Category Archives: 2014 Antioch road trip

We made the short drive from Capilano River RV to the Horseshoe Harbor for the ferry to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.  With the RV queued to board, we had time to stroll through the cute town & park of Horseshoe Harbor.

The ferry crossing itself was as smooth as silk.  The large ferry had a full bar and cafeteria-restaurant and was very full.  (See 04 July for comparison with the next ferry crossing.)

When we got off the ferry on Vancouver Island in Nanaimo, we headed south for Butchart Gardens, close to Victoria. (Note: originally we/me expected to camp near Nanaimo, but the delay in crossing dictated that we go directly towards Victoria. It would have been better to take the ferry that goes to Swartz Bay, but …)

We arrived at the Gardens around 7 pm, and were happy that it was open until 10pm (pretty empty at that time).  In a beautiful light late into the evening, we covered the park with Molly (Canada – at least AB and BC – is really dog friendly), and had a lovely dinner in the Dining Room outside on a porch listening to a jazzy group playing in the nearby performance area.

We arrived at Weir’s Beach RV Resort after dusk – thanks to our GPS because it would have be very hard to find otherwise. Weir’s Beach is advertised as being in Victoria but the GPS says its in Metchosin BC, and we only found the address by “expanding” the GPS search area.  It was definitely a good pick with beachfront sites in a picturesque park, about 20 miles from Victoria, which you can see across the bay. We felt lucky to get space at such a great place on a long Canadian holiday weekend.

Beach at Weir’s Beach RV Resort

Molly testing the waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca at Weir’s Beach. Victoria in the distance.

The next day we went whale watching on a zodiac-type boat out of Victoria harbor.  We saw orcas of course (we saw the L resident pod), seals and an immature humpback (we got quite close and all the other boats left so it was especially cool).

Geared up in survival suits for the whale watching tour.

Orca’s! Close along shore.

Happy sailors!

More Orcas.

Solo Humpback whale

A late lunch in Victoria followed by a short stroll around the city and back to our rolling home by the beach.  The evenings on the beach were very mild and the sun didn’t set until after 10p.  Many campers had fires and sat around in family groups until late.  Next day, the 4th, we headed to Victoria for the ferry to Port Angeles, but had time at the BC museum to see a fabulous exhibit on First Nation languages and other aspects. We were short on time – lots more to see there.

Capilano River RV Park, Vancouver

Capilano River RV Park is an urban RV park – small sites, lots of RVs but great access to Vancouver city by bus and a good laundry. 

The day we got in, we drove to Vancouver’s Stanley Park to let Molly run leash free (she sat on the bench with us), we saw lots of Great Blue Herons nesting in the park and heard them, and had a great dinner at the fish restaurant in the park.   The next day, Canada Day July 1, we took a bus back to Stanley Park and arrived just in time to go to the grill and bar to watch the US-Belgium World Cup match (sigh) and then to the great Aquarium in the park. That night John walked up onto the bridge over to Vancouver & watched Canada Day fireworks in both Vancouver & Victoria.

We left Jasper because rain was coming in *and* there was no place to light except “overflow” campground – an empty field, no services ( not a good place to be while it’s raining).

Our destination was the Fraser Cove Campground in Lillooet BC. We chose this to be close enough to get to the Vancouver Island ferry with a reasonable amount of driving tomorrow. We passed Clinton our second choice – it seemed a nice town. We stopped for a “world Famous Burger” at the Log Cabin pub in Avola. It is a destination for some and has 11 excellent reviews on Yelp even though it’s in the middle of no where and off the road.

Fraser’s Cove RV park, Lillooet BC

We liked the area so much, we stayed two nights beside the Fraser River. On the second day, we walked into Lillooet, a goodly hike. We were rewarded on the way back with a fish hawk / osprey nest on the bridge.

Lillooet is considered to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited locations on the continent, the area is reckoned by archaeologists to have been inhabited for several thousand years.

Examining the many jade pieces on display within Lillooet BC

Osprey nest on the “Old Bridge”

Osprey nest

While in Lillooet we found out that the Vancouver Island ferry was booked up for the next few days, so we decided to head into Vancouver city for a couple of days.

The Icefields Parkway between Lake Louise and Jasper was a highlight of this trip. Our stops: Herbert Lake; Crowfoot Glacier; Bow Lake and Bow Glacier; Bow Summit and Peyton Lake; Columbian Icefields area; Sunwapta Falls; and, finally, Athabasca Falls.

Peyto Lake

Athabasca Glacier

we saw bears next to road near Jasper and elk in the campground.

Whistler’s Park, Jasper

The Whistlers campground was a full hookup *and* pleasant – not packed together plus trees.

Lake Louise

We visited Lake. Louise. Very pretty. John went up the trail to the viewpoint. I pooped out about a third of the way up just as it got really steep. Molly stayed with me – she is not a good hiker – she wants to go perpendicular to the trail for scents-stations. I talk led to a lawyer from Columbus OH who is US corporate counsel for a Canadian energy company.

Next we drove out to Lake Moraine, which is a spectacular sight. John did his mountain goat number and climbed the Rock Pile to get even more spectacular views. I spoke with a woman from Ontario about New Foundland. The ferry required to get there is expensive but worth it. Gros Morn is the place to go. She advised not doing New Foundland in the same trip with the Maritime provinces – they spent 2.5 weeks in NFL alone.

Moraine Lake

Nearby peaks