Wednesday, August 30th, 2023
We headed North to Vancouver, a little over 4 hours away from Seattle. First time for Molly outside of the United States. We crossed at Peace Arch and the whole process, including waiting in the queue took less than 2 minutes. Passports were checked, but no other information like drivers license, insurance or registration were needed. Once in Vancouver we cruised down Granville Street for a bit of memory lane and for a coffee. The we headed east to Burnaby for the night.
Stephen had exchanged a few emails with “a guy” on the Internet, who is interested in Earthcruisers and truck campers more generally. One thing led to another, and we arranged to park in their cul-du-sac for the night. And then they invited us to dinner, so a good chance to have dinner with complete strangers. We had common interests, including travelling, and we spent the evening drinking and exchanging stories. They also gave us some good advice for places to go on Vancouver Island. We wanted to avoid the smoke and wild fires in the interior of British Columbia.
Thursday, August 31st, 2023
The next morning we headed over to West Vancouver for lunch with an old friend, which was very nice. Then just just up the road to Horseshoe Bay to catch the next ferry to Nanaimo. As we missed the first ferry, so with a little time on our hands, we had a chance to enjoy the little township of Horseshoe Bay, and get some Canadian Dollars. Getting some local currency turned out to be a good idea, as later that night we stayed in a Provincial Campground, and cash was the easiest way to pay.
We had very calm waters for the crossing to Vancouver Island, and the costal mountain scenery was very nice. We stocked up on tourist maps and brochures and planned the first night’s camp. We got off the boat around 8pm, and got one of the last spots in the campground. A long weekend and the last weekend of the school holidays means things are about to get busy on the Island.
