As I started to write my section of this blog entry I realized the date was also our anniversary of oh so many years ago, 31 to be exact. I quickly announced my happy anniversary greetings with the expectation that I would catch her. Carla quickly produced a very nice card and a beautiful gift of 3 oz. of coffee from the Seattle Space Needle gift shop… very thoughtful, well at least more thoughtful l than my simple pronouncement accompanied but NO card and NO token coffee offering. Anyhow, we were unable to figure out what the appropriate gift was for 31 years of grinding love and suggested a coffee sampler was perfect.
Managed to make the morning ferry to Canada with little issue although for some reason, we had every wire, cable, burner, BBQ, wash pan, towel and RV leveler in use the evening prior to a required early start… not sure how that happened but it all came together as an early rise pre-empted the alarms set for 6:00LT. The trip to the ferry and the crossing were uneventful and the egg-muffin sandwiches sold on the ferry increased the Rolaids sales in a sort of one-two profit punch for the ferry company, good on em’. But as we headed north across the channel to Victoria, the views back towards the Washington Olympic Peninsula with the snow-capped mountains with fog enveloping the coast were awesome.

Looking back on the US of A

The whole plan for the day revolved around getting to surprise Casey and Alex (Casey’s beau) at the airport in Victoria. Alex knew we were coming but didn’t know that we would make the Casey arrival. And of course, surprising Casey is always fun. Casey was coming to Victoria to work at teaching sailing for the summer with Alex, at Royal Vic YC. I had trekked with Casey in Nepal in March/April but Carla had done without the offspring’s company since Christmas in NS way back in December. Carla was motivated! Meeting the other RTers in Grand Canyon on 1 May and Casey’s arrival in Victoria on 5 June were the only dates that we had fixed in our entire 46 (as of 5 June) day trip so far. But first, our driver’s side power window had started making a sound like ground metal when lowered, so off to a glass place to have it checked. We had been able to use the last of our Verizon wi-fi device signal to call ahead from the ferry and warn them of our arrival. Within 40 minutes they had it apart and discovered a weld had let go. While having coffee and tea they had repaired the weld and put it all back together, perfecto and less than 60$! Excellent advice on the where-to-go Diane, thanks.

Then off to the downtown information (Victoria is gorgeous, I used to live her eons ago when my mode of personal transport was a trike) bureaus then to the airport to surprise Casey and Alex (who was waiting for Casey). We lurked around trying to surprise him but he had noticed the fairly obvious PleasureWay RV with Novi plates parked in the smallish parking lot, damn! As we entered what we thought was the alternate door he was standing there waiting for us. We caught up with Alex before Casey arrived and then hid with the idea of coming up behind her but she soon spied us and with much high-pitched squealing and tears we were re-united (for the record, no squealing from Sean or tears, just man-mist)

Airport Greetings

We followed Alex & Casey back to his parent’s place in Oak Bay where we were to be parked for a day or so. Impossible to overstate the hospitality of Leila and Barry and the food, oh my God! Day 1 for dinner was beef tenderloin, asparagus, carrots, small spudlys and Yorkshire puddings with gravy and all paired with local NW US and Western Canada wines, fantastic. Leila’s Apple pie and ice cream, for those that had room, followed. Excellent again! A big sleep followed and no need for mobilizing the following morning was much appreciated after that mornings early start.

June 6: We think the troops were up earlyish at 10AM with Casey and Alex much later. Groceries for the pending camping trip with Casey & Alex followed lead by Leila with Carla. I took Kya, a very large dog that could have starred in the ‘Maple Kind’ YouTube videos, for a walk along the shore. Alex had to teach sailing and Casey had an orientation at the yacht club at 3PM so we followed and had a drink on the yacht club terrace. A very nice and friendly club in a beautiful setting, they will have a great summer together here no doubt. Then back to the house for a little rest then more food. Barry enjoys decompressing from his work by cooking snacks and appies when he gets home. By sitting nearby you are treated to blue-cheese spread… all homemade, crab cakes from scratch with fresh made tartar sauce from scratch, scallops and bacon, cheeses, smoked salmon , etc. etc. Wish we could stay for the summer but the RV butts would grow ever wider with this treatment. And did I say more wine washed it all down? On night two we treated to dinner at a nearby pub called the Snug in a waterfront hotel called the Oak Bay Beach Hotel that had just been renovated. Among many features it had a classic old Rolls Royce to pick up special guests from the airport such as Sting that was just in town for a recent concert. Dinner was stalled to allow Alex to join in after teaching evening adult sailing but there was less food in evidence as many were still stuffed from the earlier food splendor at the house. Most excellent!

June 7: we dragged ourselves away from the comfort and hospitality of Leila and Barry’s lovely home in Oak Bay and headed out. Casey and Alex had the family Volkswagen Camper Van and lead/followed us to the Capitol Iron store, a combo Canadian Tire, Binnacle, MEC/Coastal Mountain Sport kind of place with an excellent marine section and nautical clothing. Carla and Sean are now outfitted with slightly warmer gear and Sean is no longer required to wear his ever drooping Gap (from Bend Oregon) 11.32$ blue heavy sweater everywhere.

Was 11.32$ too much for this sweater?

Then we went onward northbound through stoplight after stoplight and lots of construction towards Nanaimo for lunch before heading west for Tofino for camping and surfing. A nice lunch in Nanaimo at a real fish and chip place on a barge in the harbour was fresh halibut and fries, not cheap, but very, very good. We arrived at Crystal Cove before 6PM and setup camp with both of us fitting on a single spot.

Two to a spot…

The campground RV area has great spots where the next site can be just 5 feet away but you can’t see them due to the dense foliage. And wi-fi and FREE firewood were provided. After spending as much as 12$ for 4 sticks in desert area this was a real treat. The campground is just before the village of Tofino and with water on both sides, the western boundary is all lovely beach. Kabobs on the grill, a nice fire and some perfect Goslings and ginger-beer (thanks Leila & Barry) to make dark & stormys topped off the end to a perfect day. Given the amount of food we have consumed in the past 72 hours I suggest we push the RV to the ferry at Port Hardy 

Happy Campers on the beach at Tofino

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