A Little Taste Of Victoria, British Columbia

July 2, Day 35  was Victoria, BC day.  Since we are extremely bad at rising early, we made it to the ferry docks at the crack of noon for the 12:30 ferry.  Our camp host had advised us that going by foot was the best way because taking a car was not only expensive but a hassle as well. The ferry ride was about 90 minutes and some of the water in the Juan de Fuca Strait were pretty choppy with the ship listing at times by 15 degrees or more.  Fred measured it in degrees, I measured by the quantity of  puke in the women's bathroom left for my viewing pleasure. Ick!

The ship, the M/V Coho, was built in Seattle in 1959 and has been making this crossing for its entire life.  I'm surprised it even needs a captain at this point.  It was an unusual ferry in that cars entered from the rear and exited out the right side on the outbound trip, and reversing that on the Victoria to Port Angeles leg of the trip.  Despite the tight turn inside the boat, we saw several large trucks and semi-trailers as well as a big RV make the trip.  We don't know if the Zed could make it but there were several large busses on the island and some of them must have come on this ferry.

Victoria was beautiful and the weather was picture perfect.  Sunny, t-shirt weather that was at most about 72 degrees. We walked the town for a few hours, stopping for a meal at a Scottish pub that was one of the most ornate and handsomely decorated that we've ever seen, and we've been to Scotland! The food was great but as usual, Fred ate fast, gulped his locally produced beer and then ran around snapping pics of the pub while I continued to chew....on camera.
 

The town had a European feel, right down to the crappy dollar exchange rates.  The Canadian dollar is worth more than the Uncle Sam and their goods are quite expensive in comparison.  A cigar that costs $7.00US at home was $27.00CDN there.  I had a lively conversation with a young man who worked at the tobacconist about taxes, health care and the cost of education.  Quite enlightening. He thought goods that cost four times as much in his country as in mine were worth it because he got to go to college for almost no investment on his part. We didn't buy anything except a meal that day so no one will get very far in school on our inflated $35.00 lunch.

The Fairmont Empress hotel was stately and elegant with beautiful grounds.  In one area there were stacks of bee hive boxes right out in the open.  Lots and lots of bees.  I guess that is why all the flowers looked so happy.  There were many street vendors and eclectic  entertainers along the waterfront that were amusing. The town plumb tuckered us out so we were ready to board the ship at 7:30 for the ride home.  The ship was late, and we waited... it arrived back in Port Angeles, late, and we waited...then we still had to wait another half hour to get through US Customs. We had already gone through customs when we boarded back in Victoria, where we waited... but I guess extreme caution is merited in these dangerous times.  We were the very last ones in the line so we were two very sleepy old tourists by the time we got back to the trailerhood at 11:00 pm     Click here for more pictures...

from the road:
-robin

Too Cool! The Olympic Peninsula

July 1 - July 4

Day 34 - 37 of the grand adventure 

Part II 

4237 miles as of Sunday 8/7/11

4 fills  650 gallons of fuel

So, like I said, they booted us out of our spot at the Fort so we took off for Port Angeles, Washington.

Our new campground was next to the Elwha River Dam.  The river is being restored to its original condition so we were lucky to see the dam before it was demolished.  It closed to the public the day we left.  Big controversy in the neighborhood about salmon and Indians and fishing.   That is why we included pictures of it with the rest of the places we saw.

This area offers up so many things to see that we found it hard to choose from among them. We settled on Hurricane Ridge, Cape Flattery and Victoria, British Columbia. Hurricane Ridge, part of Olympic National Park, had a great visitor center situated high in the mountains that offered 360 degree panoramic views that were simply breath taking.   The weather was picture perfect with few clouds and the snow capped mountains against the blue sky were a photographer's dream. This was the spot where we snapped our now famous "how's the weather" photo.We ended the day with a bonfire in our "front yard" where Fred caught up on his work for the day.

Cape Flattery was recommended to us by our campground owner so we hit the road to the north-western most point in Washington and the lower 48 states. It was a couple hours of winding roads with some occasional great scenery. We were glad to be in the jeep and not the bus. Near the end of the road was the Indian reservation of the Makah and at the very tip was Cape Flattery Park. After a 1/2 mile walk down about 300 feet in the dark rain forest we broke out into a breathtaking view of the Pacific with high cliffs, birds, and lots of sea life.

