Where Yarmiks Roam

Week 37 - CANADA - September 9 - September 15, 2024

The presidential debate was on Wednesday September 11th. It was exciting to watch. Being Harris fans and anti everything about Trump, we felt that Trump did very poorly.

A few random photos. Tyler running a Cross Country race at CCC.

Natalie was in town to participate a weekend away with high school girlfriends.

We went out for lunch at a trendy place in Lake Oswego.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 11

We had waited until after the election to leave on our vacation to Canada; we left Wednesday evening after the election and spent the first night at a rest along I5 on our way to Port Angeles.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 12

We got to Port Angeles in PLENTY of time to get the ferry We may have been only second in line. We were surprised by a Canadian Customs guy with a gun who asked, "do you have any protection?" Huh....what protection, for a person a bear a their. So the guy went down the list of things, and we said no to all.

The ferry ride to Victoria was boring and uneventful.

Our first challenge was in Victoria when we tried to find a parking spot. We finally found a parking lot

We headed for "downtown' - we remembered nothing of our honeymoon trip to this city in 1967. Dad loved the flowers.

This harbor with the parliament building in the background.

We got icecream at a cutsie street cafe

Our ultimate destination was aChinatown and a restaurant with a picture menu.

We were successful and had a yummy meal.

We spent the night at a rest stop along Canada 1. It was really awful - only a door's distance off the highway, with a it toilet and noisy cars....who knew. But we found it and slept.

FRIDAY - this was the day for Burchart Gardens - we've been her twice in the past....once on our honeymoon when the whole area was covered in snow. The second time was at the end of a cruise and it was nighttime and there was not enough time to do anything.. But this time we had the whole day and the weather was perfect!

The place was perfect in so many ways.....flowers, landscaping, mowing, fountains, everything. We walked and looked until we dropped.

I was smitten by a cat t-shirt in the gift shop.....it's too big, but it's comfy.

We had to leave the Gardens....though Dad wanted to apply for a job there. We decided to head south and then west and head for Port Renfrew. We expected a spectacular drive along the southwestern coast of Vancouver Island, but the scenery was not spectacular, the traffic was heavy (horrible) as we went into and out of little towns. We decided to spend the night at or near Port Renfrew imagining a cute little town with little cafes and ice cream shops and anything cute. We were confused by the roads which didn't follow the map we had. ONe sign said to talk to someone at the gate....but we couldn't even find that. Finally stayed at Port Renfrew Marina and Port. For sure....it is a cute park....sign.

In reality, it was a dumpy place....but quiet...compared to the rest area inches off the highway where we were the previous night.

Fishing boats tied up the the dock.

Dinner at a cozy restaurant.

FRIDAY the 13th

We headed north to Cowichan Lake which is in the middle of nowhere where the economy is run by logging. We drove through miles and miles of forest on a narrow windy, bumpy road.

Here's a photo of a poster we saw at the museum in town.

The museum in town was great - we learned everything we ever may want to know about the early day of logging on Vancouver Island.

We tried to drive a ways around the lake trying to see the view. But there were so many trees ands vacation homes that couldn't see anything - so we headed back to town and parked at a boat dock and ate lunch.

Stopping at a bakery in town, we discovered Nanaimo Brownies. Dad had heard of them, and as a way to test their reputation we bought some.

Yes, they were good, but not to die or.

We headed east and north on our way up the northern coast of Vancouver Island and found Rathtrevor Provincial Park which was right on the shoreline.

We revisited this shoreline the next morning and experienced a low tide.

SATURDAY - Left the provincial park and headed north toward Courtney. We'd read about

a museum that had great reviews.

After spending a great afternoon in this museum, we headed north, planning to stay at Elk Falls Provincial Park outside of Campbell River. We went to Quinsen Campground with is FCFS. We found an unoccupied spot and waited for a ranger gatekeeper to pay for two nights.

SUNDAY the 15th - We went to Elk Falls first and the suspension bridge.

Then we went to the fish hatchery and saw bizillions of small fish.

We went into the city of Campbell River. It is a big place. Lots of resort hotels, restaurants, etc. There is a big pier you can walk out onto and and ice cream stand on the pier.