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.