9/5 - 9/17 - More Canada, Vancouver Island

 9/5 - Still very smoky.

Morning over Bear Lake at Crooked River PP

Hixon Falls - we drove a few miles in and took a short hike to these falls.  It was thankfully about 10 degrees cooler here, though this would be a great place for a dip on a hot day.

Drove onto McLeese Lake.  There was an iOverlander spot here that had good reviews, but looked a little sketchy to me, so I went across the road to Oasis Resort Campsites.  So close to the road.  Thankfully, it's cool enough at night that I close up the van and it definitely tamps down the noise.  I had seen good reviews for the Oasis Pub, so I went there.  Bad choice!  Maybe I should have gone to the Oasis Cafe instead.  I ordered their last portion of fish and chips.  I was a little wary after having such good stuff in Alaska and I should have known, but the waitress said it was good.  SO MUCH breading and it was just gross.  I hate to do this, but when she asked how it was, I told her it wasn't good and she offered me something else, so I got a BLT that was OK.  I don't like writing bad reviews and so I'm sure I won't, but I'd like to warn people.  I did write a bad review for the nasty man in Muncho Lake though as I felt he deserved it!

smoky sunset

9/6 - Another shower this morning after only 2 days!  LOL!  Gotta take advantage of it while I have it and it was a great shower!  Plenty of hot water.  There is only one women's shower for the whole park, so I was afraid it would be busy, but it wasn't.  Yay!

Should I dump my water and refill it?  Something tastes off since I filled up in Fort Nelson.  I've still been drinking it and haven't gotten sick, but I don't like the taste.  It almost tastes like dirt.  Well, I asked several other campers here and no one is drinking the water, so I guess I'll just live with the water I have...

Where to today?  I'm thinking of going to and parking at the Lillooet Brewing Company.  That is on Rte 99, which I took on my way north.  It's a beautiful road and would probably be less smoky than the other way.  If I go to Lillooet, it would be quite a bit longer to go the other way down 1 to Vancouver.  My only hesitation about 99 is the incredibly steep and long hills that I'll have to descend.  That always worries me.  I do downshift, but sometimes have trouble getting it to shift back up.  

We stopped in Lake Williams and walked around looking for the many murals, but I only found a couple few.  I then got some Vietnamese food and was very disappointed.  I ordered a vegetable vermicelli with tofu and it was so bland!  I don't know if they forgot some ingredients, but practically no flavor at all and the reviews were so good.  I always used Google reviews for selecting restaurants, but I've had two fails in a row!  😒

I guess I'm heading into the desert now.  The green grass is all irrigated, everything else is brown.

I ended up bypassing Rte 99 and headed to Ashcroft.  It's a cute little town, but the campground I'm staying at has trains going by on both sides.  Definitely a night for an Ambien, plus earplugs!  Apparently, these freight trains can be as long as 2 1/2 miles long. I had to look that up because it seemed like they went on forever!  It's a nice campground otherwise.  Well kept and right on the river.  I even have a view of it from the van.

Zoe and I walked through the little town and I could see staying here longer, but I booked a ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo on Victoria Island for tomorrow (it's 4 hours from here).  I would have scheduled for Monday, but all the slots were full, so I'm going to have to drive a bit more than my usual tomorrow.  I'm looking forward to exploring the island and the cooler temps (mid 80s here today and it was 108 yesterday!!!) in the mid 60s.  I hope to chill out for a bit.  I chatted with Jennifer today and she, as always, was helpful with helping me process the challenges I'm feeling.  

Zoe and I took a walk around town.  It's very cute.

Heritage Park

Views from the cemetery

Curling Club.  Reminds me of Dad!  He was a curler in his drinking days...

Things aren't looking good for traveling back into Washington and Oregon!

I caught up with Laura, who is heading to WA.  We met in Smithers and had hoped to connect on this trip through BC, but she had some troubles along the way and we missed each other and she's a few days behind me.  She may decided to head to Vancouver Island and if so, we will connect there.  If we don't see each other then, hopefully we can connect in Oregon.

9/7 - I slept like a rock with no sleeping pill and no earplugs!  I don't know if the trains stopped overnight or I was just too tired to wake up.  I had my roof fan on high (blowing in due to chirping again in the motor when on exhaust.  Grrr!) and the fan on by the bed.  I was obviously comfortable.  I was going to dump my water and refill here, but I think I'm going to pass.  It's fine...

