Marsha Smith

My last column came to you from Poulsbo, Wash., where Ron and I (and our three Doxie’s) were enjoying the first stop on our fall motor home trip. I had planned to send in updates weekly but then thought, not a good idea to advertise you are out of town, so now home I hope to share with you over the next few weeks some of the wonderful sights we experienced.

Our next destination was Victoria, Canada on Vancouver Island for four days and, believe me, four days was definitely not enough time. We arrived at the loading dock for the ferry in Port Angeles, Wash., an hour-and-a-half before departure time; required for R.V.’s and large trucks including 18-wheelers, so they can adjust the boarding for weight (three hours for the return trip). The wharf in Victoria gives you plenty to do and see while filling the three-hour wait time. I must say driving a motor home into and out of the hull of a ship is an interesting experience, and expensive. The fee is calculated by the by the foot. The ferry is huge and takes 90 minutes to cross the Juan De Fuca Strait to Victoria. The ship has a snack bar, lounge, Wi-Fi, and deck viewing to occupy your time. You can even take your pets on deck if you like, but we left ours in the motor home thinking they would be more comfortable snoozing during the ride. The city and harbor are beautiful and the Parliament building is directly across the street from the harbor and an awesome site coming into port. What I found interesting is that the customs agents do not seem too concerned with what you are leaving with when boarding (on either side) but they definitely are interested in what you might be bringing back stateside. Leaving the U.S. we had to give up our firewood, but only when we inquired what might be not be allowed. Upon entering Canada we were, of course, required to show passports as well as health reports on our three dogs. They also asked how much alcohol and cigarettes we had on board due to being able to purchase duty free on the ferry. We hadn’t purchased anything and they had no interest in checking further. Must be our honest faces.

Leaving Canada they only required our passports and asked if we had purchased certain items while in Canada, which we hadn’t. On the U.S, side they wanted to re-check the dog records and check out the contents of our refrigerator and freezer, guess they didn’t believe we hadn’t bought any groceries while there, so much for the honest face. After rocking back and forth in the hull of the ship things have a tendency to move around so when the agent went to open the freezer he almost got smacked by a frozen chicken had it not been for a quick save by Ron. Visions of the sign “Assault on a customs agent may lead to arrest” crept through my head. As it turned out they confiscated a lemon, a grapefruit and a tomato, which by the way were bought in states.

We stayed in a nice RV park where the dogs found some tree sap to roll in and one still has some stuck to her. Hope the sap isn’t considered contraband. Fuel prices were about the same as in the U.S. but grocery prices were very high, which is why we didn’t buy anything there, opting to hold until we returned state side, and of course gave me the excuse to dine out often. The food was excellent and Canada produces some very good micro-brews, referred to as “Brewskeys.” The restaurants were great and the people very friendly and helpful, eager to give you tips and places to go and see. Victoria is full of tourists but locals are easy to pick out if you just listen. They use the work “Eh!” (pronounced “Aye”) in much of their conversations and we got the drift it has many meanings, depending on the delivery. “It’s a nice day, Eh!”, or “Watch where you are going, Eh!” Ron and I got a lot of fun mileage out of “Eh”.

We had an itinerary of what we wanted to see and kept adding to the list. There is no way four days would be enough, but we enjoyed as much as we could and have a list for the next time we get the opportunity to go there. We toured the Parliament, Butchart Gardens (over 100 years in bloom), Craigdarroch Castle (built between 1887-1890), Fort Rodd Hill and Lighthouse, whale-watched and drove a coastal route along the Strait that was absolutely gorgeous. Next week Craigdarrouch Castle, Eh!