February 15, 2007 Vancouver

My Dad picked us for the trip to the airport at 1:30 for our 3:40 departure. We had a stopover and plane change in Calgary, where we ran into a short delay. Apparently, the labour shortage there is so acute that they are short of people to clean the airplanes between flights. We arrived in Vancouver about a half hour late at 6 p.m. Pacific Time (8 p.m. our time). Sue met us, as well as a friend of hers that was on the same flight from Calgary. We dropped off her friend and drove to Darren & Sue’s place, where we made arrangements to meet Sue’s parents for dinner.

We were quite excited to meet Sue’s parents. Although Darren and Sue have been seeing each other for about eight years and have lived together for two or three, we parents have never been in Vancouver at the same time. We walked to a nearby restaurant, arriving about 8 p.m. Sue’s parents, Don and Lynn, arrived soon after. We had a very enjoyable evening getting to know them. It is obvious where Sue gets her good looks and pleasant personality. We finished up around 10 p.m. and returned to Darren and Sue’s place where we visited until about 1 a.m. before turning in.

We learned a couple of interesting things during our visit. First, Darren and Sue had made an offer on a condo that had been accepted, although the paperwork was still not complete. Also, Darren had been in Columbia for a few days for some anti-kidnapping training in preparation for the time he will have to spend in Brazil in the future. It is reassuring that they are being proactive, but disconcerting that it is necessary!