Victoria and Vancouver British Columbia

When exploring a new area nothing could be better than having your own personal tour guide. This was the case for the week we spent with Steve and Dianne in the Sidney and Fort Langley area. Now for those of you who know Steve and Dianne you might think that we had an in depth tour of all the brew pubs in the area. While we did have a pint or two, they were kind enough to show us much much more.

 

After meeting us at the ferry landing we were escorted back to their home in the heart of Sidney. They are in the process of selling it to their son Rob and his wife Angie. It is a beautiful home tucked in the woods which borders a town park. Lots of trees and birds in a neighborhood but feels very remote. We parked our truck along the driveway where we stayed for a 3 day visit. After getting the camper parked and leveled we headed into town for some lunch and sightseeing.

 

We had lunch at the Rum Runner. It is located right along the shoreline and we could watch the freighters and ferries out in the big water. They had been there before and had good food and service. Unfortunately, they said it has changed a lot in the past year or two and we found the service very slow and the food just okay. Luckily the company was top notch and the conversation flowed.

After lunch we window-shopped along the stores in the area. Barb picked up a postcard to send her grandmother in Cave Junction. Her one request when we left was to send her post cards along our journey.  Next stop was the post office where Barb picked up 6 stamps for a little over $7. It think they were a little more as they were stamps that could go to the U.S. We also walked the boardwalks along the shoreline. It was a perfect day for a walk, the smell of the salt air, super clear water and 30° C (~86° F) unheard of for this area on May 2^nd!

Over the course of the next few days we toured the city of Victoria and surrounding area. There is so much history in this city, the historical buildings and sights and scenery throughout are absolutely stunning. We also hiked/geocached on trails around their house. Dianne wrote up a great blog about our couple of days there as well. If you notice some of the pictures are the same it is because I stole a few!

BS Legislature Building

Empress Hotel

 

The fisherman’s wharf area is very interesting with the floating restaurants, tiny houses on the water, the water taxis and other sights in the area. We had lunch at Barb's Fish and Chips.....very tasty!

 

The floating tiny homes were pretty cool

There was one for sale for about $250,000



Water Taxi at Fisherman's Warf

 And of course we had to get a pint or two throughout the week!

Brentwood Pub

Bard and Banker Pub

 

Aww....look at these lovebirds!



Just think, it is someone's job to create signs like the one in the upper right!

Of course the evenings were filled with happy hours and wonderful dinners. Dianne made an incredible lasagna dish one night. Not to be out done Rob slow cooked some ribs on our last night there! The Colibaba family was extremely generous with their hospitality. A big thank you to Rob, Angie and their two children Conner and Bryce for letting us stay in your driveway and invade your home for a couple of days!

I know Daisy for one is going to miss Bryce during dinner time!

Angie and Rob along with Conner and Bryce

Next it was time to move to “The mainland” as they say up in B.C. We caught the ferry from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen. You may have heard of the devastating wildfires up here in the north country. Luckily as of right now none of those area anywhere near us.

Headed into the ferry!

This ferry was much bigger than our previous two. The 1 hour 40 minute ride cost us a little of $88CAD. It was another beautiful ride but much windier. At one point I lost my hat and entertained the other passengers by chasing it around the back deck like a crazy man!

 

Another ferry heading the other direction

For our stay in this area we camped at Fort Camping in Fort Langley. It is a nice park with full hook ups. Free Wi-Fi at the General Store in the park. It got very busy on the weekend but is spread out enough so it does not feel crowded.

Steve and Dianne spent the next few days showing us around Vancouver. The city is huge with big city traffic. We spent time in the Expo '86 and 2010 winter Olympic housing area as well as Stanley Park, Granville Island and Fort Langley. There is a ton to see in the area and we only scratched the surface. You could spend weeks here and not see everything there is to see.

We did happen to find a pub however......Steel Toad Brewery

This sparrow looks like he is ready to eat the guy under him



The three of us in front with the Roger's Arena in the background.
Home of the Vancouver Canucks!

Interesting way to disguise silos at a concrete plant

Science World

 

Fort Langley Pub

Besides seeing the beautiful sights of the city, the one thing we were reminded of was the fact that we do not like crowded places and are sooooooo thankful not to be working any more. Just watching the business men and women throughout the week increased our stress level!

The final day with our gracious hosts were spent with their other son Chris and Angela in Vancouver where we went to a pub (I know, hard to believe!) to celebrate Mother's Day. We had a great afternoon with Chris and Angela. We got to see their wedding video, tour their new home and meet their 24lb cat Dexter. When we got back to our campsite we fired up our new Campfire in a Can and had one more cocktail........it was the perfect way to end our week together.

Having a pint at Townhall Pub with Chris and Angela

We made a few purchases in the past week or so. Items we thought we would need for our journey. First up was a plug kit and portable air compressor. You are probably thinking "Wait, don't you have both of those items in your jeep and 4 wheeler?". Why yes, yes I do but why would I think of bringing them on a road trip to Alaska? Barb's cousin Lori from Fairbanks said these items are a "must have" for the roads up there. So now that I just bought my third set I am guaranteed not to need it.

Our next purchase was some foam tape to go around the door. There is a gap in the door that I am sure mosquitos will take advantage of if we don't get it sealed up. We also lost two lens covers for the clearance lights on the front of the camper so I bought a couple replacement ones that I need to install.

Last but not least is an item that we have been wanting for over a year but could not find. Campfire in a Can! Steve and Dianne have one that we have been admiring but for over a year we have not been able to find one. There are a lot of propane campfires that are similar but we wanted this one. Evidently Campfire in a Can is having supply issues and no one has any. Steve to the rescue! He called a former business contact here in the area to see if they had any. They just so happened to have 1 left which we ended up getting for $230 CAD! Happy Mothers Day Barb!

This is only a snapshot of what we did and what we saw, the past 7 days went by really fast. A huge thank you to Steve and Dianne for taking the time to show us around their home territory. For more on our visit to the area make sure you check out their blog. We won't see them now until January when we hopefully meet up with them in Quartzsite again. But alas, all good things must come to an end. It was time for us to move on so tomorrow morning we pack up the camper and head north to Cache Creek, Prince George and Dawson Creek. With luck we will avoid the wildfires and get out and do some fishing and kayaking!