Canada Interrupted

My trip to Canada with the boys is in the books.  It was a once in a lifetime excursion off the coast of Vancouver.

Mark, DJ and Corbin Duckworth off of Vancouver
One Big Happy-yet slightly sick-Family

It was an amazing adventure that I would have never booked for myself.  Luckily, someone else planned it and we decided to join in on the fun.   That is usually not how I like to travel.  I prefer doing my own thing and not sticking to a strict travel schedule.  I like my itinerary to look something like this:

1.  depart at a comfortable time after 11 a.m.

2.  have some fun, relax, shop, eat, shop, explore, eat, shop, explore, eat and drink champagne.

3.  remind myself not to eat so much and get my eating-drinking-fluffy-fied self to the gym for some yoga

4.  depart after I’ve squeezed as much fun as possible out of my getaway

So the idea of flying from New York City to Vancouver and going on a bike ride in Stanley Park followed by a tour of a world famous aquarium did not ring my bell in the least.  After some discussion, I explained to Mark that he and Corbin could enjoy the action packed travel day while I chilled out horizontally at the spa in our hotel.  Life was good….until Corbin returned, stripped off his clothes and crawled into his bed with a fever.  Not a good start for our once in a lifetime Canadian eagle, bear, whale, seal and surfing excursion.

DJ and Corbin before the bear watching trip
Corbin playing dead as to avoid smiling while dressed for our bear watching excursion.

My lifelong friend Tori says you haven’t been on a real vacation until you’ve visited a local pharmacy.  When she first told me this, I thought she was crazy.  After traveling with a child, I have elevated Tori to the status of traveling genius for passing along this little nugget of wisdom. Our first vacation purchase was children’s Tylenol, Advil, Kaopectate and a thermometer at the nearby London Drug which was across the street from our hotel.

I took Corbin’s temperature.  39 degrees!  What?  He should be dead.  I quickly realized this was 39 degrees celsius and not Fahrenheit.  We crunched the numbers (The iPad did all the work. Although I had flashbacks of math classes in Carlisle, Arkansas where I was being taught this very lesson on conversions.  This would be the first time in my life I really needed that skill) and figured out he had a pretty high fever.  Lovely.  And then the diarrhea started.  Fabulous.

Poor kid.  This Once in a Lifetime bug stayed with him for the entire week.

Life teaches us lessons everyday…even on traveling days that you’ve anticipated for over a year! I was once again reminded to keep my expectations low and therefore not set myself up for disappointment when things don’t necessarily go as planned. However, I am sticking to my guns on leaving after 11 a.m. A morning person I am not!

We only missed one whale watching excursion.  Instead, we visited a Canadian doctor who told me we just need to ride out the illness.  Not the best of news when you’re little guy could use a quick fix for his stomach bug.

I’ll leave you with a few photos from the trip.

DJ Corbin and Mark in Tofine
We will be eating salmon for the forseeable future!

 

Corbin finds the hidden box
Corbin finds the geocache with the help of the only person in the family who can find anything….ME!