Tag: bus

Victoria,BC

Place 70 – Day 31: Victoria, BC – Brunch & Stockings!

Kim & Curtis Hale

Brunch

We began the day by heading out to brunch!

Linda had heard about a place called Courtney’s Room so we went to check that out.

The service wasn’t great and the food was just alright, so we don’t think we’d go again.

Stockings!

We left here and waddled back to Linda’s apartment.

Linda was very kind and bought us both stockings full of gifts!

Curtis got some new gloves and Kim some slippers. We also got some gift cards, chocolate and some tree ornaments.

We were incredibly thankful of these gifts from Linda.

Travel Home

We relaxed with Linda for a couple of hours and then said our goodbyes to walk down to the bus station.

We were going to get pizza, but decided it was too far away, so we got a Starbucks coffee and a small McDonald’s burger instead.

We got on the bus which took us to the ferry. The whole journey was uneventful and the ferry was much less bumpy than Thursday’s trip!

We got to the stop in Vancouver and walked home, which was only about 15 minutes, but we did stop in at the supermarket to get a potato each for dinner.

Learning

Kim went out to see a friend as she will be looking after their cat whilst they’re away for Christmas.

Kim had to learn what to do, when and also get the apartment keys from them.

Dinner

We had baked potatoes for dinner with tuna. We watched some TV which took us to bedtime!

We both have work tomorrow, but Kim doesn’t have work on Tuesday!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

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Victoria,BC

Place 70 – Day 29: Victoria, BC – Butchart Gardens at Christmas!

Kim & Curtis Hale

Brunch

We slept in a little and got up around 09:30 to get ready.Linda had already been to the gym and back, but once we got ready we went down to a place called John’s Place, which we had seen before but not eaten at.

There are a lot of photos on the wall of many different things, from sports people to musicians to films.

It was a very unique place and somewhere where each wall is different and something interesting to talk about.We ordered our food and were glad as we were very hungry!

Curtis got eggs Benedict, Kim got waffles and Linda had a halibut burger.All of our food was delicious and helped out by the free, warm, bread we got, too!

We finished up there and were incredibly happy with our decision. The staff were wonderful and so was the food.

John’s Place | Victoria, BC

Our Rating:- 10/10

Once we left there, we went back to Linda’s place for a rest and Kim stopped off at Winners to buy some gloves…and she bought 2 pair.

Butchart Gardens

Linda had lovingly bought us some tickets to take the bus out to Butchart Gardens with her and see all of the Christmas lights on the plants and around the gardens which are meant to be really nice.

Whilst waiting for the bus, Curtis found out that his team won the hackathon! That means he wins an Oculus Rift and he was incredibly proud of his team.

We took the bus which took us around 40 minutes and once we got there, we met with Linda’s friend Dee and her husband, Steve.

It was raining, but it wasn’t too bad and didn’t spoil it at all.

We had dinner when we first got there. Curtis got a vegetable curry and Kim had a turkey dinner (again).

It was great to spend the time with Linda and we walked around looking at the terrific light displays they had.

This was much better than the one we went to in Vancouver with Linda.

Bailey’s!

We got back to Linda’s and warmed up after taking the bus back and then walking up to Linda’s.

We sat around and relaxed for a bit, but then had a Bailey’s to celebrate Christmas with Linda!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Victoria,BC

Place 70 – Day 28: Victoria, BC – Brunch & Incredible Foot Massage!

Kim & Curtis Hale

Brunch

We were up at 09:00 to get ready for brunch/breakfast. By the time we both got ready it was around 10:30 and our brunch/breakfast time was at 11:00, so we all started the walk down.

Our brunch was in a hotel in the restaurant called Vista 18.

We got some coffee as well as a hot chocolate for Kim. This place was called Vista 18 due to being on the 18th floor, therefore it had some great views!

Curtis had eggs benedict with bacon & homemade breakfast potatoes, which were basically just potato chips.

