Qualicum Bay to Victoria - Jun 21, 2007 - Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Thursday is a travel day from Qualicum Bay to Victoria. We left just after 10:30 on a warm and sunny day. Maybe summer really has arrived. First stop, at noon, was a visit with Jim & Vici in Duncan. Found their house with no trouble and had lunch and caught up with them until around 1:30. Jim mentioned that Standen's (in Calgary) used to sell/install some kind of braking system that was electric and was fitted to the output shaft of the transmission on vehicles like the bus. Might be a good idea to investigate before the next major trip.

We continued on the trip to Victoria with the toad unhooked, due to the Malahat Drive, a minor uphill and major downhill just outside of Victoria. Arrived around 3pm, still in sunshine although a brief shower just as we got to Victoria. Fort Victoria RV Park was fairly easy to find, although we did about 2 km through residential streets to get from the highway to the campground entrance. Site 154 is on a corner, but has some trees that shield us from the roadway and it's fairly large. All in all a good trip.

Walked around the campground with the dogs and met a fellow who winters in Yuma. What was remarkable was that he had a little dog that has Alzheimer's disease. The poor little guy (the dog, not the man) just wanders around and occasionally bumps into things. His eyes are okay, his brain just doesn't process the information from his eyes any more. He's seventeen years old!

We know that this is the right campground for us. The train tracks don't just come close, they actually go through the middle of the campground! On the other hand, there's only one train and it passes once in the morning (going up island) and once in the evening (returning to Victoria). After supper the clouds rolled in and it began to rain again. We're getting tired of rain on this vacation.

Friday is laundry day. The dogs are getting sandy and then jumping on the bed. We need to do laundry more often as a result. Tucker is looking a little sad today. Not sure why, but we'll go for a walk on the beach and maybe that will cheer him up. Drove down to Esquimalt Lagoon near Fort Rodd Hill, based on directions provided by Paul. This is a fairly long beach with a mix of sand and gravel and plenty of driftwood. All of a sudden, Tucker is back to being himself and running and playing. He definitely likes water and we have to bear this in mind when picking campsites in the future.

After tiring the dogs out, we decided that we should look for a shopping centre to pick up some odds and ends and a bottle of wine for tonight. Got lost several times trying to find a shopping centre. Got further lost trying to find the road to get on main #1 highway when we leave. It turns out that Microsoft Streets and Trips takes you in a direction that involves a turn that is illegal!

Went to Abraham and Eleanor's house for pre-dinner drinks. They've been renovating the downstairs bathroom and having the usual issues with sub-trades; good thing Abraham is a project manager. However, it's almost finished and looks good. The four of us went for dinner at Milestone's, a restaurant overlooking the Inner Harbour. There are lots of people around, apparently due to the presence of cruise ships in Victoria. This is a new phenomenon that's getting mixed reviews from Victoria residents. Some like the money, some say that thousands of extra people are taxing the tourist infrastructure. Dinner was good and we shared lots of stories. Eleanor will be defending her doctoral thesis at the end of July and will be "Doctor Eleanor" by the fall!

Saturday we get together again with Rhonda and Paul. Elaine arranged to meet at Esquimalt Lagoon again since the dogs like it and can run without leashes. After tiring them out again, we took them back to the motor home and then met R & P at the Six Mile House Pub, billed as the oldest pub in Victoria. Had a good brunch and lots of talk. They will probably not buy an RV until at least fall now. I think they feel "shopped out" and need time to really consider what's important and what's optional in their requirements. Paul says they won't use an RV much in the two summer months anyhow, since he doesn't relish fighting the traffic on the highways and in the campgrounds in July and August. Our feelings exactly!