I think today was the longest drive so far at only 225 miles!  Shows how short the drives are that I do.  I drove all the way to Horseshoe Bay to catch the ferry.  I'm really glad that I decided to drive through Fraser Canyon as it was so beautiful and I had already driven Rte 99.  It was smoky, but the whole drive south was through the canyon cut by the Thompson and Fraser Rivers and was amazing.  I was told this is the desert that comes up through CA, OR, and WA and continues into BC.

Train on the far side of the river.  It goes on forever and apparently these freight trains can be as long as 2.5 miles!  I had to look this up because I had noticed that the trains going by the campground seemed to go on forever. 

Another super long train in the near side.  In both photos you can only see a small portion of the trains.

Zoe and I did a quick stop in Hope for a break.  

Baby bear statue climbing the tree.

Just a cool bridge.

I got to Horseshoe Bay early, so we walked around before getting on the ferry.  To drive from the downtown area to the ferry is about 6 miles because you have to hop on Rte 1 east from Exit 3, get off at exit 4, then hop on Rte 1 West and get off at exit 3.  So, even though I could have walked in less than 5 minutes, it takes about 10 minutes to drive there.

Photos from the ferry ride to Nanaimo.

We didn't get to Nanaimo until after 8 PM, so I did a quick drive through town and decided it was cute and I'd go back the next day.  I boondocked at a trailhead for the night.  It ended up being quiet and great for walking Zoe as the trail starts out wide and level.  I did hear some young people stop at one point which made me a bit nervous, but then they went along on their way.  There were others parked there as well.  

9/8 - In the morning, we did the hike to the Abyss, which is a crack in the rock, probably from a seismic shift thousands of years ago.  Some say it's from a collapsed mine shaft, but the seismic shift makes more sense to me.  This is supposedly a somewhat challenging hike, but it's only 2 miles and has some steep spots, but though it wasn't easy for Zoe, she was a trooper as always.  

I love these trees.  They are called Madrone in US and Arbutus in Canada.

view from the top

So many black raspberries.  Mostly dried up or not quite ripe, but I managed to enjoy quite few.

The chicory reminds me of VT as I always enjoyed it along the sides of the roads.  Too bad it does not work as a cut flower.

Downtown/Old Town Nanaimo.  I really enjoyed this town wandering about.

So many beautiful flower arrangements around town.

After hanging around town for the day, I decided to overnight again at the Abyss trailhead.  My neighbor, Jason, stopped by to say hi.  Nice guy who gave me some tips about the best beaches.  He recommended going to Hornby Island for the best beach in Canada according to him.  It takes 2 ferries to get there, so I'm not sure I'm going to go.  I feel like I could stay on the island for a long time, but I have to remember that winter is coming and that I'll want to get south before it gets too cold!

9/9 - We took a short flat walk in the morning and quickly Zoe was going slowly and panting.  I decided to hike to Ammonite falls and chose to leave her in the van.  Good choice!!!  Both the Abyss hike and this one were rated at moderate on All Trails, but this one was WAY harder than the Abyss hike.  Tons of stairs that took you down down down to cross a bridge, then up up up, then down down to the falls, which was almost nonexistent.  It's very dry.  There is NO WAY I'd ask Zoe to do this hike.

This leaf fell in front of me as my reminder that winter is approaching

Down, down, down

Not a lot of water coming over the falls

Cute painted rock left on the trail

Time to go back up...

Laura was coming to the island to meet up with me.  We met in Smithers, BC on my way north and kept in touch.  She lives in Juneau, but is heading to the states for various things and it worked out for her to come here.  We thought we'd meet up much sooner, but battery problems caused her delay.  I stopped into Rathtrevor Beach CG, but there was no availability, which is surprising to me due to the time of year and on a Monday.  They have showers here, so I had hoped to get a site so that I could shower, but instead, I just went to the group site area and took a shower there (thank you iOverlander!).  After my shower, I parked in the day use area and finally ate my lunch, which was fantastic Lamb Vindaloo from The Curry Culture.  OMG!  So good!  Then, Zoe and I walked for a bit before she was overheated again.  

Got a double site at Englishman River Falls PP for me and Laura.  Laura showed up a few hours later.

9/10 - We took a walk to the Lower Falls, and would have liked to do the full loop, but since checkout time is super early at 11 AM, we didn't feel we could fit it in, so we turned around.  As it was, we left just before noon.  Then we drove to the day use area to see the very pretty upper falls.  I left Zoe in the van, but the falls were super close.  

