SATURDAY,
AUGUST 9:
Another
beautiful morning. We’ve been blessed
with nearly perfect weather for quite a stretch now – ever since we crossed the
Rockies. Got packed up and ready to
go. This was a very nice campground, and
had a nice nautical atmosphere with the marina. It would have been nice to have taken the
kayaks out here, but time to move on . . .
There are lots of fisherman here at this campground. They come & stay for a couple of weeks or
even a month. However, because of recent
weather conditions – lots of windy days, very dry with no rain, the fishing has
been pretty poor. So they’ve been pretty
discouraged – paying not only for the RV space, but also for dock space for
their boats, with little fishing opportunities.
But this morning there was no wind, and many were going out.
Made the
drive into Victoria easily, and easily as well onto the ferry dock. I had been dreading driving the RV through
downtown, especially on a Saturday, but no problem. Purchased our tickets, and walked out onto
the square. Poked around the
now-familiar landmarks for a while, and then walked up the street
and down to
the harbor area where we wanted to get our last meal here – at a place called
Red Fish, Blue Fish. Karen had told us
about it – a great little take-out place with wonderful fresh fish. It’s very popular, so we were warned to
always expect a long line. There
was. But it moved fairly quickly, and we
had plenty of time to get our food to go and be back at the ferry at 1:30 for
Customs. There are some picnic tables
and stools where you can eat right there at the wharf, which would have been
nice, but we didn’t want to feel rushed eating.
So took Bill’s
fish & chips (salmon) and my tacone (smoked tuna) back to the RV and got
out our camp chairs and indulged. Very
good!
Soon it was time to board the ferry, headed for Port Angeles, directly across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, in Washington State, and the gateway for us to Olympic National Park. So we’ll be back in the U.S.A. for the first time in over 5 weeks! We loved our time in Canada, spent in 2 of that country’s largest provinces, experiencing most everything from spectacular mountain peaks and glaciers to brilliant turquoise waters to dramatic cityscapes, from solitude on a mountain lake surrounded only by the sounds of the breeze and a loon to the cacophony of a cosmopolitan city. We were always confident that we’d receive great Canadian hospitality and friendliness, and were virtually never disappointed. We’ll miss their charming accents - often subtle, but distinctly there, eh. We celebrate with them their accomplishments as a nation and are proud to have them as our northern neighbor. It’s especially timely that not long before we left on our trip, we saw the film Argo, about the American hostages in Iran, and the key role that Canada played in hiding and protecting them. And, oh yes, we thank them for their contributions to pop culture . . . Rob told us that Canadian music radio stations must play a certain percentage of Canadian artists, along with all of the American stuff. I’m good with that – among my favorites are Anne Murray and Gordon Lightfoot! When I grabbed some CD’s from home before we left, never thinking about Canada, here’s some of what I took:
In deference to the Canadian recording artists mandate, we’ve been playing a lot of these for the past 5 weeks!
Having said all that about Canada, a small but recognizable thrill went thru us when we realized that we were seeing the American flag on our ferry boat. Long may she wave. (And now we can make phone calls without Roaming charges!!)
Had our
last looks at downtown Victoria.
Long line at Red Fish, Blue Fish:
Ever since
sailing on the Alaskan Ferry in the Inside Passage, we’ve come to LOVE hopping on the various ferries. We have so much fun on them . . . pulling away from a newly familiar place,
seeing its landmarks we’ve become acquainted with, exploring the ship, going
out on deck to feel the sea breeze, seeing the next port with its awaiting
adventures come into view. It’s
become one of our favorite ways of getting places.
Arrived in Port Angeles around 5:00. Had to go thru Customs again. This time, we were selected to have a more or
less thorough search to be sure we weren’t bringing any undeclared or illegal items. The guy had us park, and had Bill open every door on the outside of the RV, and
then as many as he could inside, without having to open the slides. He found 2 potatoes in the pantry cupboard – which
he confiscated b/c they were fresh produce that we hadn’t declared. Mea
culpa! I totally forgot about those 2
little spuds when he asked if we had any fresh fruits or vegetables. He was very officious, but did say that he
wouldn’t fine us the $300 this time for bringing in undeclared contraband. You gotta love these civil servants!
Found our
campground (Shadow Mountain) easily, just 15 miles from Port Angeles, and only
a few miles from Crescent Lake in the National Park. But getting set up was another matter. Another back-in, but since the sites were
pretty spacious, Bill wasn’t worried.
But he neglected to factor in the fact that the road itself in front of
the sites was fairly narrow due to a row of trees on the other side, and then
an embankment. Plus, the sites were facing
straight on, rather than somewhat slanted, which makes it more difficult to
back in. So, he tried and had to
re-adjust about 20 times. Not exaggerating.
Finally, a very nice from the RV next
door came out and asked if he could help. So, with the 2 of us guiding Bill, he was
finally able to get in where he needed to be.
But that was only Phase I. As he
was un-hitching, the trailer dropped onto the truck. Same thing that happened back in Glacier. He couldn’t figure out what happened this
time. Our neighbor on the other side
heard the thud, knew by that sound what had happened, and came out. He (like a neighbor in Glacier) “just
happened” to have a pair of heavy duty jacks with him, which is about the ONLY
way out of a this dilemma But there were
still more problems with the hitch . . . those 3 guys worked at it for the better
part of an hour. FINALLY got everything
fixed/resolved/working right. These are
the times when I long for the luxury of driving a car up to a cabin or lodge! But then, we wouldn’t have opportunities to
meet such nice, helpful neighbors. While
the guys were problem-solving and working, I was visiting with the wife of the
2nd neighbor. They’ve lived
in Alaska for the past 40 years (his work took him there from Florida!). The last 16 years were on a 40-foot boat
anchored in Sitka. They just recently
sold the boat, and now are RV’ing full time.
They love this lifestyle; have lived in tight quarters for a long time,
so it doesn’t bother them at all. One of
the things I always wonder about when I meet folks like them is, “What happens
when one of you becomes seriously ill, or has an accident? Where do you go for medical care? Who has your health history?” But I guess unknowns like that don’t bother
the folks who take up this lifestyle, or else they do have a contingency
plan. Whatever the case, they obviously
feel that the freedom and adventure it brings are worth it.
When I told her that we’d spent about 14 weeks
last summer in Alaska, she exclaimed, “Oh, wow, you sure chose the right year
to come!” She was referring to the
mostly dry, sunny, warm summer last year.
We knew that the prior year (2012), they’d had a very wet summer, and
apparently again this year. In fact, she
said, these rainy summers are the norm.
So, once again, even belatedly, we feel so blessed and grateful that
Providence paved the way for us to go the year that we did.
And so, around
8:00, we’re finally inside and settled. Thankfully,
it was perfect weather during all of that ordeal outside, so being outside for
a couple of hours wasn’t exactly torture.
But we were still too spent to cook, so had the second half of our lunches
(which we’d refrigerated) for dinner.
Relaxed a bit, and then went to bed.
Thank you, God our Protector,
once again for providing what we needed to get us safely “home.”
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