Monday, October 26, 2015

Back to the Mainland

After crossing Vancouver Island from Duncan to Port Renfrew, we carried on along the coast of the south end of the island through Jordan River and Sooke.

I checked out Belcher Bay and went for a short hike along the coast before finding a quiet spot on a nearby mountain for the night.

While three friends in the area were all out of town or unavailable, I did manage to get together with two lovely young ladies in Victoria for lunch as I was passing through.

About that time, I noticed that the calendar was still ticking the days off and it was getting  closer and closer to the day when snow might start falling again around home.  I also had a request for some more aerial photo work back in Alberta.  So with that in mind we headed for the ferry …

In the tight passage between Galiano and Mayne islands we first met a tug with a barge load of gravel.

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Then, another BC Ferry came into view right on a tight corner!

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For a while there, it was headed right for us!IMG_0104

And then passed by us on the port side.IMG_0106

Once on land again, the GPS was ignored and we followed the signs (!) to the trans Canada Highway and headed east.  Beyond Hope (the town that is), we took the less travelled route through Princeton, Hedley, and Keremeos.  Traffic was light, the fall colours were out which made for a pleasant drive on a road that I realized I had not previously driven!

There were still a couple more ferry crossings to go in this trip – for a total of 12!

We got a front seat on this short ride across the southern end of Lower Arrow Lake.

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A quick side-trip to check out St. Leon hot springs was cut short because it appeared that it would be relatively crowded during the nice fall weather.IMG_5063

The final ferry ride, and 12th of the trip was across Upper Arrow Lake.IMG_5065

The ‘fuel pirates’ were ripping people off with the fuel prices in Revelstoke.  It was $1.15/L when I headed for the coast, and up to $1.20 on my return a few weeks later. Prices were not even that steep at the north end of Vancouver Island!  By comparison, the price in Calgary was $.89, and around here it is still $.92/L  I realize that BC has higher taxes, but that is ridiculous.

Once back home, it was time to unload and winterize the truck camper, and start gearing up the 5th wheel for the southward migration.  My friend Don, from Driving Miss Donna stopped by and gave me a hand taking the camper off and moving the propane heater over to the 5th..

The weather was remarkably warm and sunny for this time of year, and even though the leaves are all gone, there was time to get up in the neighbourhood and take some fall photos.

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As soon as the last photo job is out to the way, or at the sign of the first snowflake, you can bet we’ll be on the road south.  In the meantime, Hailey is enjoying the time at home and keeping all the local mice well behaved.  For the first time in quite a while, I guess you could say that the blog is right up to date!

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Meanwhile, south of the line …

Wheeling It  Nina & Paul  have been in the Williams area, planning to visit the south rim of the Grand Canyon.

Bayfield Bunch are enroute from Ontario to Arizona, one Cracker Barrel at a time!

Jean and Skip have been checking out the Lake Havasu area

Wandering Willy is making his way down 395 in eastern California, perhaps with Death Valley in his sights.

Looking forward to seeing everyone down south this winter!

2 comments:

  1. Some of the places you mentioned bring back 40+ years of memories for me. Port Renfrew, Victoria, Hope, Princeton, Keremeos, the Arrow Lakes. I only lived in BC's Okanagan Valley a few years but I sure loved BC all the time I was there. We're in a Walmart parking lot in Kearney Nebraska tonight. Heading for Utah's Capital Reef area. See ya down south later:))

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  2. Great pictures! Makes us anxious to hit the road! So, we will! Likely will meet up with you on the Southern trek along the West coast somewhere in the next week or two!

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