 

The view wasn't the only thing that took our breath away.  We had to stop several (many) times on the hike back up the hill and were passed along the way by a pregnant woman with a two year old in tow.  Such is old age and obesity.

We took a different route home that led us past Crescent Lake, a lovely reserve in Olympic National Park.  The porch at the Lodge was billed as the best place to relax near the water so we did.  click here for pictures...

from the road:
-robin

Fabulous Fort Flagler, its not just for ham radio afficianados anymore

Soon I will have to start sending pictures only. If I continue to write in any amount of detail, about the places we have been over the last 30 days, this will become a book. Tedious for the writer, drudgery for the reader. I'll try and be brief. 

After the big ham radio field day, we remained at Fort Flagler but moved to an area of the campground next to the water where our internet worked. Fred toiled away every day but during breaks, we played in the tide pools, watched close up while an otter caught and ate his lunch and took movies of the resident eagle doing eagle things. 

 

They booted us out of there on July 1^st. The arrival of the big 4^th of July weekend brought with it lot of folks who thought ahead and reserved their spot for the party. Included with those incoming folks was the campground host. Turns out we were enjoying HIS spot. It was a primo site and we were sorry to vacate. The hundred plus year old Army fort was interesting and fun to explore. Nearby Port Townsend with its historic buildings, antique shops, art galleries and restaurants was a pleasant change of pace. The place was teeming with wildlife and we had to dodge fawns playing keep away from their mom's in the roadway every day. We are really glad the Mike and Key Club invited us to join them for Field Day 2011. 

Click here to check out the pictures...

from the road:

-robin

Robin ferries to the San Juans & Port Townsend

I am desperately behind on reporting back about our adventures.  It was about five weeks ago that Fred and I walked onto a ferry, sailed into Friday Harbor, and walked off onto San Juan Island.

 After a few hours, some antique shopping (bought a cool clock) a fish lunch and some ice cream, we climbed back on the ferry.  Fred wanted to see all the islands that the ferry serviced so we carefully charted (we thought) our trip to make sure we saw Shaw, Lopez and Orcas Islands, catching the last ferry back to Anacortes.  There is an ironic story about how a quick trip to a few small islands and perhaps a missed connection (or two)  would end up taking all day. And by all day, I mean a midnight arrival back at the trailerhood.  We'll tell you all about it some day when it is more funny and less contentious.

We had a wonderful time  exploring the islands and spending time  in the town of Anacortes.  The two rainy days gave us a reason to stay in and get some work done.  Soon it was time to move on to Port Townsend for my first ham radio field day.  This time we drove the bus and the jeep onto a ferry and crossed the water...
That is not a picture of the ferry you see above this paragraph.  Cool sail boat though eh? Fred has decided that we are going to learn to sail.  More about that in a different dispatch.
Click here for pics of the Islands...

Fred wrote a whole article for QRZ.com about field day at Fort Flagler.  I'll attach a link to it for those of you who are wondering just what field day entails.  Warning ladies...it is full of technical stuff and lots of pictures of antennas.  Click here for Fred's article and pics...

The place I absolutely loved was Chetzemoka Park.  We tried hard to capture the essence of this place pictorally.  Click here for the album...
Don't forget to double click on the pictures so they will get big.

Today, day 68, we left Birch Bay to drive inland toward the "heat island of America." We planned to see Yellowstone, Jackson Hole, Mount Rushmore and the Badlands this year but did not plan on the extreme temps. We waited it out for weeks in Washington until we ran out of patience and headed out.  I am writing this from Wenatchee River County Park in Monitor, WA.  We didn't know this place existed until Fred spotted it from the road and hit the brakes. It is booked for the weekend so we were lucky to snag a spot for tonight.  A cold river rushes past the park which is dotted with trees, is grassy, peaceful and beautiful...all for $24.00. We already have new friends. Highly recommended.  As I write to you, Fred is in full panic mode on the computer trying to solve a serious problem on the QRZ website.  The fun never stops.

from the road:
-robin