July 26, 2013: Whistler, BC To Cache Creek, BC Via the Sea to Sky Highway

Poor internet this morning so my plans to finish updating the blog are kaput.  Very frustrating.

We continued north on the Sea to Sky Highway.  OK, I know I have said many of our previous scenic drives were the best, but this time I really mean it.  Pictures tell the story...

Our lunch stop walk to the lake

Glacier closeup - blue tint indicates glacier rather
than just snowpack

Jack strutting his new Tilly hat.

We stopped for lunch at a Provincial Park and took a short walk to a glacial blue-green lake surrounded by snow-capped mountains.

The majestic mountain and lake views continued on this drive until the small town of Lilliooet where evergreen forests were replaced by sagebrush and rocky outcroppings, gradually giving over to dry rangelands and we eventually got to a real town called Cache Creek where we got a campsite for the night -- with WiFi that works!!!!

Jack planned a delicious steak dinner to celebrate my birthday.  A fabulous day.

July 25, 2013: Vancouver Island to Whistler, BC

They block the wheels on last vehicle, even though those
heavy doors behind us should keep us from rolling off...

Drove 10 miles north from our campground to Nanaimo on the eastern cost of Vancouver Island to get in line four ferry back to the mainland.  The terminal was clean and new with multiple lunch options, miscellaneous shops and we were entertained by a harmonica/guitar player.  We grabbed some lunch and we were lucky to get on the first ferry - in fact, we were the last vehicle on the ship.

The trip across the strait was about 1 1/2 hours of beautiful scenery.  We drove off the ferry and headed up the Sea to Sky Highway (Route 99) to Whistler.  The road began with views of the harbor, then glacial lakes and finally mountains with snow.

We stopped to get a campsite a few miles south of Whistler, then drove to the Village to get a few groceries and explore the town.  Lots of energy here - mostly young people with mountain bikes and racing bikes.  It was easy to tell the difference between them, even without the bikes because the racing bikers wore sleek form-fitting team-style shorts and tops while the mountain bikers looked like football players with multiple layers of protection in knee pads, elbow pads and even shoulder pads!  The heart of the village is pedestrian only brick walkways with lots of expensive shops and dozens of restaurants - all very busy with happy hour going strong.

We returned to the campground for a nice turkey dinner and a little internet time, but the WiFi was not dependable and I didn't get to update the blog.  Sat outside enjoying the scenic mountain vista from our campsite.

July 24, 2013: Victoria to Chemainus (Naniamo)

From the campground, we drove to downtown Victoria to see if we could find a place to park and use the free Victoria WiFi.  We couldn't locate a strong signal and gave us, heading north to the Butchart Gardens.  Mrs. Butchart transformed an old limestone quarry pit into one of the world's most beautiful gardens. 

We returned south around Mill Bay and back north up the east coast to the small town of Chemainus where we got a campsite.  No internet (again) and no TV.

Driving up  here on the Trans Canadian Highway, we saw a small car dumped head-first into a regular garbage dumpster; but we passed so quickly, I didn't get a photo.  We are still chuckling..

July 23, 2013: Victoria, Canada

One of the boats in our Marina

We walked 45 minutes along a walkway around the bay before we stopped at a water taxi stand to take us into Victoria's inner harbor.



Low tide at the Marina






View of the RV park across the bay
and the Olympic Mtns in WA in the distance




View of Victoria from the Walkway



Harbor Taxis are called pickle boats

I headed first to the visitor's center, but it was mobbed and when I came back outside, Jack was being interviewed by the local news station asking his name preference for the new Royal (his first choice was John, of course).

When buying our tickets for a hop on/hop off bus tour of the city, the agent recommended a fish and chips place for lunch, so we walked over to a small extension on the wharf and found this little shack with a long line of folks waiting to order.   We got in line and waited over an hour, but it was worth it because the food and views were fabulous.

Little black shack on right is Fish & Chips with
line stretching back and back...



Our view while eating lunch






We caught the bus tour which gave us lots of background information and we got to see not only the different neighborhoods of Victoria proper, but some of the seaside resort towns in the area.



Flowers everywhere

We were going to visit the BC Museum, but it was getting late and the entrance fees were high, so we decided to walk over to the impressive Parliament building and the elegant Empress Hotel where we could have had High Tea for $78 per person.




 

Trans Canada Highway Mile 0

Parliament Building

The Grand Old Empress Hotel



Across from the Visitors Center in Victoria's Inner Harbor



Leaving Victoria and the lines at the fish & chips place were still long



Back at our RV/Marina, I choose this house and sailboat
as soon as I collect on the lottery

Great day in Victoria.  Clean, vibrant and flowers everywhere.  Flower boxes and gardens all over and even the medians were all filled with colorful flowers. 

July 22, 2013: Anacortes, WA to Victoria, Canada

I spent the morning catching up on the blog, cooked eggplant slices for eggplant parmigiana and drove the few miles back to the docks where we got in line for the ferry to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.  We had time to have lunch, take a nap and people watch while waiting for the ferry since we had to be there at least 1 1/2 hours early because we are traveling internationally.  While waiting, we saw the inbound ferry disgorge at least 50 antique cars returning from the auto show in Victoria.  We were one of the first RVs on and are now in line to be the first one off. 




See that shiny white hood on the left behind the motorcyle
and the silver car, that's our View!

