Seattle to Vancouver Island

Seattle to Vancouver Island

May 30, 2019

   In Seattle Amy had booked us at Chelsea Station Inn. The place is awesome. It has laundry, a hot tub, includes hot breakfast, has a beautiful outdoor sitting area, snacks, Hagen Daaz ice cream, local beer and wine — all free.

   In the morning we drove downtown. It was Memorial Day and street parking was free. There was a Folk Arts festival at the City Center which was fun to walk around. There was also a fantastic musical playground that the girls enjoyed playing at for a bit. Then we went to walk around the Olympic Sculpture Park. There was some pretty cool art, including a silver tree and a gigantic silver head that could only be identified as such from the right angle.

   Next stop was Pike Place Market. So many stalls with tasty foods. We sampled some Asian chicken, locally made cheese curds, fruit smoothies for the girls, then we went to Shugs for ice cream and milkshakes. The fish and seafood on display at the market all looked so good.

   Back at the inn we had fish tacos for dinner and Miriam and I enjoyed some hot tubbing. And so was our last supper in America.

   The next day we drove to Canada. We crossed the border at Peace Arch and stopped in White Rock for lunch. Nikki Glahn had suggested it. It was pretty; there’s a pier you can normally walk on but it is being repaired, unfortunately.

   Then we headed to Tom and Nicole’s place in Vancouver. It was a real pleasure to hang out with Tom and get to know Nicole (who we had only met at their wedding and briefly one other time). And of course there was adorable 4 year old Henryk and 2 year old Lola to entertain us. We all went to a local playground where the kids played like mad. Tom made an absolutely delicious lamb stew for dinner.

   On Wednesday we drove out to Lynn Canyon Park. There is a suspension bridge there like the Capilano, just a little shorter. There’s also a great visitor center where there are puppets for the kids to play with; also a machine that reads cards and produces the sound that the animal pictured on the card makes.

   Climbing around on the rocks by the river was fun. Lola is so confident and independent and must be tricked into accepting a helping hand. We also hid the geocaching coin we had given Tom and Nicole 5 years ago!

   Tom and Nicole took us to their favourite Vietnamese Pho place in Cambie. The beef soup I had was amazing. Right after we went to RAIN OR SHINE — Tom and Nicole’s favourite ice cream shop. It was entertaining to watch Henryk and Lola get ice cream all over themselves; it reminded me of when our girls were that age.

   In the evening we got to chat and catch up some more. Tome and Nicole are both such unique and interesting people and it saddens me that they don’t live closer so we could see them more often. They all really enjoyed themselves at Pioneer Point Resort in Ontario last summer where Tom’s dad (and my parents) have a trailer. When they go back there we’re going to try to be there so we can see them.

   This morning we said goodbye to our wonderful hosts and caught the 10am ferry to Victoria where we are now.

June 2, 2019

   Upon arrival to Vancouver Island we drove to Beacon Hill Park in Victoria. It was very green, complete with a deer grazing, likely it was born and raised in the park. We visited the MILE 0 marker where Terry Fox was supposed to finish his trek across Canada and so there was a statue of him. Also beautiful orange poppies. After lunch we headed to Miracle Beach Provincial Park (about 3 hours). I’ve seen a fair number of beaches on this trip and in the year 2000 in Europe (ex. Cinque Terra Italy) and this one is in the top 3. That evening we checked it out and decided to spend the bulk of the next day at it. When the tide is receding there are thousands of crabs in the pools left behind. The next day we also saw hundreds of Sand Dollars, both living and dead from having been dried up in the sun. The living ones are so cool — they are prickly on the outer rim and they glisten in the sun as they are attempting locomotion. The girls collected about 5 each of only the dead ones, of course. The beach also features huge drift wood (whole trees) which makes for fantastic photos.

   That morning when I tried to buy campfire wood from a park host named Brent I ended up having a 2 hour conversation with him. He refused to take my money and instead gave me wood from his own personal stash. He insisted on delivering it to our campsite in his golf cart. Once at the campsite he noticed the stickers on our rooftop carrier and we conversed about the joys of travelling around North America. I’m happy that I met a Canadian that showed hospitality similar to what we had seen in the American South because I was beginning to become convinced that, stereotypes aside, Americans were friendlier than Canadians.

   The next morning we packed up and drove to Mt. Washington, about 35 minutes from the campground. We hiked on some of the lovely boardwalk and trail for about 90 minutes at a Provincial Park across from ski chair lifts at Mt. Washington itself. Our hike was about 4.5 km and we turned around at Battleship Lake. Beauty.

   After grocery shopping we realized we were cutting it close to catch the ferry. Even though we had reservations you’re meant to arrive 1.5 - 2 hours before scheduled departure after which time they start giving away reserved spaces. This was one of the few times on this trip I sped in the car (10-15% above speed limit) to make it for 4:30pm for our 6pm departure from Pt. Hardy bound for Prince Rupert.

   Amy had booked us into a Premium Berth of which there are only 4 on the entire ship. Once again, God bless my wife and the incredible planning and choices for splurging on luxuries she has made for this trip. Our room is right at the bow (front) of the M.V. Northern Adventure. It features gigantic portals (aka windows, ~1.5m diameter) at the bow and port sides. The room has a bathroom (with shower), fridge, TV with satellite, desk and double bed. There is a huge space on the floor where Amy and I will sleep on our blow-up mattresses in sleeping bags since we promised the kids the bed. This sounds peasanty for us but is actually much more luxurious than a typical night in a tent. The ship’s genpop passengers mostly sleep in chairs like on an airplane or they lay out sleeping bags wherever they can. That’s peasanty (not that I have anything against peasanty).

   After game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals ended the Purser announced that Mrs. Doubtfire was going to be shown on the big screen on Deck 5. The kids went off (with chips for snack) and Amy and I had some alone time. We watched some prime time French Open Tennis (Serena Williams lost) and an SNL rerun from last month. As predicted by the captain, this part of the voyage is quite rocky because we’re in the open Pacific. By morning we were in the Inside Passage and the water is super calm. We are so close to land as we sail along. Expected arrival at Prince Rupert: 4pm.

Chelsea Station Inn

Approaching the border

Lunch in White Rock 

Our total USA distance

With Tom and Nicole's kids

Tom and Voych

Victoria. Miriam was hungry.

Miracle beach

Sand dollars

Crab

More beach....high tide

Campsite desk

Hike with snow

Our sweet cabin

Dinner

Our wake in the narrows

Reading