Vacation Day 7: Back in the car again....

Today was the last of my Canada days, and the beginning of the slow journey back home. We woke up in Victoria, BC, and after packing and turning in the keys (more on this later), we went down to Craigdarroch Castle, where we wandered around the grounds a bit, taking in the beautiful views of the city. From there we went and parked the car near the ferry terminal, and headed over to wander the streets of downtown Victoria again. I had seen something the day before that I wanted, and so we went back to find it. :)

While we were wandering around, we noticed a growing crowd of people at the waterfront. It was around noon, so it seemed a little strange, but not totally out of the ordinary I guess. But then we discovered that people were lining up for the Victoria Symphony, which would be performing out on a barge in Victoria's Inner Harbour. The performances would be starting at 4pm; of course, our ferry was leaving at 3pm. :(

We were told to be back with our car at the ferry terminal at least 90 minutes before departure, so around 1pm we walked back to the car, drove to the terminal, and began our long wait. Fortunately we both had books, and the cars and drivers around us provided us with plenty of entertainment, so we weren't bored too much. Customs officials came through to do the Canadian side of things, and around 2:45 we finally boarded the ferry with the car. This ferry was somewhat smaller than the ferry we took from Vancouver to Victoria, but it still had plenty of room for cars.

The ferry from Vancouver to Victoria was fairly relaxing and smooth, as it was primarily going between the various islands and not out in the open water. It was a different story from Victoria to Port Angeles. First there was the water, which was definately choppier than the other ferry ride. Then there was the fog, which was so thick that the boat captain kept blowing the horn, making all the passengers think that we were about to hit something. Then there was the cold air, which was definately not a problem on the first ferry trip, where we both got sunburned a bit. (Well, for Jen, more than a bit....) ;) It was so cold and windy on the deck that we went inside to find seats, only then to have the problem of the ship rocking back and forth from the choppy waters that we had to go outside and get some air. I kept walking around the boat to keep myself moving, yet I felt like I was incredibly drunk and swaying from side to side, unable to keep my balance. Let me tell you, that feeling is so much better when you actually have been drinking....

In Port Angeles we cleared US Customs and began the drive back along Highway 101 towards Portland. It's mostly a single lane in each direction highway, which meant for slow going much of the drive, and not a lot of excitement but for a couple crazy drivers making maneuvers that even most Californians wouldn't try. Finally to I-5, where the traffic slowed up incredibly, so much so that we thought there was an accident somewhere. Turns out everyone was slowing down to see some big giant something that looked like the engine of a space shuttle at a construction project about 16 miles south of Tumwater. Not a clue what it was, but it was big, and it was annoying that it was stopping traffic both directions.....Grrrr.....

Finally we arrived at my sister's house, where we ate ice cream cake (happy early birthday to us!) and played Yahtzee. Tomorrow I have a short drive down to Eugene, and then on Tuesday I'll head down to Medford to meet my new neice.....More later!