Day 29 – Oyster River to Victoria – and the day we lost ac
We were driving down the road when all of a sudden, the engine ac stopped blowing cold air and felt more like a fan. Yippie fuckin’ skippy.
We spent our rest break with our friend testing fuses, hunting down a manual, looking for the second fuse box, testing those, and then ….magically, it worked again. Praise be to the fuse gawds. We are keeping a closer-than-usual eye on all the gages.
After a very twisty winding curvy road, we finally got to our campground in Victoria.
Something we found about Canada in general is that places seem to have extra staff. Most of this is a good thing, but with some of the campgrounds, it can be too much. To a small degree, it feels like we are being watched. We’re not rule breakers, so there are no concerns, but it’s still a tad creepy feeling.
Day 30 – Victoria
Our big day in Victoria started at Butchart Gardens. This 110 year old garden property is gorgeous. If you are even in Victoria it’s a must see.
Next up was the Fisherman’s Wharf. There was a small festival and there were people everywhere. We had fun watching the water taxis and sea planes. Turns out, we’d be back here the very next day for our ferry back to the USA.
Our evening was a little ugly. Our food was good, but the restaurant was far too warm. During dinner, our friend was demanding/unreasonable about bread for his soup. I was about 30 seconds behind our other friend in the ladies room, but they couldn’t wait and left us to go get the truck. Later that night, they told us they would forgo our collective–and researched–plan to leave at 8am the next day. They’d leave a lot earlier and meet us on the ferry. I’m not sure what they envisioned if they were correct and made the ferry without us. It was just hurtful all the way around. (And it wasn’t “hey guys, can we leave earlier?” it was “we’re leaving earlier; see you there.”)
Day 31 – Victoria, BC Canada to Port Angeles, WA USA
This was one of our earliest days. It was an easy drive, considering the twisty roads along the edge of the coast. For staging and passport check, you have to be an hour early to the ferry, so they tell you 90 minutes. Our friends ended up 2.5 hours ahead of the departure sitting in their hot truck in the staging area. We left at 8am putting us in the queue next to them and directly behind them on the boat. And in a Class A with a vertical windshield, we were in the shade and cool.
The weather was great so the ferry was fun. All the rigs were parked mere inches apart. But our ferry made a 3-point turn and went out a different way than it came in. The views on the way out were great.
water taxis, and….
large rolls of waves made the ferry rock from port to starboard; it was an interesting challenge
Our place near Port Angeles was on a beach in a cove near a recreation area. I spent a decent part of the afternoon napping off our early day. During dinner and dessert, we watched the fog roll in with the tide. It was a bit like it is in San Francisco.
Butchart Gardens = spectacular. That arched walkway!
You’d love that garden and probably most of the island. You’d have to go alone, though; I don’t think he’d like all the boats! LOL!