Kim had a breakfast with bacon,eggs, pancakes and the same homemade potatoes.

Linda had the french toast which looked great! All of the portions were huge and it was an incredibly reasonable price.

Vista 18 | Victoria, BC

Rating:- 7/10

We were very full after breakfast and so we went for a walk downtown to burn it off.

We walked around a few shops to pass time and Kim also managed to buy some exercise gear she needed.

Foot Massage

Kim and Linda went for a foot massage at 13:00. The original booked time was 13:30, but they couldn’t wait so changed it to 13:00.

Whilst they did this, Curtis went back to the apartment and relaxed.

Time To Go

Once we were all back in the same room, we didn’t have long before we had to say goodbye to Linda and walk down to catch the bus.

We said our goodbyes and wandered to the bus station.Once at the station, we waited for a little bit and then boarded. The bus was very busy and very hot!

Once we arrived at the ferry port, everyone was way too hot so temporarily disembarked the bus to get some fresh air.

There was a small delay on the boat bring offloaded as the police were waiting for a car to speak to the driver, so we had to wait for that to be dealt with before we could board.

Ferry Ride

We got on the boat and sat charging our phones. We were able fully charge our phones, which was a result!

It was incredibly loud and busy on the boat, but it went quite fast.We loaded back onto the bus and headed towards home.We got back home and it was nice to be back, but we already miss spending time with Linda!

We stopped in at the supermarket for a bit to do a small weekly shop and to get some food for dinner.

We ate our dinner and caught up on some TV and YouTube videos before we went to bed, ready for work tomorrow.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 97: Vancouver, BC – Plugging The Holes

Kim & Curtis Hale

Curtis’ Day

Curtis’ day was very similar to yesterday. He was setting up some Apple Macs as well as some Windows laptops.

He had a few more challenging requests and incidents to deal with too, which was good to break up the day.

Luckily, Curtis got his keys that he accidentally locked in a cupboard back today too!

Right before Curtis left to head home, he got a request for a few macs for a new development team! Luckily, there are a lot of old ones laying around so Curtis can set those up for people, but its still a bit of a pain.

Curtis walked home alone as Kim was going to the hairdressers.

Kim’s Day

Kim got a few bits and bobs before her meeting about the project. In the meeting they went over a few things in preparation for tomorrows meeting as tomorrow they will be getting a lot of help and direction which will be amazing!

After the meeting Kim continued working on some pages that she made for the project and they came out looking great!

As someone was leaving for lunch she invited Kim along and they had a great little walk to the takeaway place, even though they walked the opposite direction for one block! Smak is a healthier place that does a range of veggie and meat options, mainly curries. Kim went for a thai green chicken curry and took it back to the office to eat. It was beautiful!

When Kim went back to work she continued with her project as she wanted to stay at her desk because there were 2 interviews scheduled for the afternoon. Kim had a lovely chat with each candidate when they arrived.

As there is filming going on next week, they had arranged for a scout to come out and check out the best locations to film. He arrived just after 4 and Kim gave him the tour of the office, but knew they would prefer the upstairs boardroom. He was completely sold and started taking photos for reference and organised to come back tomorrow to triple check the lighting in the morning, which is when the filming would take place next week. Kim sorted the new booking for tomorrow morning and then headed out to get her hair cut.

Kim walked to the bus stop while having a chat with Curtis on the phone. Went in and had a great time getting a nice and simple trim before walking home.

Plugging The Holes

Once Kim was done and got back home from the hairdressers it was fairly late! She relaxed for a bit and then we started making dinner.

As we were making dinner, our landlord popped over and filled some holes in our bathroom wall, which were created due to the towel rack falling off the wall. We had a quick chat with him and then had dinner.

We ate ‘tatertots’ covered in cheese with some leftover minced meat. It was really delicious but very filling too!

