O Canada!

I love Canada. I do. I've always been fascinated by our neighbors to the north, ever since we went to Niagara Falls in 1975 when I was 10. And of course the story of the Edmund Fitzgerald intrigues me to this day.

Now that the summer ferry schedules have finally been posted, I am in the process of making plans for the annual "It's All About Me" trip to British Columbia. Usually I take the passenger-only Victoria Clipper out of Seattle, and stay overnight. However, that limits me to covering ground on foot, and means that I am speed walking like a crazy woman trying to hit all my fave stores and places. Last summer I drove up to Vancouver and stayed several days, and so I decided I'm going to stay a few days on Vancouver Island, and take my car.

So I'll be taking the MV Coho Ferry, pictured here, out of Port Angeles, WA. The trip is only 90 minutes across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, into Victoria. This ferry's car deck is enclosed; you drive inside the ship from the back.Here's a nice aerial of Victoria, showing the Clipper and Coho dock right smack in the middle of Inner Harbour. I hope that the weather is nice so that I can visit Mt. Malahat north of Victoria; apparently this is what the view looks like! Purty, innit?

And I hope to do the Prince of Whales whalewatch as well. Being from Cape Cod, I have always been very comfortable on boats and don't get seasick. This, however, is a very small, very fast boat so here's hoping I have my sea legs and nothing else.Last time I went to Victoria I paid for the package tour of Butchart Gardens. However they didn't really give us much time there b/f the bus left, so again, I powerwalked the entire place in 30 minutes and didn't get to savour it. This time, I want to take my time.And I'm gonna visit Chemainus, pictured below, home of about 30 some-odd murals. This here is the beach at French Beach Provincial Park. I'll be taking my metal detector with the hope of finding treasure. Finally, I will depart from Sidney, BC, on the Saanich Peninsula, north of Victoria...

...to head home on the Washington State Ferry...(but not the one pictured here b/c you can see Mt. Rainier and I will not see Rainier from the ferry that leaves from Sidney)........which will cruise through the San Juan Islands....
...with views of Mt. Baker in Washington, if I am lucky enough to get a clear day.
The WA State Ferry, which has an open car deck, will arrive in Anacortes, WA (seen below), after a relaxing ride of a little over 2 hours. Thanks to Google Images for all of the pictures.