So clear and I love the green

The hanging moss

Upper Falls

Went to Coombs to see the Goats on the Roof, but they must have been resting in their little cabin.  We enjoyed walking around the area and got some fresh fruits and vegetables and then went shopping in the Goats on the Roof store.  Great store.  I'm definitely doing a stop on the way back for more peaches, cheese, and beef jerky.

Promises Goats on the Roof!

No goats on the roof when we were there.  😕

Sculptures in Coombs

Very tame bunny around all the people.  We had to scare another bunny out of the road so that people could drive out.

Moved along to Little Qualicum Falls PP and got another double site.  This is near the river and very peaceful.  We took a walk, not expecting to do the whole trail to the falls (poor Zoe), but we did and it is so beautiful!  I'm so glad we came here.  I look forward to walking it again tomorrow and seeing it in a different light.  Zoe is one tired pup tonight!  I hate seeing her limping, but she keeps going and I think that's better than not doing stuff.  I am noticing some tiny seizures (or what I think are seizures).  It gives me horrible memories of Roxy's seizures.  I pray Zoe's don't progress to the grand mal type that Roxy had.  🤞🤞🤞

Laura and my parking setup in Little Qualicum Falls CG.  She uses the picnic table more than me, so I orient in her direction.  Makes for a more friendly setup.

We stayed at Little Qualicum for 2 nights and then I moved along to Tofino/Ucluelet area and the Pacific Rim NP.  

I was so happy to catch this bit of fall color

It looks like an upside down city skyline

Wish I could swim in that!  It was a ways down and signs saying no swimming

9/12 - Cathedral Forest

Nurse log.  So much new life on it.

The roots form such amazing art

Even hollow, this tree seems so healthy and strong

Lighthouse Trail in Ucluelet.  Zoe and I did the full 2 mile loop.  Only one hill for her to climb.  She is very slow going uphill and looks at me like "why are we doing this, Mom?"  😞

Back at the coast, which will likely be the last time for a while.  

Try to ignore my finger.  😂

Hot dog skewer for giants.  haha

From the dock in Ucluelet

9/13 - Stayed at Green Point Provincial Park.  When I was waiting to check in, I was told by a ranger that the woman ahead of me was cancelling for the next two nights, so I booked one of them.  It's a Friday night, so I had booked the one open campsite two nights before to be sure I had somewhere to go.  

Morning view from my window.  This is real rainforest!

Zoe and I took a walk to Long Beach, which is from the campground.

Bullwhip kelp.  It's huge!

We went to Tofino, where there was a market in downtown.  I knew it would be busy on a Saturday, but it was really hard to find a place to park.  I did manage to find a spot thankfully.  Cute town.

Tofino

Smelling the flowers??  

Incident Rock with many surfers.  It was raining, but not a problem for them!

9/14 - I'm leaving the Pacific Rim today and not sure where to tonight.  I want to head to Victoria area, but not sure for how long.  I had thought I might find an Airbnb for a couple of days on Vancouver Island, but I feel like I need to get moving south as it's mid September and I have no idea how long it will take me to go wherever I'm going. I need to get the van serviced and am planning to do it in Bellingham, WA, but it's so hard to get things scheduled.  They sound pretty flexible and super nice.  Big Bertha keeps reminding me that I have only 1600, 1100, 1000, 900, etc miles or so before service is due.  I also need to get my tires rotated (free at Discount Tire) - it's been 9000 miles since the last one, and need to do laundry, etc.  I also would love to find a dermatologist to get a skin check and I have an ugly bump on my face I'm not liking...  Dr visits, dentist visits, are definitely a challenge on the road since I don't hang around anywhere for long!

Last beach walk before heading out and we did some tide pooling.  I don't ever do that, but I need to do more of it as it's fun seeing what you might find.  I mostly just saw anemones, but I love them, so I was happy.  

Went and did a quick hike at Radar Hill

I was super psyched to see available parking for the Hole-in-the-wall hike, so I pulled over and did it.  I left Zoe behind because she already had enough walking.  This is just a really cool spot where the water has eroded this hole in the wall.  The wall on the canyon was so cool on its own!

I find the different angles of the rock so interesting and beautiful

I stopped back in at Coombs and caught the goat of the roof.  So cute.

So regal

9/15 - I ended up staying at Little Qualicum Falls PP again and this time I stayed in the upper loop.  Come to find out they had showers here!  When Laura and I stayed before we were in the lower loop and didn't know about the showers.  I had just showered so didn't need one knowing I was going to get one at Green Point.  Laura had been wanting a shower though...

