19th Nov – Day 7

My only complaint about our campsite is that it faced West so we didn’t get the morning sun.  But the view was beautiful and the sun glimmering on the water was pretty good.  The tide had come in and so I told Pickle that the Ocean ate the Beach that we played on the night before and got really sad.  When I showed her she was the cutest upset I have ever seen.  Then she wanted to check on the spiders that we found the night before.  they had all left but we found some Blackberries that were still hanging on.  Only about one in five had any flavor but it was enough.

We took the long way back to Friday Harbor because we got out of camp early.  On the way we found an entryway to a guy’s property that had some really fun stuff.  I’ll let the pictures tell the story.

We had to get to F.H. early so we did and watched to boats and seaplanes come and go.  The ferry that we took to Canada was the biggest we had seen yet.  We got on board and realized that someone had left the helm unattended and no one was steering the boat.  Asher and Pickle took their jobs very seriously.  They did a great job even when we had to go back and drop off a young lady that got on the wrong boat.

The ride over to Canada was really pretty.  The kids love everything about ferries.  They ran laps on this one and generally made a nuisance of themselves.  It was great.

April and the kids have just gotten their passports and they were all super excited to get a stamp in them so we had to ask the guy to stamp them.  We were the last car through the line into Canada and it’s a good thing because it took them a little while to find the stamp.

Anyway we started to drive down to Victoria.  The South end of Vancouver Island was really warm when we were there.  I think it is like that a lot.  We met a couple of guys from out on the plains of Canada and in response to us saying

“This is our first time to Canada for the kids.”

They said:

“This isn’t Canada.  This is the Mediterranean.”

Whatever the case it’s beautiful.  We found the ferry and parked our car near it and then wandered over past the gold and silver crowned parliament building (where someone was playing a Bagpipe) and past the ferry terminal where we had to be in a couple of hours and talked to them for a bit.

They told us that over at Fisherman’s Wharf it’s really cool and you can feed seals.  After the look on Pickle’s face I didn’t see how we could have gone any where else.  So we went.  All of the houses and the stores on the Fisherman’s Wharf in Victoria are floating.  They are out on the docks and they are seated directly on the sea. They are connected to city utilities but they live on the waving, rising and falling ocean.  Some really cool houses.

The we went over to the food area and saw where the seals were.  There were only two restaurants open and one of them sold us a plate of Herrings with a warning about the Seagulls.

“They mean business.”

They did.  Three times I saw a seagull steal the piece of fish out of somebodies hand. But the seals were super cute.  One of them had a bad eye and seemed really timid. Especially around the gulls.  I think he lost it to a beak in one of the frenzies.  Feeding the seals was a lot of fun.  Then we ate some fish ourselves.  We went to both restaurants and they were both delicious.  We asked the second one if they had any Gluten Free options and he said that they did fish and chips and had a dedicated fryer.  Then he said:

“Should I go on, or have you heard enough?”

So April had her first Fish and Chips in a very long time.  Then we hurried back to the ferry.  I went on ahead to get the car and made it back to the terminal just as April was walking up with the kids.  This ferry was much larger than anything else we had been on.  It was at least double the size of the one that brought us from San Juan to Canada, which had been the biggest so far.  It was a good thing.  On the route down to Port Angeles we crossed the Straight Juan de Fuca.  For the first time we were exposed to close to the full force of the Pacific Ocean.

It was a great trip.  Just as we were approaching Port Angeles it started to rain.  Not to surprising, considering the time of the year and where we were.  It’s alright.  Just because it’s raining on the coast, it doesn’t mean that it is raining in the rain forest, right?  Anyway, we headed South (finally heading toward warmer country) and got dinner at a Subway in Forks.  They had Swiss Cheese!  Most Subway’s don’t.  I didn’t realize that until after I had ordered.  Oh well.

Do you know what? In Forks, they are frustrated and annoyed about The Twilight series. Surprising right. We got to the Hoh and set up the tent in the rain. It was not a deluge but it was steady and it didn’t stop until after we left the next day. We snuggled in and hoped for the best.  Falling asleep over even the sound of the rain on the tent was the solid rumble of a serious mountain river.  It was kind of like Christmas.  Going to bed in a beautiful place and having to wait until the morning to get the present.

I am not going to put very much into the next day but I want to show you our campsite.  This is one of the few nights I have heard no human made sounds other than what we made.  Between the river and the rain it was so incredibly peaceful, even when we flooded.