Victoria to Prince Rupert

The ferry ride to from Victoria to Horseshoe Bay in Vancouver was calm and the weather was clear.  Navigating on and off the ferry was easy and we were quickly back on the road again heading for the ferry in Prince Rupert.

The road to Prince Rupert is called the Sea to Sky Highway and it is a former logging road with spectacular scenery.  It is a winding road that goes up and over the Coast Mountains with long steep grades (14%+) and hairpin turns.  It is not a relaxing drive, but one we will always remember.  Were were constantly stopping to take pictures.  It is definitely a road to drive slowly on and enjoy the vistas. If you ever have the chance this is a must drive, one of the best we have ever done.

   

On the way to Prince Rupert we passed through Whistler which was a charming town and  we biked to the area where the former Olympics were held  and were awed by the steep downhill ski runs.  We also passed through Prince George which is British Columbia's  4th largest city and was great place to do our shopping before we begin our trek on the Inside Passage. We explored Fort George Park and Cottonwood Island Park and walked along the Fraser River. The 2015 Canada Winter Games are scheduled to held in Prince George and northern British Columbia.

   

When we originally planned the trip we did not realize that the Provincial Parks in Canada did not open until later in May.  Consequently, we have been staying in private campgrounds which have just been ok. This has been a little disappointing because the provincial parks are so beautiful. We were also teased by numerous signs that indicated we would see moose, elk and deer along the way, but never saw any wildlife.  Apparently wildlife are a big problem on the roads during the winter when the animals come to lick the salt off the road.

The rest of the pictures are here.

We are  camping the next several days in Kinnikinnick Campground in Port Edward which is located 6 miles before you get to Prince Rupert.  Our campsite  is jungle-like with so much vegetation.  It has been interesting to learn about the area by touring the North Pacific Cannery, the Museum of Northern British Columbia and the Port Interpretative Center.  We are easily entertained by looking for eagles in the area and have spotted about a dozen.

Saturday we catch the ferry to Ketchikan and will finally begin our journey through Alaska!

Pacific Rim National Park

On another beautiful day we drove North from the city of Victoria over to the Pacific Rim national park. The scenery continued to be great as you can see from our lunch stop picture.

 

Even in town the views were great.

We spent three days in Tofino, BC. Most of the time it was over cast but with just a bit of mist. See the pictures from the park and more here. It was then back to Nanaimo for a very smooth ride back to the mainland and the real start (to quote Sue) to our trip to Alaska. The drive up highway 99 has been spectacular  with our over night in Whistler.

  

The nest few days will take us to Prince Rupert where we catch the Alaska Marine Highway. See you then!

Victoria, BC

An early start on Saturday morning resulted in light traffic on the drive into Victoria.  Upon recommendation, we had breakfast at the Dutch Bakery on Fort Street which lived up to its reputation of having outstanding pastries.  After breakfast we wandered through the Empress Hotel  and watched the boats and floatplanes in the harbor.

The Royal BC Museum was as impressive as we remembered when we visited years ago.  After 3 hours  in the museum we had explored a little over half of the exhibits, but were ready to return to some of the outdoor touring.  The weather was absolutely perfect--sunshine and in the 70's.  After asking locals where to have lunch, we headed for Betsy's Fish and Chips on Fisherman's Wharf.  We were fascinated by the little water taxis and decided to take the harbor tour which provided us with some the history and details of the area.

By afternoon the harbor was buzzing with people and street entertainers.  We enjoyed watching a juggler perform and were especially entertained when Dave was asked to participate by riding a tricycle and wearing a flaming helmet.

You can see pictures of Dave’s act here.

After hours of walking, we were ready to head for the car and drive to Beacon Hill Park.  This was a massive park with beautiful views of the harbor and the Olympic Mountains in the distance. We continued with a scenic drive along the coast for a while and then headed back to camp a little weary, but thankful to have had such a beautiful day to explore Victoria.

Ferry to Victoria & Butchart Gardens

We took the Coho Ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria. It was the first ride for the Silver Burrito on a boat. The pictures show us in line, then the ferry coming in to the dock, the trailer in the boat and Sue making sure we are headed in the right direction. It was a very smooth crossing. You could barely tell that the boat was moving. We loaded in the rear and drove off on the right side of the boat after making a right turn in the boat. The traffic in Victoria was really bad and it was slow going to get to our campground. Dave and Susi were already there.

    

Another day of beautiful weather and we headed for Butchart Gardens.  There was every color of tulip you could imagine and numerous varieties of tulips as well.  Magnificent is too mild of a word to describe the gardens.

     

The rest of the pictures can be found here.

