leg two

the road trip to tofino was uneventful, was going swimmingly even, seemed to fly by actually, UNTIL about 45 minutes out of tofino we came to a dead halt.  at first we were not alarmed.  just some road work probably.  we saw people getting out of their cars and going for walks.  we heard two ladies chatting to the truck in front of us.  "they said 3 hours!" i said, alarmed, to heather.  when the ladies walked near to us heather asked them.  sure enough the road would be closed until 3...some said 3:30, and it was then 12. we let this news sink in.  robbed of 3 hours.  then we got out the food and had a car picnic.

heather had to pee and we were stopped by a trail into the woods.  she found a biodegradable napkin and ventured out.  it was funny because the trail went up and i could see her head sticking up out of the lush undergrowth, step to the side gingerly and then slowly sink beyond sight.  when she got back she said "everyone in the car line up knows what i did."

sitting in the back seat was not all roses.  the seatbelt 'receptor' (what do you call that??) was digging in to my fleshy hip the whole time but now it was hard to ignore.  i stuffed a pillow on top of it in an attempt.  during the 3 hours i twisted and contorted into many positions.  in some i was comfy from my hips down but my top half was wrenched in unpleasant ways.  in others my top half was 'ahhh' and my bottom half was 'grrrr'.  i half napped, i did crossword puzzles, i watched the people go up and down the row of cars.  i hung my head out the window.  at first it was misting a fine almost floating flecks of water in the air.  but after a while it dried out.

the cars started coming from the other direction at 3.  somehow this was the worst wait. from 3 to 3;28 when it was finally our turn to proceed.  it was a relief to be on our way again and it was not long until we turned right towards tofino and were driving that familiar stretch, with glimpses of waves through the trees and the familiar names 'wickaninnish' and 'long beach'.  check in time at our air bnb was not until 5 but we found it first so we could tuck that knowledge into our belts and proceed.  it is very near chesterman beach and in fact just a bit down the road is a trail to the beach.  

this was leg 2 of the journey.