We watched some YouTube and ended the night with Vikings. Tomorrow is Friday!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 57: Vancouver, BC – Quarry Rock & Honey Doughnuts

Kim & Curtis Hale

Quarry Rock Hike

We were up at 08:00 and had bagels for breakfast.

We left the house around 10:15 and walked to the train station. We caught a train to the city to then catch a bus.

We got on the bus which took us all the way to Deep Cove, about 45 minutes from downtown Vancouver.

We got off the bus and just started walking. We walked for a bit and then noticed a sign saying we had gone the wrong way and had to turn back and walk all the way back to where we had come from! Luckily, other people had done the same so we weren’t all alone. We also got to see some really nice houses here, so not all was lost.

Once we returned to the right place, we began the walk up to Quarry Rock.

The trail up to the rock was 1.2km with the majority of it being on stairs but through some gorgeous woodland and higher up and up the mountain.

It took us about 30-45 minutes to get to the top, dodging people and crossing rivers (on bridges).

Once we got to the top, we had a stunning view! The weather wasn’t great, so there was no sun, but it was still nice to sit down and admire.

We walked back down the trail as we were very hungry and thirsty!

Lunch & Doughnuts

We were recommended a cafe called Cafe Orso so we went in, grabbed a table and each got a coffee.

Along with the coffee, we got half a tuna melt each with a tomato bisque, which was great!

Cafe Orso | Deep Cove, BC

Rating:- 8.5/10

We left after our lunch, incredibly full, and went for a bit of a walk and sit down by the beach.

We then went to Honey Doughnuts to see what all the fuss was about. This place was recommended to us by more than one person and the queue was out the door, so we had thought it would mean it was amazing!

Honey Doughnuts | Deep Cove, BC

Rating:- 7/10

We weren’t amazed by the doughnuts, they were just OK. Kim had a chocolate glazed and Curtis had a cinnamon sugar.

We left here and had a bit of a sit down whilst we ate.

We then left and caught the bus back, which took about 50 minutes.

We stopped off at the liquor store and bought some cans of Jameson, Giner & Lime to try.

Evening

We got a lot of admin done in the evening, as well as going for an evening walk.

We weren’t hungry after our lunch so Kim had a salad and Curtis had some toast.

We watched some TV and went to bed. We were exhausted!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 40: Vancouver, BC – Free Cookies

Kim & Curtis Hale

Curtis’ Day

It was a very warm day today and when Curtis walked to work he worked up a sweat!

When Curtis got to work he had an email regarding an issue with a mac which he dealt with and then he ended up getting a lot of tickets come in and got most of the sorted before lunch.

Curtis had a team meeting right before lunch which was productive and informative.

After lunch, Curtis’ day became a bit less busy but he did then notice a warning light on a server so he worked with a colleague to get that sorted.

Curtis then had 2 informative meetings in which he learned a few new things and then he walked home.

It was another hot walk and when he got home he relaxed for a bit before sorting out the recycling into type piles.

Kim’s Day

Today, Kim walkedto work all lonely because she had to get in early to man reception.

Kim got started on setting up for the day, putting out fruit etc. and then had a few questions for reception. By the time Kim finally ended up in the HR department to start her day it was 10!

This also didn’t last long. While doing some admin, Kim needed some help from the front desk with something so went back out there to go over a few things. While Kim was getting help, a lady from the Marriott popped by to make an introduction and say hello to Kim and another colleague. It was lovely to put a face to the name and she even came with cookies! They were delicious snicker doodle cookies and did not last long in the office!

Kim then eventually went back and continued with some admin.

Kim spent the rest of her morning and early afternoon after lunch on more of her project, just familiarising herself with the applications and how things work.
Kim then had a meeting about some HR procedures and even had a chance to help with some of the onboarding process.

Just towards the end of the meeting, some of Kim’s colleagues were walking around playing music and handing out ice creams! What a great way to celebrate mid afternoon on a Wednesday.

Kim kept herself busy for the rest of the afternoon.

