Wednesday - After our late drive yesterday, we slept in a little and slowly got ourselves ready to decamp and head to the ferry. I had time to do laundry again, and Joe did his chores, then drove to McDonalds for sodas for the trip while I worked on the blog. We wanted to wait until after 10:30 to leave the campground, to give the 10:30 ferry time to unload and depart, so we left about 11:10 for our 6-mile drive to downtown Victoria. Traffic was cooperative and we got in line by about 11:30, second in our row behind a pick-up pulling a boat. We had 2 hours to kill before Customs started checking people in, so after we got measured and paid for our tickets, we headed out. We talked to a couple guys right outside the ferry terminal from Butchart Gardens, and as we left them we saw a huge smoke ball not too far behind us. Shortly thereafter, we heard sirens and watched the fire trucks come by. They were yellow, not red. Interesting.
Since the Parliament building was right across the street, we decided to tour it during our two-hour wait. We lucked out and got to join a guided tour that had just started.
British Columbia Coat of Arms
The Memorial Rotunda has four paintings decorating the dome, representing the primary economic industries of early British Columbia -- forestry, fishing, agriculture and mining.
This is the Ceremonial Entrance, where the Queen and other dignitaries enter. It is only used for the most special occasions. Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, last came through these doors in March of 1983. Queen Elizabeth reigns over 16 countries.
The Chamber, where elected members of the legislative assembly serve as members of the government or as members of the opposition.
The outside grounds are beautifully landscaped and have had lots of people on them every time we have gone by, not just on the steps but all over the grassy areas as well.
This was a park across the street, where a time capsule was buried in 1967, to be opened in 2067.
We walked down this side street because this is where the horses wait for the next passengers. I got to meet Ace.
We then walked along the harbor, checked out the wares being sold by First Nation peoples, and listened to a guitar player.
We talked to the Butchart Gardens rep again, but he didn't know what had caused the smoke. He did tell us we missed the excitement, though, a lady had fell right there on the steps and an ambulance had taken her away. He also described Christmas at Butchart Gardens. I've decided if I ever win the lottery, I'm going there for Christmas dinner.
Then it was time to head back to the RV to wait for the officials to allow us to board. They arrived in full gear, briefly checked our passports, and sent us over to get little piece of paper saying we had been checked. We got parked in the front row on the ferry, had a little more room beside us this time, but they put a big old 18-wheeler beside us, who was even taller than we were.
But Joe got us put right in our spot, and we headed into the ferry. We had a nice, uneventful ride but the smoke sure affected our views. We got a good view of the Parliament Building from here, and watched the busy harbor, planes taxiing in and out.
We got a better look at the floating houses from here.
On our ride, we watched a helicopter skim over the water, then hover over one spot for 15-20 minutes. We couldn't see it very well through the haze, but it appeared that it might have lowered a basket down and brought someone or something up. Then it flew off, so we don't know if it was doing a rescue or a practice, or none of the above. We saw a few ships as we crossed, and just before we reached the coast we finally spotted some wildlife, a pod of dolphins, maybe 5-6, and a Harbor seal, as well as lots of seabirds all the way across.
When the dolphins (or porpoises, some said) were spotted, the guy standing beside me saw one. I excitedly asked him where, and he said "200 meters." I said "feet, not meters!!" We had a good chuckle about that. Another lady walked up beside Joe, and he asked her if she was meters or feet -- she said "feet." (She was from Pennsylvania).
It was a 90-minute crossing (the first 30 minutes was getting out of the harbor), and we landed just about 4:30. We had to go through Customs again, and this time we got boarded.
Joe had to open every outside compartment, then the officer came inside and checked every inside compartment as well as the refrigerator, the closet and under the bed. He confiscated an apple. I didn't know if photos were allowed, but I caught him in the mirror.
We had about a 20-mile drive to the campground Marilyn had found (John Wayne Marina in Sequim), and we got there about 5:30. The office was closed and the Brundiges were not home, but we found our spot and got parked, then called Marilyn. They were in town at a Mexican restaurant, so we hot-footed it back to town and joined them for dinner. We saw a big building as we came through the first time, a winery that I thought Mazie would be interested in.
On the way in to town to meet the Brundiges, we drove by all these blackberries. Joe kept checking them out for ripe ones, so on the way home, he pulled over and started picking some. He had spotted a patch of ripe ones earlier. He was just putting them in his cap, so I got a grocery bag out of my fanny pack and told him to come get it. I opened by door to take it to him, but he had parked in a ditch full of weeds and I immediately got my feet wet all the way up to my ankles. Sure surprised me! We were lucky not to have gotten hung up, but he fortunately had left the back wheels on the driveway to someone's house, and was able to back us out.
Collins and Marilyn joined us for cards, and she brought over ice cream (we put our blackberries on top), so we had a nice evening with them. (The girls won again). We are glad to have hooked back up with them, and to be back on U.S. soil where they don't use funny money and don't have their own vocabulary. It would be awfully convenient to book a fishing trip out of this marina, so we will have to see about that. We are here for 2 nights.
I found out what the fire was. We are lucky it didn't affect our ferry trip.
BC
Boat fire at Victoria harbour
Photo: Twitter
A sailboat went up in flames Wednesday, in Victoria's Inner Harbour.
The highly public blaze was visible from around the downtown
waterfront and sent a plume of black smoke towering over the capital
city.
A fire boat was attacking the blaze over the lunch hour, in the Fisherman's Wharf area of the harbour.
The incident closed a nearby fuel dock.
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