was about a 30 minute drive.

We walked into the front door of their cozy and beautiful home and were greeted warmly by Donna, who immediately hugged Robyn and then asked if it was okay to hug me. I obliged her and laughed at the honest, caring embrace. We already felt at home. We dropped our stuff off in our room for the night (nicest room and bed of the whole trip, sorry Jess) and piled back in the car for a couple of hikes.

The hiking wasn't spectacular simply because the weather wasn't cooperating and the views were stunted. That being said, we both really enjoyed our time because John and Donna were simultaneously interesting, engaging, entertaining, and informative. We spent the nearly two hours getting to know each other and/or catching up. All of Robyn's high school friends and stories were recalled and I got to hear more about Robyn's illustrious high school basketball career. Fluxgold, apparently, was solid gold. Nature-wise, I was amazed by the look and texture of the Arbutus trees that lined the hike - these trees are indigineous to BC and have the distinction of shedding their bark and growing a new sheath. Very cool looking foliage indeed.
After our hikes we poured into the car and headed back 'home'. We were treated to a delicious dinner of BBQd salmon, roast potatoes, asparagus, and 'Russian salad' (a delictable potato-based cold salad, which was a leftover from a party the night before). Everything was phenomenal and it was very nice to avoid restaurant food for a night. The wine and beer flowed as easily as the conversation did, and we were all quite satisfied with ourselves. We spent the rest of the evening watching TiVo-d March madness basketball (did I mention John likes basketball) and continuing to talk the night away.

John and Donna reminded me of Robyn and myself in a lot of ways. John is a bit more reserved on the exterior but has a great dry sense of humour and under his gruff (ha!) shell he's actually a very kind and warm man. Donna's a gregarious personality who doesn't care to hide her love of life at all and can have a full-belly laugh at herself along the way. John typically would poke fun at Donna and she'd brush him off and roll her eyes. It was all quite comical.

Robyn and I finally went to bed and were amazed at how welcoming these two were and how comfortable we felt, especially considering I'd only known them for a few hours. We woke up the next morning to fresh, homemade waffles and fine quality maple syrup. Breakfast, like our whole time there, felt like a family gathering of sorts and we continue to be grateful to John and Donna for opening their doors to us and allowing us yet another, varied experience. If we are back through that way again we'll be sure to drop in, as I gathered they sincerely hope we will.

Next up - Tofino on a whim!