As Far West As We Go!

Day 12
Kilometers Traveled; 400ish

Three little people woke up all the adults at 7:00amish. We had a breakfast of fresh cinnamon buns and great tea. After breakfast, we headed out to explore Sidney. We walked along the Ocean headed toward town. Luckily, the Washington Ferry was just about to dock. The boys were so excited to see the boat we would be ridding on later they had to stay and watch the Ferry come in. Robin and Will walked further down the path so that Will could get exactly the right angle for his pictures. When the Ferry was still, we continued into town. A previous Geography teacher of mine (thanks Cheryl!) recommended we check out the Scratch Patch, which was a cute little place where they boys could search through bins of rocks and shells for treasures. We then continued walking to the Marina where we saw slip walls crusted with sea urchins, barnacles and clams. I can certainly see why Robin and Liz are so happy here. Sidney is a friendly, laid back town; we really enjoyed our time there. We arrived back at The Davies’, said good bye and headed into Victoria. We spent some time walking the Ocean side trails and at the rocky Beach we saw a star fish living on the rocks below the waves. This trip has made me realize how Ontariocentric I am. People in this country live in so many different ways. Victoria and all of BC for that matter, had a real sense of contentment. Recreation is a necessity not a luxury. There are so many different ways to be part of the natural world, be it kayaking on the ocean, hiking in the mountains or beach combing by the ocean there are so many ways to appreciate that natural beauty that surrounds you. Our final stop in Victoria was to Mile ‘0’ of the Trans Canada Highway. We thought this was appropriate as we had traveled many miles on this road. As Will reminded us almost nonstop all day, it was time to return to Sidney for the Ferry to Washington State. We had to arrive and hour and a half before the departure time in order to clear customs. Will got out with Ken for a short walk around the parking lot while Nate and I had a little nap. After about 20 minutes there was a frantic opening of the door and clambering into a seat belt. Will announced from the back seat, “I can see the Ferry, everyone seat belts on, I never should have taken my seat belt off in the first place!” despite the fact that there was still a good hour before out departure time, Will refused to leave the car or take off his seat belt again. He also had a little panic attack each time someone left the car, he was afraid that one of us would be left behind! As we waited for the Ferry, an air of sadness permeated our car. The realization that this is as far from home and we would go and the rest of the trip was the journey back to Barrie hit each of us pretty hard. So far, this has been an experience that none of us will forget and I don’t think any members of the Boate Team are ready to see the end of this trip.

Finally, the departure time arrived; we drove on to the Ferry and again, Will announced that it was time to explore the ship! There was not as much to do on this Ferry so we spent a lot of time walking back and forth from bow to stern and back again. The views on this passage were amazing. The Ferry meandered through Island after Island and I was again reminded that there are many ways to live in this world. Some of the Ports looked quite Urban and developed. Other homes were isolated in the woods. I wondered who lived in those places and what their life style was like. The sun slowly sank as a fiery ball into the ocean just as we arrived at the shore of Washington state. Canada was behind us and the long road home lies before us, but, not before our Seattle adventure. An hour drive latter and we checked into the Westin, right down town Seattle. Ken and I love this city and can’t wait to show Will and Nate some of our favourite spots tomorrow!