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Sep. 5th, 2006
Victoria Ho!
Sep. 5th, 2006 06:58 pmI've been wanting to compete in the 8K portion of the Royal Victoria Marathon for a couple of years now. Circumstances have always clobbered it. Either I didn't have the money, or it was too close to another trip to Vancouver. I'm always worried about overextending my welcome with my Vancouver friends and the race occurs roughly halfway between the summer and my birthday.
This year, things fell into place. First, Westjet had a one day seat sale (as I mentioned earlier). At first I tried to use my Air Miles to book the flight, but it's a long weekend and it's only a month away. That's a recipe for lots of "I'm sorry sirs..." from the Air Miles operators. I had the Westjet page up at the same time and noticed the insanely low fairs, so I told the guy I'd use the points for my hotel instead.
Turns out I couldn't get a decent hotel on that day either. I could buy a gift card for the hotel I wanted though, which they tell me I can use anytime, just like it was cash. A little more expensive in terms of Air Miles points then simply getting the room, but it's still better then paying for it with real money.
I also managed to enroll in the race and get the requisite time off. Despite the flow of this narrative, I did them first.
Only tangentially related, I also enrolled in a Continuing Education course at SAIT. It's offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the next three months, so my mini-vacation will be short because of it.
So here are the details: I'm leaving Friday morning on WS551 (10:30-10:53, October 6). I'll spend friday afternoon and evening visiting friends.
Saturday I get to take the ferry over to the island, pick up my race kit (by 6 PM) and check into the Best Western Carlton Plaza Hotel in downtown Victoria. Conveniently located one block from my new favorite restaurant, Syn. After a hopefully fabulous meal, I'll get to bed early so that I can be up for the race that starts at 7:30 (Given that I live one time zone to the right, it'll feel like 6:30 - ugh).
Sunday will be the race. as it's only 8K, I should be finished before 8:30, which is when the race participants breakfast is. I'll go back to the hotel and clean up and check out. Then I have a few hours to kill before I have some dinner. Finally, I catch the last ferry back to Vancouver and get back into the civilized portions of town late. Then I crash.
Holiday Monday I can do more visiting. Of course, Thanksgiving is a time for families, so I might not get the chance. We'll see. If not, I'm sure I can entertain myself somehow.
Tuesday, I catch my afternoon flight back to Cowtown - WS168 (14:00-16:17, October 10). That should give me just enough time to get to my class at SAIT.
Is this not a wonderful combination of spontaneity (I planned this all today on a lark) and anal-retentitiveness (I did plan the hell out of it)? I'm looking forward to it.
This year, things fell into place. First, Westjet had a one day seat sale (as I mentioned earlier). At first I tried to use my Air Miles to book the flight, but it's a long weekend and it's only a month away. That's a recipe for lots of "I'm sorry sirs..." from the Air Miles operators. I had the Westjet page up at the same time and noticed the insanely low fairs, so I told the guy I'd use the points for my hotel instead.
Turns out I couldn't get a decent hotel on that day either. I could buy a gift card for the hotel I wanted though, which they tell me I can use anytime, just like it was cash. A little more expensive in terms of Air Miles points then simply getting the room, but it's still better then paying for it with real money.
I also managed to enroll in the race and get the requisite time off. Despite the flow of this narrative, I did them first.
Only tangentially related, I also enrolled in a Continuing Education course at SAIT. It's offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the next three months, so my mini-vacation will be short because of it.
So here are the details: I'm leaving Friday morning on WS551 (10:30-10:53, October 6). I'll spend friday afternoon and evening visiting friends.
Saturday I get to take the ferry over to the island, pick up my race kit (by 6 PM) and check into the Best Western Carlton Plaza Hotel in downtown Victoria. Conveniently located one block from my new favorite restaurant, Syn. After a hopefully fabulous meal, I'll get to bed early so that I can be up for the race that starts at 7:30 (Given that I live one time zone to the right, it'll feel like 6:30 - ugh).
Sunday will be the race. as it's only 8K, I should be finished before 8:30, which is when the race participants breakfast is. I'll go back to the hotel and clean up and check out. Then I have a few hours to kill before I have some dinner. Finally, I catch the last ferry back to Vancouver and get back into the civilized portions of town late. Then I crash.
Holiday Monday I can do more visiting. Of course, Thanksgiving is a time for families, so I might not get the chance. We'll see. If not, I'm sure I can entertain myself somehow.
Tuesday, I catch my afternoon flight back to Cowtown - WS168 (14:00-16:17, October 10). That should give me just enough time to get to my class at SAIT.
Is this not a wonderful combination of spontaneity (I planned this all today on a lark) and anal-retentitiveness (I did plan the hell out of it)? I'm looking forward to it.