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Port Angeles Leg of the trip

We left the Airstream park in Lacey in a drizzling rain. Very little traffic on a Sunday morning, which was a nice thing. We arrived at our camp (Elwha Dam RV park) at noon. A quick lunch and we decided to take the drive out the Juan de Fuca highway. The highway follows the US coast line along the Southern shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The goal was to see some whales and get to the most Northwestern corner of the US (Cape Flattery). It became sunny for most of the drive. We found a great campground called Salt Creek Recreation Area. The RV area was three tiered such that every space had an unobstructed view of the water. While we were not able to spot any whales they were reported to frequent the area. It was also very easy to get down the the beach to explore the tide pools. By the way this is a county park and not listed anywhere. If we had known about it this would have been home.

   

The drive continued through Neah Bay and on to Cape Flattery. The problem was the weather turned sour on us now. We debated if we were going to walk in the rain the 3/4 of a mile to the cape in the rain. We decided that after we had driven this far why would another 1.5 mile stroll among the trees keep us from our destination. It turned out good because the tree cover kept most of the water off us while walking the trail. Too bad it did not let up at the coast. The pictures do not do it justice.

   

By this time it was getting late and we had not had supper. Our campground host had recommended Linda’s Wood Fired Pizza and it was a hit. While there we had a nice conversation with another couple who lived in the area. Before we knew what was happening they asked the owner if she had any Halibut for us. We paid twelve dollars for 2+ pounds of Halibut that had been caught that day. You just don’t know what you may get your self into.

The next day we woke up to sunshine. This was our day to drive up Hurricane Ridge. What a beautiful drive. Saw several black tailed deer along the way. As we got to the top it was a little windy, cloudy and cold with a few snow flakes in the air. The first picture is from town and you can see where we are headed. Next we are part way up and the view keep getting better. Now we are getting close to the visitor center at the top. A little cold here! Finally we are at the top and have lunch in the warm visitors center with Great views all around.

    

Arriving back down we still had some time left. We decided to go explore Marymere Falls. It was a 2 mile walk to the magnificent falls as you can see.

 

Another great day and we get a call from our good friends Candy and Steve Schmitt. They were on their way to meet us. We had a few errands to run. Shortly after returning they arrived. Sure good to see them. After some chatting we prepared a lunch and set out to explore the Sol Duc area. This is an area I had been in around 40 years ago. On that trip in September I was able to catch a picture of a Salmon in the air trying to go up stream to spawn. Sue always believed the picture was fake. Know she knows better because she got to see the fish with her on eyes. This time it was a Steelhead not a Salmon but the action was the same. As you can see I was able to get a repeat performance. By the way Candy was the first to see a fish jump.

  

Steve, Sue and I made the hike up to the Sol Duc Falls. There was some discussion about how to run the falls, but all decided we were not up to that.

  

Thank you Candy and Steve for a wonderful day!

Another sunny day and we are off to the Hoh Rainforest and Rialto Beach. We did the Spruce trail and the Mossy trail. Seen Roosevelt Elk on each. Probably a total of 7. The beach was supposed to be good for whales, but no such luck for us. It did provide a good place for lunch even though it was a little chilly.

   

Just wonder how this tree got here and still has the bark on it.

 

 

To see addition pictures from each day go:

Cape Flattery/ Neah Bay Drive in Rain

Olympic NP - Hurricane Ridge & Marymere falls

Olympic NP - Sol Duc Falls

Olympic NP - Hoh Rainforest and Rialto Beach

Mt Rainier National Park

Today was a beautiful day for our drive through Mt. Rainier National Park. The album is here.

Tacoma Museum of Glass

We are staying at the Washington Unit’s Airstream Park in Lacey, WA.  They have a large facility here with lots of full hookup sites, in a parking lot style. We have met neighbors who are from Oklahoma. They will be hosting in one of the campgrounds in the Olympic National Park.

We decided to take in the Tacoma Museum of Glass today on the recommendations from Lou and Larry Woodruff. They stopped here on their trip to Alaska last year. They also stayed here at the Airstream Park.

If you look close you will see a glass bubble that one of the artist blew for demonstration. The glass was so thin it actually felt like plastic and was some what pliable.  The next picture shows the artist starting to create a vodka decanter. They have contracted to create 12 each month for a local distiller. Each month has a different color and insignia. They indicated that it usually takes at least 20 to get 12 good ones. The furnace on the left holds the molten glass. The bright one is called the glory hole. They use this to reheat the glass as the work it. The third picture is of a finished product. I believe this one has some flaws.

  

Here they are carrying a finished product while it is very hot. They place it in another furnace for around 14 hours to cool it in a controlled manner. The told us that if they were to leave it at room temperature it would explode. This happens because different parts of the glass would cool at different rates. The next picture is looking up from inside the Auditorium where you watch the action. It is a stainless steel cone. I don’t know the reason for this other than to direct the heat out. You can really feel the heat when they open one of the furnaces.

 

Could not resist taking this picture of a glass Airstream which was on display.

After the museum we went across the street where some of Dale Chihuly’s work was on display.

See our other pictures in the album Tacoma Museum of Glass.