Relaxation Vacation...

Last week I went to Point Roberts, WA to visit my parents for a few days of relaxation. My boss actually spared me some vacation time!

Rewind...

My parents bought five acres of land up in Point Roberts, WA to retire to. Currently they are building a barn to live in while they build their house. So for the past few months, they have been traveling back and forth from Chico and Point Roberts... It's weird to have my parents move so far away - I grew up in Chico in the same house on the same street with the same neighbors. Now, if you really knew me, you would know that I am not comfortable with change... Especially with something that I have known all my life. So this is a big step for me... Slowly I have been preparing myself for THE BIG MOVE. Enough about that... Makes me want to cry...

Fast forward...

I flew up to WA... Well, first I made Collette, Joe's mom, drive me to the airport at 4:30 in the morning - THANKS SO MUCH COLLETTE!

Point Roberts is the little pennisula off Canada. In order to get to down into it you have to drive through Canada for an hour and back down into WA. My parents have a Nexus card that gives them free passes through the border from either country, while I only have my passport. So I was privileged enough to walk across the border while my parents drove through the Nexus line. I totally forgot to get a picture, but there is a beautiful park on Canadian border with a beautiful Canadian flag made out of flowers.

The first day I was there, we drove to Richmond, Canada and ate at Pajo's - THE BEST FISH AND CHIPS place known worldwide. It is on a little dock and always has a line. To give you an idea of how delicious the fish is - We had to wait 45 minutes for our order.

The second day I was there, we drove to Mt. Whistler. This is where the 2010 Winter Olympics are to take place! All the buildings have a Scandanavian feel to them and everything is so clean. Canada, in general, is very clean.

This is from an outside cafe we ate lunch at. This is Village Stroll - just a street lined with mini-shops on the ground level and various lodges and hotels on the top levels.

We went to the Olympic Store where I tried my hand at bobsledding - SCARED OUT OF MY WITS!

And these are the Olympic mascots. They were friendly enough to let me rest my feet.

Point Roberts is surrounded by water - well it feels like it. We spent the evenings on the beach watching the sunset and listening to the waves.

On one of the beaches, people built forts with all the driftwood that floats up on the shore. These were pretty elaborate with little benches made with the flat wood and windows and doors.
The next day, my mom and I walked all over the town. She showed me the library - which used to be the school house - and the clinic - and the fire station - and the one grocery store - and a cute little cafe on the beach. This is where my parents spend most of the day since it has wireless. My parents have made a lot of friends up there as well! They walk with a group of people twice a week and they are known at the cafe as well. It's so cute to see them interact with their new friends.

All-in-all I had a wonderful time. Not to mention I hadn't seen my parents for five weeks before I went up there. I am very excited to go up there for Christmas - Sorry Bassetts - It'll be my first Christmas with them up there and I want to be with them!

When I flew back - Thanks to Melissa for picking me up from the airport - I started really missing my parents. I didn't miss them until I spent some time with them... Funny how that works... Sigh...

Anyway - I'm better now. It's late and I'm super duper tired. Hopefully this post made some sort of sense...

I definitely had a great time - the town is small and quiet, surrounded by water, and full of very nice people. I will have to make sure my boss continues to give me time off!!!!