Victoria, BC

After spending 3 months at Salmon Point, near Campbell River, it was time to move on. We headed towards Victoria, and spent a couple of weeks near the Malahat mountain on the Island. Very nice, woodsy campground.

We drove in one day and toured around downtown Victoria. Walked around the harbour, past the parliament buildings; and past the Empress Hotel. We then met our new friend Barb, for dinner; and then she toured us around Victoria for a couple of hours by car. It was a nice way to see a new city.

For the August 1st long weekend; we moved into Victoria. The park wasn't the greatest, jammed in like sardines, and close to the Trans Canada; but it was only for the weekend.

B.C. is celebrating it's 150th birthday this year; and there were lots of activities downtown Victoria for the whole weekend. On Saturday, we spent the afternoon wandering around Fisherman's Wharf. It's pretty neat to walk around. There are lots of houseboats moored to the docks; they are real houses, but look like doll houses, everything pared down. Also very expensive. We then had a fish dinner at Barb's fish restaurant - very tasy; and shared our table with a couple of locals.

We then headed to where the cruise ships come in; and got out on the pier just in time to see a cruise ship docking. It was amazing watching something so huge, manuever with grace, right up to the dock. A few minutes later another one came in; and again parked with ease. I think sometimes I have a harder time parking the F-350!

The next day we went back to the downtown core; and were among 40,000 plus people! All out celebrating B.C.'s birthday. The 19th annual symphony splash was happening this year, among many other activities. There's a symphony orchestra set up on a stage in the inner harbour. And they played lots of different accompanyments. There were 10's of thousands of people sitting on the front lawn of the parliament buildings; and 1000's in front of the Empress.

We found a place to park our chairs; and listen to the music and watch people. We were also entertained by a marching scottish band; between the symphony intermission. The finale for the night was fireworks; cannons; and bells chiming. It was quite the day. We normally avoid big crowds, but it was neat being in a capital city for such a big celebration. Normally we would have been in Victoria park in downtown London Ontario, for ribfest, but this was way neater!

Take a look at the pictures

Salmon Point, Campbell River, BC

We left Mission on Monday, May 5th and took the ferry over to Vancouver Island. We noticed at this time, that Molly's face on the left side had started to swell. We spent the first night in Parksville; and continued on to Salmon Point the next day.

By Wednesday morning, not only the side of Molly's face had swollen, but also her eye; and under her chin. So off to the vet in Campbell River we went. Turns out she had an abcess. She had emergency surgery on the abcess and we picked her up the next morning. She had a drainage tube; along with her stitches; and with the cone she was now wearing, looked like frankenstein's bride wearing an easter bonnet!

She had the stiches in for roughly 3 weeks; and the cone remained on for another week after that. She was quite happy to see the last of the cone. And she has healed completely.

We had a nice view of the Straight of Georgia, with the snow capped mountains on the mainland as our main view. It was a nice place to call "home" for a few months. We also met some really nice people here. We ended up sharing a few fires with Liz, Lorne and Barb. Also met up with them in Victoria; and hope to see them again.

We ended up spending 3 months at Salmon Point; and the weather for much of the spring and early summer, was rainy, cold, windy, overcast; and generally yucky! I thought that we would have been a lot more protected from the wind, being on the east side of the island; but I was wrong! It seemed like the wind was a constant. Watching cruise ships pass by, also became a frequent thing to watch; as well as the many barges that bring supplies to the island.

Gas on the island is also quite high. The highest was 149.9/litre for diesel; so we spent a lot of time going for a hikes along the ocean or for walks around the park. We certainly did our share of boycotting the gas stations this summer. Although eventually you do have to stop; and it was $172.00 to fill the tank - ouch!

Take a look at the pictures we posted.

Mission, BC

We arrived in B.C. mid April; and the cold, wet, windy weather followed.

Mike's brother and family, Rob, Karen and Emalynn live on a ranch; just outside of Mission, B.C. After a little maneuvering to get our rig settled in; we took a tour of their place. They have 10 acres and 6 horses. And their property is beautiful. You can see a mountain top from just about anywhere on their property.

The first day was a beautiful, sunny, warm day; and Mike and the others were raring to get a ride on the horses. I had never been on a horse; so wasn't quite as anxious. Emalynn got me settled on Sky Dancer; and walked me around the ring for a while. I never really did get comfortable; and wasn't in any big hurry to ride again. Mike hadn't been on a horse for a really long time; and he was in his glory.

Molly, on the other hand; never really did adjust to living with 6 horses. She finally did get brave enough to sniff one, without barking; but most of the time she just barked and tried to avoid them. One of the horses, Dylan, ended up going after her twice - picked her up by the scruff of her neck and dropped her. I know she wasn't liking this - at all! Needless to say; she did her barking from a safe place after that.

It was nice being on the ranch with Mike's family; and getting to see the daily workings of a ranch. We both decided it was way too much work. We ended up staying here for 3 weeks; and then we headed to the island.

Take a look at the pictures.