Tag: Canada

Day 31: Nothing to declare

Oooof…. 5:30am. We’re up & heading for a shower (which gets 4/10 because of very small size & clingy shower curtain). Why so early you ask? We have an early reservation for the Port Angeles, WA to Victoria, BC ferry. Yep, we are leaving the U.S. after almost a month of travel, it’s time to head back into Canada.

Showered we get the van ready for the day and are driving off site by 6:45am. Traffic is fairly light and this makes our drive back into town to the wharf easy and quick. Black Ball Ferries require us to check-in a minimum of one hour before the ferry “Coho” departs at 8:20am, we make it with a few minutes to spare.

A cup of coffee and a banana are enjoyed while we wait to board which begins shortly before 8:00am. We make our way up to the top deck in order to have the best views back across town to the Olympic mountains.

“Coho” ferry
Departing the U.S.
& away we go
View aft
Another view aft
Olympic mountains
Container ship
Calm waters of Salish Sea

The ferry is relatively full with most passengers having walked-on. The Salish Sea is mill pond calm and we see a few seabirds fishing for breakfast but no whales or seals today while crossing. Arriving in the Victoria inner harbour, our departure and clearance through Canada Customs takes about 30min. We head towards Langford, BC where we enjoy breakfast at a White Spot restaurant before getting groceries for the week.

Arriving in Victoria harbour
Departing the “Coho” ferry
Canada customs
Flowering trees in Victoria
Totem
Horses and carriages
BC Parliament
Empress Hotel

The weather for today is predicted to go from sunny this morning to rain later in the afternoon. As such we have changed our plans to try to avoid the heaviest rains and are now heading to my parents home a day ahead of schedule for a few days of rest and relaxation.

Arriving – Galiano, BC

We’ll catch-up with you again when we resume our journey next week. All the best and thanks for following our adventures.

Day 1: Head West Young Man

We’re off again. This time the plan is to get to California and then head North into the Sierra Nevada mountains before turning West to the Pacific coast and continuing North into Canada. The final leg will bring us back across the continent through the Northern states before again returning to Canada at Sault-Ste-Marie.

The van is packed and we’re on the road shortly after 10am. The weather forecast was for rain turning into snow later in the day, we are hoping to arrive in Southern Ontario before the temperature gets cold enough for snow to form.

The drive along Highway 401 started dry but before long the rain began and intensified significantly. By the time we arrived in Toronto, it was difficult to see more than a few vehicles ahead. Road spray did not help with visibility and driving slowed to a crawl.

We arrived at our destination by 5:00pm and settled in for the night. We are visiting family for the next few days and our plan is to cross into the US on Saturday, this will be our next post.

Looking forward to having everyone follow us again on our adventures via this blog.

Let the adventure begin!

Until next time, keep on smiling!

Winter is coming…

It’s been a while since my last post in June. Since that time we enjoyed Summer at home while taking a couple of shorter trips with the van to local camping spots along the St. Lawrence River and Provincial Parks. We also headed to Southern Ontario on a roadtrip in September that included a week in Prince Edward County enjoying the beach and the local wineries and restaurants the county has to offer. We also visited the Kawartha region before heading to Georgian bay to visit family. Our three weeks ended with some driveway camping visiting family before we came home.

As you can see from the picture above, the van is now nicely tucked away for the impending Winter having had a service and all waterlines drained & winterized. This shelter has kept the van safe for the past two Winters and I hope that it will get us through another as the roof is starting to become quite worn from exposure to the sun. Fingers-crossed!

It’s been a great year of camping that started early in March and ran until late September. We are already making plans for 2024 so stop by again to see what we have planned and to catch-up with our travels.

Happy Holidays everyone!