Sunday, July 22, 2007
Victoria
Yesterday we got up very early (5:30), took showers, finished packing up (we had done most the night before) and drove to the ferry in Port Angeles. We got there 10 minutes late (arriving at 7:30 for our 8:20 ferry), but had no problems. The ferry was late and the weather was very foggy, but the ride was quite uneventful.
When we arrived in Vancouver, we drove directly to our campground in Goldstream Provincial Park (which is about 15 miles NW of town). The Cowards hung around Victoria and eventually checked in to their motel a few blocks away from the Empress.
Goldstream Park is spectacular. It reminds us how much we prefer State (or Provincial) parks to private RV campgrounds. It’s a huge park and the campground is fantastic. The sites are very large and there is significant forest between sites so you can rarely see you neighbors. Everything is green and lush. Patty and I both think it awesome. There are no hookups. The only problem we’ve had is the non-stop rain. It started raining around 4:00 PM on Saturday (the day we arrived) and rained absolutely non-stop until passed when we went to bed (I assume ‘till morning). We had a break between 6:00 AM and about 3:00 PM and now it’s been raining non-stop for the past 6 hours. The rain has been steady – not pouring, but not drizzling either – a steady, solid rain. I’m sure we’ve gotten 2” in the past 2 days.
The Antigua has done great. The rain is loud in here, but there are no significant leaks, and the rain sounds especially nice on the tents over the beds.
Yesterday we went to Butchart Gardens with the Cowards. We arrived around 4:30. They were handing out clear umbrellas to everyone. We had made our plans around being here on a Saturday so we could enjoy their weekly fireworks display. It meant we had to keep the girls up until very late – the show didn’t start until 9:45. They were incredibly well behaved considering all the disturbances to our normal schedule (including walking in the rain, eating junk at weird hours and staying up late), but it turned out the fireworks weren’t very good, particularly in the rain. So we left in the middle of the show (it was pouring) and beat the traffic out of the place.
Today we had a leisurely morning and were able to eat and cook outside because it wasn’t raining. I’ll say again, this park is gorgeous. What a pleasure to be outside eating.
The girls showered and got on their nice clothes and we drove to Victoria where we met Jim & Diane at their hotel. All the girls went to high tea at the Empress hotel while Jim and I stayed in the room and worked on our computers and I kept moving the laundry.
After tea, Jim & I took the little girls to “Miniature World” in the back of the Empress and Patty & Diane went to the wax museum.
After resting at the Coward’s hotel room for awhile, we walked to dinner (in the rain of course) to Chandler’s seafood restaurant on the water. It was fine, but didn’t quite live up to our expectations.
After walking back, we said goodbye to Jim & Diane (they'll be heading home tomorrow, and we'll continue north on Vancouver Island) and then went back to our campsite where it was still raining.
When we arrived in Vancouver, we drove directly to our campground in Goldstream Provincial Park (which is about 15 miles NW of town). The Cowards hung around Victoria and eventually checked in to their motel a few blocks away from the Empress.
Goldstream Park is spectacular. It reminds us how much we prefer State (or Provincial) parks to private RV campgrounds. It’s a huge park and the campground is fantastic. The sites are very large and there is significant forest between sites so you can rarely see you neighbors. Everything is green and lush. Patty and I both think it awesome. There are no hookups. The only problem we’ve had is the non-stop rain. It started raining around 4:00 PM on Saturday (the day we arrived) and rained absolutely non-stop until passed when we went to bed (I assume ‘till morning). We had a break between 6:00 AM and about 3:00 PM and now it’s been raining non-stop for the past 6 hours. The rain has been steady – not pouring, but not drizzling either – a steady, solid rain. I’m sure we’ve gotten 2” in the past 2 days.
The Antigua has done great. The rain is loud in here, but there are no significant leaks, and the rain sounds especially nice on the tents over the beds.
Yesterday we went to Butchart Gardens with the Cowards. We arrived around 4:30. They were handing out clear umbrellas to everyone. We had made our plans around being here on a Saturday so we could enjoy their weekly fireworks display. It meant we had to keep the girls up until very late – the show didn’t start until 9:45. They were incredibly well behaved considering all the disturbances to our normal schedule (including walking in the rain, eating junk at weird hours and staying up late), but it turned out the fireworks weren’t very good, particularly in the rain. So we left in the middle of the show (it was pouring) and beat the traffic out of the place.
Today we had a leisurely morning and were able to eat and cook outside because it wasn’t raining. I’ll say again, this park is gorgeous. What a pleasure to be outside eating.
The girls showered and got on their nice clothes and we drove to Victoria where we met Jim & Diane at their hotel. All the girls went to high tea at the Empress hotel while Jim and I stayed in the room and worked on our computers and I kept moving the laundry.
After tea, Jim & I took the little girls to “Miniature World” in the back of the Empress and Patty & Diane went to the wax museum.
After resting at the Coward’s hotel room for awhile, we walked to dinner (in the rain of course) to Chandler’s seafood restaurant on the water. It was fine, but didn’t quite live up to our expectations.
After walking back, we said goodbye to Jim & Diane (they'll be heading home tomorrow, and we'll continue north on Vancouver Island) and then went back to our campsite where it was still raining.
# posted by Craig @ 10:00 PM 