She left early due to arriving early and took this opportunity to head to the bank to collect her credit card. One very hot train journey and 20 minute walk later, Kim had collected her credit card and headed home via 2 buses and the supermarket. She had to pick up some veggies!

Dinner

We sort of did nothing for a while and then decided we would make dinner.

We had pork and egg fried rice. Curtis made the rice as per usual and Kim cooked up the vegetables and meat.

TV

After dinner we just watched some TV and Kim showered to get ready for tomorrow.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 9: Vancouver, BC – Our New Home City!

Kim & Curtis Hale

As some of you may be aware, we have chosen Vancouver to be our next home, for a year or so.

Beacon Drive-In, Again

We went for breakfast at the Beacon Drive-In again today.

We opted for something different and both went for 2 eggs, sausages and hash browns. It wasn’t as good as what we each usually order, so that was a bit of a shame.

Flowers

We left the drive in and walked into the city to get some flowers for Linda, both as a thank you for having us and also for mother’s day (which it is here in Canada). She really liked them too, which is great.

Packing

Kim spent a while doing some ninja packing today. As we had to pack 5 bags, it meant unpacking everything and re-packing, but better.

Kim got it all packed up perfectly and we were able to comfortably fit everything in our bags.

Whilst Kim packed, Curtis watched Great Britain get demolished 8-0 by Canada in ice hockey, which really could’ve been much worse!

Walk, Chocolate Poutine & Coffee

We went for a walk after we were sat inside for most of the day, just to get some fresh air. We got a bit peckish, so we went to a chocolate place we had been before, Chocolats Favoris and we got chocolate poutine to share (fried doughnut style sticks covered in chocolate, marshmallows and ice cream).

We ate this and then went to Starbucks to get a coffee. We wanted to sit inside but it was full so we say outside for a brief moment but it was too cold so we walked back to Linda’s.

Chatting

We chatted with Linda for a few more hours up until we had to leave.

Once we had to head down to the bus station, we packed the last few things, said goodbye to Linda and walked down to the bus station, looking like pack mules!

Bus > Ferry > Bus > Taxi

We got the bus which took us onti the ferry.

When we got on the ferry we were hungry, so we queued to grab some food.

Kim decided on chicken strips and a ceasar salad and Curtis had a chicken pot pie with sweet potato fries.

We eventually left the ferry and got back onto the bus.

The bus company said that if we get off st the bus station, it is the first stop and we can catch the train to where we need to go from there.

We were informed wrong…

We were actually the last stop and didn’t get into the bus station until 22:10, which is much later than we expected.

The people we are staying with were waiting up for us, so to save time, we got a taxi to them.

Our Temporary Place

We were lucky enough to be contacted by a couple which offered us to rent a room of theirs whilst we look for apartments here in Vancouver. We aren’t looking to share long term, so are looking for our own apartment and preferably in the downtown area, which is exciting!

These next few days are jam packed full of apartment viewings and job phone interviews, so it’ll be a busy few days!

It’s been a long day and we’re glad to be getting some sleep.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

New Orleans,LA

Place 84 – Day 4: New Orleans,LA – Pharmacy Museum, Gumbo & Food Trucks

Kim & Curtis Hale

Pharmacy Museum

We decided on visiting the pharmacy museum today. We heard someone mention it the voodoo museum the other day that they’d been to the pharmacy museum, so we thought we would have a look.

We got the bus to the city and then walked from there. It was warmer today, but there was a breeze which helped.

We got to the museum and when we walked in, we were instantly struck with the smell of ‘old stuff’.

We later found out that the building was occupied from the 1700s by a pharmacist and then later was taken over by another pharmacist, before it was not used for a while and then bought and restored by the local council.

There was two floors of artifacts, namely tools and medicines which were used in the 19th century.

Something interesting was that all the liquids or solids within the bottles and jars are the actual substances that they say they are. This is particularly harrowing when the majority are alcohol or narcotics based, including opium and heroine! Some are even poisons.

