Victoria

Rocky, Bullwinkle and the cats stayed in the U.S. today. But, took an international day trip across the border to Victoria, British Columbia.

We were up and out early to catch the 8:15 Victoria Express passenger ferry. The crossing of the Strait of Juan de Fuca took a bit over an hour.

As we pulled away from Port Angeles, we had a great view of the mountains, the town and the other ferry option, the Coho. This monster carries passengers and vehicles. Lots of them. Crossing in this ship takes about 90 minutes.

It took us just a few minutes to pass Canadian customs. Then, we began exploring Victoria on foot. Here’s the Coho coming into port.

All around Victoria you can see the styles of the British and native Indians.

Like the many quaint coastal towns we’ve visited, Victoria sported many colorful flower baskets everywhere.

We especially liked this one, which made us think of da Godfadda.

The city also features a lovely Chinatown. Just for a moment, we felt like we were back in the Bay Area.

Steps away from the Chinatown gate, I spotted a place where I simply had to stop.

Paul managed to make himself at home while I shopped for just a few minutes. He’s looking at a book he picked up in the store called Why I Hate Canadians. (For the record, we love Canadians!)

These are the fabrics I chose to represent BC in the future quilt that will capture our travels.

After lots of walking, a yummy lunch, and more walking, it was boarding time again.

On the way out of port, Paul spotted the very ship we took to on our Alaskan cruise seven years ago. It was great to see Infinity again. We have wonderful memories of our week on that ship.

We crossed a very choppy strait and were happy to see American soil again.

Back in our homeland, we checked out Hollywood Beach, which is just steps away from the ferry terminal. We missed Port Angeles’ Art In Action Festival, which was held last weekend. But, we made time to see some beautiful remains of the festival.

The festival featured the North American Masters Invitational Sand Sculpture Competition. Despite being exposed to the elements for nearly a week, these works of art were simply amazing.

How in the world do these artists make sand do this? This piece seemed to defy the laws of gravity.

“World of Wonders” is the name of this beautiful entry, which earned first place in the show. This is a second consecutive win for its creator, Dan Belcher, who is from St. Louis. (Do they have sand beaches in St. Louis?)

As we headed back toward the moose, the temperature dropped significantly and we were greeted with coastal fog and a stiff on shore breeze. We buttoned everything up and enjoyed a restful night in our rolling home.