Well, I got a call on a Friday, and was in line early Monday morning.....
....and quite a line it was. Apparently one of the ferries running between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay was out of commission. Good thing I had a reservation.
Looking out towards Delta Port.
The "shout out to B.C. Ferries", pic.
It was a beautiful day indeed.
Well, not exactly the cast vehicle I am used to driving on the Good Doctor, but a good enough work home for a couple of weeks. Mostly I drove shuttle for the show "Reginald the Vampire." ((Season 2 don't you know. (I didn't.))
The main sets were in an unused building at a strip mall in the Gorge-Tillicum area of Victoria. This was my view for many of my days.
Had a chance to visit my sis and husband on a couple of occasions. I knew I was at the right address when I saw this piece of art on the front porch. An "Unk" original!
Incredible hospitality, thank-you!
My first week I stayed at an Airbnb in Cordova Bay. (If I would of known, I would of brought all my laundry from home, lol.)
Cordova Bay was only 1 block away.
There it is. To the untrained eye it's just a vacated Home Outfitters building. There was actually a few sets for the show in there. (Including the "Slushy Shack", just sayin.)
A promotion (or a demotion, depends on how you look at it), I was upgraded to a 24 passenger van on this day to shuttle NBC execs from their hotel to the sets for a gallery/press promotional shoot.
Some days I got to rip around Victoria in this not so glamorous Dodge Caravan.
Not unlike the Good Doctor, days turned into nights as the filming went long into the evening.
Had a couple of days off, so headed back to Burnaby. I had time to kill waiting for the ferry at Swartz Bay, so I headed into Sidney. (Potential retirement spot?, lol.)
Not looking so bad waiting it out at Swartz Bay.
Here comes my ride.
Hey, got my own window seat on the car deck!
Back home, that's a clearer view of Mt. Baker than we have had in a long time with all the forest fire smoke that has been lingering most of the summer.
We spent Canada Day close to home and hung out at Edmonds Plaza and Park in Burnaby. (This guy and his friends were there to greet us.)
Now, it couldn't get much more Canadian.........
......well unless of course you throw in a couple of R.C.M.P. officers in their red serge.
It was a fun afternoon in the park. The band was very good, rockin' all the oldies.
On this Sunday it was baseball at the Nat.
Baseball and hotdogs go together.
The weather was perfect. Today it was the Canadians against the Spokane Indians.
A sell out crowd. It was a great game, but in the end Spokane ended up winning 8-6.
Not only hot dogs, but baseball and peanuts go together as well for us. (and maybe a beer or two to wash it all down)
Heading back to Victoria for week 2 of my stint on Reginald the Vampire, another window seat!
A very pretty drive. (Albeit an early one, ferry reservation was for 6 a.m.)
Turns out there was a force majeure on this Monday. On of the cast was ill and filming was cancelled for that day. I had a lot of free time and started it off right (or wrong?) with a healthy?hearty? breakfast. (Yikes that was a lot of food.)
Floyd's Diner on Saanich Road caught my attention, so I went in. I was looking forward to a nap after that experience. It was good food, although the blaring rock n roll at 8 in the morning took a bit of getting used to.
Had to stop at the Hillside Shopping Center for supplies. A new to me parking lot, so I took a pic of where I parked. (Never again do I want a repeat of when I couldn't fine my vehicle at the Metrotown parking lot in Burnaby, lol. A story for another day.)
My commute to work took me past the Bay Street Substation, a historic building built around 1928.
Went for a walk with Jude and Les above their place to the grounds around Government House, home to the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia.
Not sure what these were, Haskap perhaps? Doesn't matter, still berry nice.
A very tranquil setting.
Government house.
Hangin' with Sir James Douglas, first governor of British Columbia.
The hotel I stayed at advertised "along the beautiful Gorge Waterway". Well, with the tide out, the jury was still out as well.
Well, I was only on Reginald the Vampire for a short time, but I did manage to get in on the last filming day lunch. What can I say, it was very good.
A bit of a reverse situation. On this Thursday I was actually still working in Victoria, helping wrap out the transport vehicles on the show. That meant getting on the ferry ......
....and heading back to Vancouver.
A familiar sight, heading north on Boundary road.
I brought the camera truck over from Victoria and took it to Keslow Camera, so the camera team from the show could unload all of their gear.
One of the captains of the show, Brian, and myself headed back to the ferry. The production filled out our reservation wrong. We were listed as an over height vehicle. (over 7 ft. high.) They were not going to let us on as a regular vehicle as the sailing was sold out. So Brian and I improvised........
......we stood this piece of plywood up in the back of the truck, and lo and behold we were over 7 ft. and they let us on to the sailing. (true story)
The problem lately with the B.C. Ferries is one of the vessels is out of service, cancelling many sailing for the day. The fact it's summer and tourist season just makes it chaos.
Back in Victoria, driving the props truck, I think I could use the HOV lane in Vancouver.....
One last meal at Jude and Les's.....
An evening cruise past the cruise ships......
Close to my hotel, this is not on the Victoria tourist attraction list.
Back to the Mainland. Not sure what's next, no end in sight for the actors and the writers strikes.
The bonus pic, Unk's new chickens checking out Auntie's new bike.
I only spent two weeks on Reginald, but I managed to get in on the crew photo, lol. Where's Waldo?
