Victoria (BC), Vancouver Island (BC), Bellingham & Seattle (WA)

Hello,

Here is the update from British Columbia - more to come tomorrow as we visit Portland this evening and tomorrow.

After leaving gorgeous Stanly Park in downtown Vancouver, we rushed over to the ferry port at Tsawwassen, we didn’t think it would take that long to get there, but without a highway going in the direction that we were going it took much longer and barely made our ferry. The ferry ride to Victoria was great. They sure run a tight shift at BC Ferries. A ferry leaves on the hour every hour. We drove up at 2:30pm and were on and moving by 3pm. The ride was around an hour and forty five minutes and the views were gorgeous. The ferry weaved its way through the Canadian gulf islands, and at one point in the journey we we able to catch a glimpse of a pod of killer whales.

Victoria was billed as the most beautiful city in Canada, and this is extremely true. As we entered this little European looking city we walked along the water front area where people would be selling their art and trinkets. As we walked towards downtown, the Royal BC Museum and Parliament Building started to hide behind the brick and mortar city buildings with tight allies and small stores, café’s and restaurants. We visited Sticky Wickets, a large Irish pub that turned into a night club at 10:30pm. A little different than the traditional Irish joint, but still worth a stop; two floors up you could play sand volleyball and next door was the game room with pool and darts, each having their own separate bar. We ended getting into a foosball match against two Canadians. It was a good match all the way to the end, with a score of 7-6; the Americans won this international tournament.

The next day we went through the town one last time before we headed toward Sooke and up to Sombrio Beach. This area was beautiful, with twisting roads that ran through the island’s temperate rainforest. We spent a good hour or so hiking through the beach rainforest on the southwest coast then again the next morning at Golden Creek before our ferry back to mainland. We met a good group of people in Sooke Flats campground who talked with us about our trip and even cooked one hell of a meal, way better than our camp food we have been preparing. They all lived in Victoria and gave us the history surrounding the island, its border with the US and we also found out that there is strong tension between the cities of Vancouver and Toronto. We have to say, both cities have their share of entertainment and tourism, but Vancouver has the outdoor life that surrounds the area out there; it’s wild.
Thirty minutes after getting off the ferry that evening we were across the border and back in the United States, bidding farewell to the amazing time that we had all across Canada (Rochester to Alaska and down through BC). Again, we reminded ourselves of our time in the Canadian Maritimes a few years back – we give Canada two thumbs up as a place to live, as well as a vast place to visit the many destinations and history with friends and family that this country has to offer.

As we enter the States, we have yet another round of adventure. We spent our first night in Bellingham, Washington – a medium-sized town 1-hour away from Seattle and home to Western Washington University. We actually spent the night with a group of students that we were introduced to on our Facebook Group for this trip. A friend of Bryan’s from Tampa had a cousin who offered his couch to us for a night in Bellingham. After dinner we took a night-ride on bicycles for a 5 mile round trip to the docks and back. Everyone bikes in this town, and the guys we stayed with were able to give this experience to us with the 20 collective bikes they have in their garage. It was nice to see the non-city side of Washington.

We then headed towards Seattle that morning, hitting up the Seattle Center where the Space Needle, Experience Music Project and other entertainment sits on the north end of Seattle. We met up with Keith Navidi who showed us around Seattle’s Pike Market, where the daily catch is tossed in the air for the people’s entertainment. This market has everything you would want in fresh produce and meats, as well as holding the birthplace of Starbucks; a guy was playing the didgeridoo on the sidewalk in front, Bryan was tempted to join in, but left his wind instrument at home. The city sure was bustling this Monday afternoon as we drove through Belltown, Pioneer Square, and on to Hiram M Chittenden Locks where we were able to see steelhead salmon make there way from Puget Sound to Lake Union and into to Lake Washington. Keith told us to get ready to catch some salmon because the next morning after a night in North Bend, we were headed to Puget Sound to go fishing on his buddy’s boat at 5am; another early morning for fishing, but totally worth it. We probably would not have been in the water without this little adventure; I caught myself a 17 lb King Salmon as we enjoyed six hours on the water with our company. Later on, we took rest in a hotel room and went to the 7pm Mariners game versus Baltimore; they lost 11-3 – but still a decent game to go to.

We made our way to Pioneer Square after the game to go to Fado’s Irish Pub to plan our next few days on the road. We drive south on I-5 to Portland, passing the majestic Mt. Rainier standing at over 14,000 ft. high and the infamous Mt. St. Helens just another hour south. Both can be viewed from the right spot on I-5 on a clear day, but unlucky for us, it has been raining all morning and still scattered showers down to Portland.

We did go to the Underground Tours this morning, a 90-minute tour of the history of the City of Seattle. It was actually quite interesting, and comical, how they explained the historical lives, people, and buildings that were created on the tidal flats of the Puget Sound just 150 yrs ago. Interestingly enough, the city ran out of money, again, and in trying to solve a massive sewage and tide problem in the city, Seattle had 10-32 foot drops from street-curb to sidewalk. It’s a great story and a tour that is a must see when you visit Seattle. As the rain continued, we hit the highway to Portland, where we currently reside meeting up with a contact that is going to show us around right quick as we spend two nights in the “City of Bridges”.

As we experience downtown Portland, we will update again with our experiences before we head to Astoria (the house where the Goonies took place) then down the Pacific highway to the Redwood Forest.

Thanks for those individuals, friends, and family that we have met over the past week that have made our experiences complete in the Pacific NW.

Cheers and thanks again for checking back on the progress of our travels,

Matt & Bryan