Day 2 - Mt. Vernon, WA - Courtenay, BC

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We were up at 5am to make our ferry; we didn’t want to arrive late and lose our reserved spot. It was a 35minute drive to the ferry crossing in Anacortes, Washington. We arrived and checked in by 7am, now all we had to do was wait in line. It was extremely foggy and our ferry ended up being delayed by 20minutes. I was disappointed because we had taken this ferry so we could see Orcas Island and San Juan Island. About 20minutes into our voyage, the fog cleared and we could see everything! The sun was out and the weather was perfect. We made it to Friday Harbor and watched as more people boarded. Friday Harbor is unlike anything I have ever seen before. There are a lot of boats moored here and it seems that almost every one of them carries a zodiac behind them. I assume this is for mooring and getting into areas that they can’t take their boats. My mom loves it here so much; she grabbed a real estate guide and is looking at homes for sale. I want to come back here with Theo in the fall and tour the island. There is so much to do and see. We left Friday Harbor and headed west towards Sidney, BC. We will disembark and head north toward Courtenay, BC. I wanted to explore as much of Vancouver Island as possible and we decided to head as far north as we could. There are not a lot of options for places to stay on the northern part of the island; it seems to be very remote…maybe we will see a bigfeet!
We got off the ferry and went through customs. I was holding my breath the whole time when I realized that they didn’t even have computers to check our passports…sheesh. We decided to head to Butchart Gardens since it was farther north than what we had originally thought. I walked through the front gates and was completely awe struck! The gardens were amazing; the colors of everything blooming flowed so well throughout the park, it was hard to leave. My favorite area was the Sunken Garden which is a garden that was originally a rock quarry. Megan’s favorite area was the Japanese Gardens. She kept asking if her dad would make our yard like these gardens. I couldn’t help but laugh!
We spent about 2.5 hours in the park and then headed further northwest to the city of Courtenay. When we were being questioned by the customs agent when we left the ferry, he looked at me with a funny look when I told him that we were headed to Courtenay for the night. Now, I know why! We drove for hours! Not only was the traffic extremely heavy, but with everything being in kilometers, it is hard for me to figure out my speed. I have it down finally (thanks to Megan), but now need to figure out the whole gas thing…ugh….

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Comments

[James]

hi
just been browsing your travel blog here and it sounds like you,ve been having good time. Had a laugh at your comment about look on the Customs officer's face when you told him you were headed to my town Courtenay. Anyway, i've read all your postings and have only one comment about the young men and drinking. Sorry about that, hope they weren't a real problem, but like the US of A we got lotsa genetic throwbacks too except usually we vote them into office! Myself, I suffer from being a hermit, but traveled a great deal as a child, and when I was no longer tugged around by my parents I couldn't wait to put down some roots and really get to know a piece of land. I can recite my page of life from memory, so to speak. Yeah! Ain't Butchart Gardens amazing? For sheer scenery your next visit will have to include the far west coast of the Island and North of Campbell River. My job sometimes take me to those places and even though I've been living on THE island for 40 years those locations never cease to blow my mind. If I was at home on one my own computer I would immediately subscribe to your blog just because I could travel virtually with you and indulge my hermit tendencies. Don't stop writing about your travels because a lot of people don't know anything beyond their front door and the digital age is just plain GRAND for that sort of thing. cheers, James.