We toured around by ourselves for a bit and then had a guided tour by the curator for around 45 minutes.

During this time, he explained about the history, what was used, why, side effects and all kinds of gross things, but also incredibly informative and interesting.

An old soda machine, used to make medicine taste better. This is why we have soda today!

Pharmacy Museum | New Orleans,LA

Rating:- 10/10

Towards the end of the tour, Curtis got incredibly warm and ended up fainting, which was dramatic for everyone around us! He was all ok though, Kim managed to catch him and he wasn’t any worse for ware. All part of the fun and games!

Cafe Beignet, Again!

We wanted a coffee and a bit of food, so we went to Cafe Beignet again, but a different one. This one was much older and had a great look about it. There was also a man singing there, which helped with the ambience.

We shared some Gumbo, which is traditional soup made with chicken, rice and sausage…absolutely delicious!

Curtis had a key lime pie and we got some coffee too.

It doesn’t look great, but tastes amazing!

Admin Time

We headed home after here, once we had a short walk around. It was too hot and we didn’t really fancy doing anything more.

We got back home in record time, catching the transport perfectly! It took us just 15 minutes or so.

We got back and both had some admin to complete, so it was good to get that done.

We ate the remainder of yesterday’s pasta and were still hungry.

Luckily, we’d been told by our host about a few food trucks which were congregating by the library, just a block away.

Food Trucks

We got to the food trucks and there were just a couple there, so nothing much to choose from.

We each got a crepe in the end. Curtis got a cinnamon one and Kim got a cookie butter one. They were actually great and from the crepe truck called Crépes á la cart

After this, we came home, chilled out and also planned what we will be doing tomorrow.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

New Orleans,LA

Place 84 – Day 1: New Orleans,LA 🇺🇸 – Voodoo Museum, Bourbon St, Louis Armstrong Park & Po-Boys

Kim & Curtis Hale

Flight

We had a flight at 07:35, so it was an early start.

We got to the airport around 05:30, checked our bags and headed right to the gate.

We got a little bored so we walked around and Curtis got a coffee.

Soon enough, we boarded the plane (which was to New Orleans, Kansas & Chicago!) And managed to get seats together.

The flight was just 1 hour 36 minutes and then we were in New Orleans!

Breakfast

The weather was terrible for our arrival! We got dropped at our Airbnb but couldn’t check in yet. We left our bags and walked to a bakery for breakfast.

We found Laurel Street Bakery which is fairly close to us. We were very hungry, so ordered a lot of food. We were tired too, so got a big coffee each.

Laurel Street Bakery | New Orleans,LA

Rating:- 8/10

Curtis had scrambled eggs, toast and bacon with fruit whilst Kim also had fruit but with french toast and bacon.

The food was pretty good and the coffee was perfect!

Bus Ticket Adventure

We decided we would get a bus ticket for 5 days, so we had to first pay for a single bus ticket ($1.25 each) and get about 10 minutes down the street to a ticket machine. Unfortunately, as we stepped off the bus, the rain came down and we got drenched!

It then turned out we needed exact cash for the machine and our card didn’t work in the machine, so we went to McDonald’s to get change. They said they wouldn’t be able to change it, so we had to go to the gas station next door who gladly changed it for us.

We got our tickets and were able to travel, but by this point we were drenched, it was still raining and we were very tired. Luckily, our room was ready so we went back to the Airbnb to shower and change out of our wet clothes.

Once this was done, Curtis fell asleep for a couple of hours and Kim did some admin. By the time Curtis awoke, it had stopped raining and the weather had cleared up.

Very Kind Host

We went out to the bus stop just by our house and as we were waiting, our Airbnb host arrived back home and offered us a lift down to the French Quarter, which was very nice of her to do!

We had a plan to go to the voodoo museum, so we walked that way, accidentally coming into contact with the famous Bourbon Street, which was fun.

