Matt July 11: Hot, Hot, Hot

Today it was hot everywhere. Today we took a fairy to Canada. It was about an hour ride from Port Angeles to Victoria. On the ride we saw seals, sea otters, and dolphins. When we got to Canada we had to show security our passports.

After we got through we went on a double-decker but tour of Victoria. We sat at the top. The first town we went to was called Chinatown. On the tour we saw a castle that was owned by a famous man. Then we drove past expincive houses. The average for a condo was $300,000! About halfway through the tour we stopped for a twenty minute break. We bought three water bottles and some ice cream. We ate our ice cream down by the dock. As we went down the ramp we saw two seals. Soon it was time to get on the hot bus. As we drove around we saw more condos. We also saw a cemetery with some famous people buried in it. After the tour we walked to the chocolate shop. In order to keep the chocolate cold they had to keep it air conditioned all the time.

Then we walked to the boat and rode back to Port Angeles. After we were about 15 minutes from Port Angeles, we saw a whale! We watched the whale for a while and then a baby dolphin jumped over the whale. Soon we were off. Then we docked and drove to the RV.

Leah July 11: Canada!

Instead of starting out my blog with the word, “today”, I’m going to try something new. Hurray, we went to Canada! In order to get to Canada we had to take a ferry. It was an hour trip over to Canada. The ferry was called Victoria Express. It was nice inside. They had a snack bar. It also had tables and booths with an upstairs. But the upstairs didn’t have a roof.

When we got to Canada we got a hot dog. Then we had to get on our bus because we were taking a tour of Victoria, British Columbia. When we got to take a rest break we got ice cream. When we finished the ice cream there were seals in the marina! They were spotted and had big black eyes that made them look really cute. We realized that our 20 minute break was over so we husled back to the bus.

We finished the tour and stopped for a snack. Then we walked to Roger’s Chocolate and got some chocolate. We walked to Roots and got Matt a shirt. Then we started to walk back to the boat. I got a t-shirt on the way. We made it to the boat with 5 minutes to spare.

When we got on the boat we noticed the boat was the Victoria Express II. There were not tables and booths, just chairs. The upstairs was the same as the other boat. When we were about half way through the boat ride we noticed some whale watchers stopped. We looked ahead of them and there was a humpback whale! Dad took a lot of pictures of it. There were 4 whale watchers boats, the car ferry and us watching it.

When we finally got to the dock and unloaded, we went for a place to have dinner. We found Wendy’s. After dinner we came back to the motorhome. Matt and I went over to the game room to play air hockey and ping-pong. There were people playing ping-pong so we just played air-hockey. I won the game. We came back to the motor home. We watched a little part of a weird movie. Then I took a shower. I wanted to watch TV but Mom said I had to blog first, so I did. I ended up getting ahead of everybody else. Matt watched TV instead of blogging. It ended up being too late to watch TV when I finished so I just made up my bed and went to sleep.

Craig July 11, The Ferry, The Bus and The Whale

Today we would cross the Strait of Juan de Fuca and tour the Canadian town of Victoria, British Columbia.

I grabbed the left over steak and potatoes from dinner a few nights ago and made a good breakfast for the family. We didn’t want another “save the starving children” fiasco like yesterday, we wanted to start the day off right.

We drove the Jeep down to the town pier, next to the restaurant we dined at the night before and parked. We bought our tickets for the Victoria Express Ferry across the street and waited a few minutes until the boarding call came. The boat ride was about an hour long and we enjoyed the sun on the open deck with the cool sea breeze.

We entered the Victoria harbor and found it bustling with activity. Boats of all sizes coming and going, as well as seaplanes landing and taking off. Apparently this harbor has over 70 seaplane flights a day. Whale watching is a big draw up here as there are a few pods of killer whales that frequent the Strait.

After docking, we entered Canadian customs. They asked few questions and quickly moved everyone through. We then boarded a double decker bus for a tour of the city.

The city is a mixture of new and old. The Empress Hotel, the predominant landmark of the inner harbor, was built at the turn of the century. New construction seems to have taken over and diluted some of the Victorian feel that the city so desires. At least in my opinion. But it is very beautiful nevertheless. The city is extraordinary in its cleanliness. No litter anywhere.

Flowers are everywhere. There are flower pots hanging from almost every light pole in the city. All are hand watered, as the summer is the dry season. The hotels, government buildings and other business are surrounded by color. The locals spruce up their front yards with dramatic flower gardens as well, with some rivaling those of the hotels.

Our tour lasted about an hour and a half, with a twenty minute break along the way for some much needed refreshments at a local marina. The city was seeing record heat with the high hovering just under 100*. This is obviously not the normal temperature as very few of the older buildings or homes are equipped with air conditioning. Nor was out tour bus. The top floor with all it's glass, moving ever so slowly through downtown traffic was miserable. Once we got out of the city we picked us speed creating some circulation, which was a little more comfortable.

We were only spending the afternoon in Victioria. So after a light lunch with some more liquids we went shopping for some souvenirs for the kids. Before long it was time to head back to the boat.

The ride back was a treat. The abundant sea life was showing itself on a regular basis. We were constantly delighted to porpoises swimming by, seals peering out of the water wondering what was disturbing them and the occasional inquisitive sea otter having a look as well. When we were about three quarters of the way across the Strait, we came upon a row of small boats drifting in the current. The captain slowed the boat to have a look. He came on the loudspeaker preparing us for the killer whales that are frequently seen here. To everyone’s surprise including the captain and crew, it was a humpback whale.

Apparently, it is highly unusual for humpbacks to be seen in the Strait. They typically will travel along the coast up to Alaska to spend the summer. This is pretty far out of their normal path.

We spent a good ten minutes or so watching the whale before getting back on course for Port Angeles. I was surprised the captain would take this much time for a whale sighting. I guess this was that much out of the ordinary.

Once back in port we had to go through customs. This was a much different affair than we had last summer. Last summer we came back into the US from Canada and had to go through the worst customs agent ever. Rude, demeaning and just hating life described this guy. Not the same here! We were whisked through quickly and pleasantly. The agent asked the kids a few questions, looked at our passports and bid us adieu.

We were all pretty exhausted by the time we made it back to the motorhome. The heat had really taken it out of us. Everyone would sleep good tonight.