return to the Motherland

OK, I admit, it's not Conrad's motherland, though he is from The UP, so he may as well be Canadian, or so I occasionally tease him. And he does have Canadian residency status, so it's sort of the Motherland for him that way.

In any case, we're in Vancouver, set to ring in the New Year here. Wet, cool. Typical Vancouver. Good to be back.

And better still, by happy chance we timed our visit for after Adam, the owner/operator of our favourite independent coffee shop, came back from a week away on vacation. Hooray. The man makes great coffee - reminiscent of the flat whites we enjoyed often on the New Zealand trips - and he spoils us further by making us variations on egg sandwiches and omelets. We could sit here for hours (and the free wireless doesn't hurt either).

But, eventually, we'll get our real day going with an appointment downtown, then meeting up with family members who are coming down from the Sunshine Coast, then dinner at the home of friends. A last hurrah for 2009, successfully underway!