Voodoo Museum

The voodoo museum was just $5 each and pretty small, but it had tid bits of information around the place, real artifacts from the history of voodoo and a lot of interesting things. We spent much longer than anticipated in there, considering it was just 2 rooms.

Voodoo Museum | New Orleans,LA

Rating:- 7/10

Louis Armstrong Park

We briefly visited the Louis Armstrong park, which seemed to just be full of abandoned buildings. That being said, the buildings were cool and the main one an old auditorium.

We walked all around the park and saw some cool buildings and even cooler bridges.

Po-Boys

We got hungry so it was food time.

Our host had told us about Po-Boys which are a traditional Louisiana sandwich, so we found the place she recommended which was called Mahony’s.

Curtis had the traditional fried shrimp sandwich and Kim had an angus beef sandwich.

They were pretty good, but the beef was much better than the shrimp.

We got a cocktail each too with Curtis getting an old fashioned and Kim having a coconut mojito.

Mahony’s | New Orleans,LA

Rating:- 8/10

Bourbon Street

We went for a drink on Bourbon street, after finding the cheapest place we could.

We also wandered around to see what was there and also watched a group of children playing the drums. The atmosphere was pretty good but we were also very tired.

Canal

We walked down to the canal for a quick look and saw that they have a steamboat that goes from there, which was awesome to watch!

*Ugh*, Public Transport

We were almost asleep by this point, so went to take the tram and then bus home.

We waited for the tram for a while and nothing showed…we ended up waiting way too long but finally got on the tram in the right direction.

We then waited 10 minutes for a bus to take us home and once got back we were pretty done.

We watched a bit of TV, did some more admin and went to bed.

Long, long day.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Miami,FL

Place 82 – Day 1: Miami,FL🇺🇸 – Cancelled Bus

Kim & Curtis Hale

Check Out

We got up at 08:30, packed the remaining items, showered, had breakfast and left the house around 11:00, after a game of Monopoly Deal.

Nice Houses

We had some time to kill, so we drove down through the really nice, huge, houses.

After we looked at all the houses, we drove to an ice cream place, got ice cream and then went to Starbucks for a coffee.

We had to leave shortly after, though, as our bus was due at the bus stop (which was a gas station).

Cancelled Bus

We got to the bus stop and then checked on the bus which said it was delayed by an hour, but the image on the app said it hadn’t left the first stop yet.

We called to ask, whilst we sat and had a doughnut in Dunkin’ and they weren’t much help.

We went back to the gas station and there was an attendant inside and she said she thinks it is cancelled but will check.

Eventually, she confirmed this and said we can board the 15:50 bus instead, for free. We looked into car rental but it was far too expensive so we booked onto that bus instead.

We said goodbye to Kim’s family as they had to catch a flight back to England. It was an emotional time for Kim, too.

We waited for an hour or so until the bus arrived and were happy to get on it.

Bus Ride To Miami

We had a 5 hour ride, which was less than our previous bus was going to be anyway, so that’s good.

We had an uneventful journey with only a few scheduled stops. We even skipped a few at the end so we got in a little early.

Nice Apartment

We got an Uber to downtown Miami, where our apartment is.

We are on the 42nd floor, with amazing views of Miami and the water!

Dinner

We wanted some food and were recommended to go to the bayside marketplace which has a few well priced chains in there.

We decided on Five Guys as it was easy and we fancied a burger.

Curtis chose to have a cheeseburger with lettuce, mayo, steak sauce, grilled onions & pickles, but he got mushrooms instead of onions, for some reason.

Kim got a small cheeseburger with lettuce, steak sauce, grilled onions and mushrooms.

We got a side of small fries and shared a chocolate milkshake.

The food was pretty nice, though as said before they did get the order wrong. The milkshake was incredible though!

Five Guys | Miami,FL

Rating:- 7/10

We got back, ate our food and went to sleep…we were very tired after a long stressful day, so were looking forward to getting some sleep.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale