The Trek — Epilogue

And it was such a lovely start to the day on Friday . . . !

A leisurely breakfast of pancakes at the International House of Pancakes . . .  topped up the gas in Blaine, before facing reality prices in Vancouver.  Passports and documents … check . . . . negative test results ready on phone … check.  Picked the slowest border line-up (grin) … check.  (Hmm, what was he handing to everyone??)  Within feet of the booth . . . the  US phone card in my phone must have said “oh this is Canada” . . . and immediately shut down — no buffer zone.  All documents vanished.  No problem . .  .  there are copies on Glen’s phone . . .  Nope.  Mysteriously his wouldn’t connect to internet.  After frantic, but fruitless attempts, the stony-faced CBS official filled in a yellow slip, handed me one of the mysterious white boxes . . . said “you have been randomly selected to do a Covid home test” . . . and and pointed us to a distant building.  Randomly selected, my foot — he’d been handing them out to everyone!  But at least I could re-install my Canadian SIM card and retrieve the missing info.

I don’t know what the T-Mobile guy had used to secure my regular SIM card . . . but it was laminated  and virtually impenetrable.  I tried . . . Glen tried . . . the guy behind the desk looked bored.  Finally, success.  Proof of our negative tests.  We were free to go.  It was a Friday afternoon in the middle of Spring Break — ferries would be jammed (we’d checked — there were no reservation spaces left)  Glen’s sister Sharon had generously offered their driveway once more (we had beer as payment) . . . but then I read the test kit instructions — go to directly to jail  . . . um – home . . . do not pass GO . . . do not collect $200 or make unnecessary stops along the way . . .  test must be done within 24 hours of reaching said address.   We headed for the ferries . .  . and waited. . .  2 hours and 45 minutes (thank goodness for a trailer where we could put feet up and make tea). Two hour journey from Tsawwassen to Duke Point . . . another 40 minutes home.    It was around nine  as we turned left off the highway at Duncan.  “I don’t believe it!” exclaimed Glen.  “What?” I mumbled sleepily.  “The left indicator is working again”.  For 6,500 kilometers, daylight driving with running lights had not been a problem . . .  but as soon as the headlights were fully turned on, the assisted breaking system between truck and trailer began doing strange things (including no left turn indicator).  So we avoided night driving.  Now, 2 kilometers from home it decided to work again.  Go figure!  It was lovely to be home — so much room!  Will tackle unpacking in the morning.

Saturday — anxious to get The Test over and done with (it had to be virtually monitored via Zoom equivalent) I attempted to open the LifeLabs site we’ve used multiple times before . .  . didn’t recognize password.  Reset . . .  twice.  “Gle-en . .  . I need help!”  Lots of tutting and cursing later we had forms filled out and an appointment for the test about an hour later.  Very nice young lady on the other side of the screen ran through the instructions.  “This is a combination oral/nasal swab” . .  . “Eww”, said I . . .  “sure hope it’s in that order!”  . . . we shuddered and giggled over thoughts of it being reversed. (Carry On Nurse and mixed up thermometers comes to mind) .  .  . anyway, I digress.  Five second cheek swab each side . . . left nostril, then right to the count of 15 . . .  into test tube . .  . label . . . ziplock bag . . .  shiny metal pouch . . . back into original box (struggle) . .  . sealed  envelope . . . shipping label.  Phew!  What about pick-up/drop-off? . .  . no problem . .  . any Life-Labs location — they’re open until 3 on Saturdays (it was now 1:00pm).

Off I set.  The office on Ingram Street would probably be less busy – –  forgot that the Saturday Farmers’ Market would be in full swing – blocking the road. Parked car and walked.  Rattled the Lab door .  . . locked. Never mind, there’s a bigger office at Beverly Corners.  No . .  .Completely dark — notice of office hours unhelpfully stating they closed at noon!  Now what?  Other options included scheduling a Fed-Ex pick up (not available on weekends) . . .  or driving to Victoria or Nanaimo to drop off at a participating Shoppers’ Drug store (I draw the line at that).  Not wanting a Canadian Border Services representative carting me off for questioning, I phoned Life Labs head office in Richmond.  “No Problem”, said the cheerful voice on the other end . .  .. “just put it in the fridge – it’ll be good for 5 days, and drop it off or call Fed-Ex on Monday”.  Why wasn’t that given as an option in the instructions!   Arrrrgh!

Not exactly the ending we’d hoped for the holiday . . . but it was a minor bagatelle . .  to be expected with bureaucracy . .  and in no way detracted from the outstanding trip we’d just experienced.  You can all breathe a sigh of relief that more rambling emails won’t be cluttering up your inboxes.