I needed a diversion to make sure we would be out and about to drive to the Government Dock at Miner's Bay, at the exact time Cassia was going to arrive by float plane for a 16-hour visit. As a reminder, I surprised Dana by flying Cassia from Castlegar for a quick visit on Easter weekend, when Keiver, Preston and Daria were visiting at the same time.
Hmmm, what excuse can I come up with to leave The Grove and be at the dock at exactly the right time? I know, Alpacas!
Our neighbours, Adam and Amy told us they had recently acquired baby Alpacas. They kept them at their other property on the Island, "The 44", named that because it's an amazing, storied, 44-acre parcel of land, perched at the top of the hill.
I tried to secretly make plans with Amy for us to visit the Alpacas after picking up Cassia, but it backfired when Dana noticed I was on the phone, a lot.
I was trying to coordinate a time with Amy, while Cassia was keeping me informed of their approximate arrival time, because evidently, float planes are on a plus-or-minus 15 minutes schedule.
So Dana asked, "who are you on the phone with?" Busted!
I blurted out, "I was talking to Amy to surprise you with a visit to see the baby Alpacas!"
Confused, Dana says "we're going to visit the Alpacas??"
"Yes, isn't great?", I said... "I guess...", she replied.
Visiting the Alpacas was also going to be a surprise for Cassia, but Dana foiled that when she sent a private message to Cassia, who was supposed to be in Castlegar, telling her that I was acting weird, and that I organized a visit to the 44 to see baby Alpacas.
Cassia laughed it off with Dana, but quickly sent a message to me saying "I hope I get to see the baby Alpacas!" Yes, that was the plan all along...
So, we left The Grove, took the long way there so we could drive by the Government Dock, picked up Cassia, and headed up to the 44 to see the baby Alpacas.