We spent most of our time on the ferry outside on the back deck to stay out of the chilly wind, enjoying the passage through the beautiful San Juan Islands on a sunny day.   We arrived in Sydney, Vancouver Island and drove 1/2 hour south to our campground/marina on the West bay of Victoria Harbor.  We barely fit in the space and it was not the prettiest spot, but it was convenient for touring Victoria.

 

 

 

After dinner, we walked around the marina where they have attractive floating homes, each with their own dock and gorgeous boat - what a life.

     Later we found that the homes started at 1.7 million and their boats were at least the cost of our home in South Carolina....hmmm, now where is that lottery ticket I bought????

July 21, 2013: Whidbey Island

Drove north from our campground to Greenbank Farms where we bought a delicious homemade cherry pie and specialty cheeses.  Next weekend is their Loganberry Festival and medieval costumed horseback riders were practicing.  Too bad we won't be here for that as it looks like fun.

We continued driving north to Coupeville, a small town that sits on Penn Cove, home of world-famous mussels.  The mussels are pulled up on chains onto large platforms spread out across the cove.  Unfortunately, I had a huge breakfast, so we didn't stop for one of my favorite meals - steamed mussels. 

We did find a wonderful little byway that runs along the whole bay with a pullout where we could watch folks sunning themselves, walking dogs, strolling the beach, and fishermen putting in their boats while we had a light lunch and a nap.

A little further north, we went through the Island's major town, Oak Harbor and on to Deception Pass. We walked both sides of the bridge across the narrow passage between Whidbey and Fidalgo Islands, reminding us of the Thousand Lakes on the New York State/Canada border.

 

We continued north on Fidalgo Island to the town of Anacortes, the gateway to the San Juan Islands where ferries run to and from the islands as well as other parts of Washington and Canada.  Our campsite is next to the marina, basically a parking lot, but with full hookups and convenient to the ferry terminal for our trip tomorrow through the San Juan Islands to Victoria, Canada.

July 20, 2013: Seattle to Whidbey Island

We left the campground mid-morning, driving to Bellevue's Best Buy to get a camera.  Afterwards, we drove north to Mukilteo to take the Boeing Tour.  It is the largest building by volume in the world and they assemble 777, 747, 767 and 787's here.  Being Saturday, there were few workers so we didn't get the full effect of the assembly process, but it was still impressive.  They have 3-5 planes of every type in production at the same time.  No photos allowed.

It was a short two miles to the ferry terminal for a 20 minute trip over to Whidbey Island, known for artists, rural landscapes, beaches and boating.  On the ferry, I called ahead to private campgrounds and they were all full and the state park campgrounds just had messages saying they operated on a reservation system in summer, but reservations had to be made 24 hours ahead.  Hmmm, we would hate to have to drive all afternoon to get off the island just to get a campsite.  So, off the ferry we drove north on Whidbey to the first state park we could find.  The center of the island is mostly rural farmland and about 1/3 of the way up, we took a road to the western side of the island to South Whidbey State Park that has beaches and a campground. The sign out front said the campground was full, but we thought we would stop and ask anyway.  Good news!  They keep one spot in case one of the reserved sites has a problem and the park ranger said we could have it.  Nice quiet site with electric. 

We took a walk down the steep cliffs to the beach where it was high tide and there was virtually no beach left.  These are popular clamming beaches at low tide.  We returned to the campsite for dinner and a campfire for roasting marshmallows.

July 19, 2013: Seattle

After our Seattle parking assessment, we opted for public transportation to explore Seattle.  We took a bus from the campground to a a park and ride along I90 where we transferred to another bus for the 20 minute ride downtown.  We walked a few blocks to the Underground Tour - an irreverent and rollicking look at Seattle's history as told from an underground viewpoint.  after Seattle's devastating fire in 1889, they rebuilt the city streets a full story above where they had been, but buildings were rebuilt at the original level, resulting in a waffle look.  Streets were the ridges while buildings were in the depressions, with wooden ladders providing access from one block up and over the street to the next block.  Walls between blocks ranged from 12 feet to more than 30!  Eventually, sidewalks were built at street level, making basements out of the first stories.  Great fun!

One major problem we discovered while on the underground tour was our camera died and it is all my fault.  The previous day I was saying in an email that I had never learned all the bells and whistles on the camera and it would probably break before I got around to checking that item off my bucket list.  Hmmm, next day it is absolutely dead.  Just like when I say stupid things on the golf course, like, "I usually drive pretty well on this hole"...guess what happens.  So, no Underground photos.

We next walked up to the Market to see the gorgeous flower stalls, junk vendors and amazing fish and fresh vegetable stands and used my phone to snap a photo of the original Starbucks.

 The crowds were intense, and it took a while to negotiate our way through the narrow aisles in the market. 

We walked a couple blocks uphill (think San Francisco hills) to the monorail that whisked us north to Seattle Center and the Space Needle.  Crowds were huge and we found out that a Bite of Seattle (similar to our Taste of Charleston) was going on at Seattle Center.  The lines to get tickets to the Needle were huge, so we decided to splurge on a late lunch at the revolving restaurant which allowed us to bypass the lines waiting to get to the observation deck.  Wonderful lunch and fabulous views of Seattle, Mt. Rainier and Mt. Baker, but our cellphone photos couldn't do justice.

Back to the campground, exhausted and happy.