I had to go back to the falls before leaving because it was midday and I knew the lighting would be different.  

Then I headed towards Victoria and Butchart Gardens as my first stop.  I had stopped at a visitor center and they told me there was a short ferry to avoid the whole drive around, so that's what I did.  I hadn't done much planning (surprise, surprise), so I didn't really know where everything was.  I had looked at directions, but hadn't seen the driving around and Google maps didn't show me the ferry option.  

I was really torn on rushing for the ferry and Butchart Gardens as I drove into a cute town and wanted to walk around, but I'd miss the ferry if I did.  And then driving towards the ferry, I kinda wanted to take the scenic route instead of the highway, but if I did that I'd miss the ferry...  Grrr.  I totally could spend at least a month on Vancouver Island as there is so much I didn't see in a little over a week.  I talked with a local couple while waiting for the ferry and they made me even more confused because I told them I was planning on staying at Goldstream PP and they said that's the other way...  In the end we decided that heading on the ferry to Butchart Gardens made sense, but they recommended staying at McDonald Provincial park by the Swartz Ferry (I would be taking this ferry to Vancouver in 2 days).  In the end, I went to Goldstream, which was nice and had a shower.  It was on the other side of downtown, but not very far.

Butchart Gardens was a total WOW!!!!  The best gardens I've ever seen.  I was envious of some people I talked to who were locals and come back in all the different seasons.  I would definitely have an annual pass if I lived there!! 

This is the sunken garden, which used to be a quarry.  Quite incredible.

see the shadow?

The fountains were dancing.  I was mesmerized.

My favorite!

So many amazing Dahlias

Monkey Puzzle Tree

Rose Garden

Japanese Garden

This is a replica of the boar in Florence that I rubbed the snout of.

A pawn or a rook?  She wasn't super happy to pose as she wanted to sniff everything after being left in the van for a couple of hours.

Gorgeous arrangements even on the garbage cans

9/16 - I ended up staying the night at Goldstream PP because it wasn't too far from where I was and I wanted to get some Indian food...  Once again, I screwed up with directions.  I put in Goldstream PP, but excluded "campground" and it took me the wrong way.  Then when I left there I turned the wrong way and had to drive 5 or so miles to do a U-turn.  Grrr.  I was hungry and tired, so not happy with myself.

In the morning, after a shower, we went to the falls in the park.  There were a lot of metal stairs with sharp ridges to give humans traction, but it's hard for Zoe's feet.  I lifted her by the harness to get much of her weight off, but she still wasn't enjoying herself.  At the bottom, there were quite a few more of those, so I tied her up at the top of those stairs.  She was calm and quiet until someone came down and I think she doesn't like it when she's not able to protect me, so she started barking.  On the way up, I lifted her on one section, but then we just went up the hill on the last, long section of stairs, which worked out well.  

Victoria - Very cute town

Modes of travel.  This tiny water taxi on the left and the sea plane

House boats

These water taxis are super cute.  I was going to ask if they take dogs, but I decided Zoe had had enough at that point anyway.

I had been dying for some pizza and this was great.  I could have used a few more toppings, but it hit the spot!

Legislative Assembly of BC building

Empress Hotel built in early 1900s

Canada seems to know how to do flowers!

Government St

Chinatown

I stopped and had a glass of wine here in their outdoor seating

9/17 - Ferry to Vancouver from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen, which would have been a good choice had I wanted to go straight back to the US.  It was a bad choice because I wanted to check out Vancouver and I didn't realize that Tsawwassen was way south and Vancouver is way north...  So, I had to drive through traffic to get to downtown...  Oh well, that's what I get for not doing more research!  

Looks like it must be smoky with that red sun.

You can see the layer of smoke, but it was pretty localized.

Arrived at Stanley Park after driving for a while.

Totem poles

These two horses were pulling a big wagon!  They appear well cared for at least and it was very flat.

Not sure what this is, but it almost looks like a roller coaster

beautiful clear water

Seagull resting on her head

After walking around Stanley Park, I drove to Gastown, but there was no way I was going to be able to find parking and I just wasn't really in the mood to walk around.  I would definitely like to come back to Vancouver with more time (I had to head back to the US as I had scheduled an appointment for my van).  

Back in the USA.  I had to give up three clementines, but he didn't want my garbage that included the avocado seeds, pepper seeds, etc of what I quickly ate before crossing the border...  Isn't that the point of taking our food away??? 

Peace Arch...  Seems not so much peace between USA and Canada anymore.

Signing off for now...