We traveled to Vancouver Island, British Columbia for Christmas. Yes it was a very long trip, and yes, it is much colder in the Pacific Northwest than in Southern Florida but Christmas is a time to visit family. Overall our travel went very smoothly. We left early in the morning and arrived at our destination late at night. We stayed with a relative, got a great first nights sleep and awoke to this incredible view of Departure Bay.
I made sure to bring my sunglasses but really only used them one day. It was quite grey, cloudy and drizzly the whole week. But the beauty of the area was outstanding. We kept discussing how we could get Freedom up there because the waterways look so inviting. A summer cruise up to Alaska would be fantastic. Winter in damp, grey, cold Seattle might be more than we could handle. This is the view from the home we were staying at on the one sunny day.
The mountains of mainland British Columbia in the distance
Besides all of the Christmas fun we had with Eds family, we also took some sightseeing trips. I really enjoyed our walk through Cathedral Grove. The grove is an ancient forest with Douglas Fir and Red Cedars. The biggest trees in the Grove are about 800 years old and measure as much as 75 m (250 ft) in height and 9 m (29 ft) in circumference.
Many shades of green
Gnarly
Lots of big ferns too
Our family in one of the big trees
We stopped for lunch at a cute little town known for goats on the roofs. Not many goats the day we stopped (too cold) but I did manage to snap this picture of one brave, or maybe hungry goat.
See the goat? The white guy on th right, on the roof.
Goats are the theme here.
The BC Ferries are are great way to get to the island. We really enjoyed getting out on the water!
The 'sun deck' of the ferry.
Departure Bay from the ferry.
You can also access the island by seaplane. Here they are docked in downtown Nanaimo, at the marina.
Seaplanes
Marina in downtown Nanaimo
We had a great time and hope to make it back some day. Now we have lots of work to do on Freedom. We'll do it while we are here in sunny South Florida!
I made sure to bring my sunglasses but really only used them one day. It was quite grey, cloudy and drizzly the whole week. But the beauty of the area was outstanding. We kept discussing how we could get Freedom up there because the waterways look so inviting. A summer cruise up to Alaska would be fantastic. Winter in damp, grey, cold Seattle might be more than we could handle. This is the view from the home we were staying at on the one sunny day.
The mountains of mainland British Columbia in the distance
Besides all of the Christmas fun we had with Eds family, we also took some sightseeing trips. I really enjoyed our walk through Cathedral Grove. The grove is an ancient forest with Douglas Fir and Red Cedars. The biggest trees in the Grove are about 800 years old and measure as much as 75 m (250 ft) in height and 9 m (29 ft) in circumference.
Many shades of green
Gnarly
Lots of big ferns too
Our family in one of the big trees
We stopped for lunch at a cute little town known for goats on the roofs. Not many goats the day we stopped (too cold) but I did manage to snap this picture of one brave, or maybe hungry goat.
See the goat? The white guy on th right, on the roof.
Goats are the theme here.
The BC Ferries are are great way to get to the island. We really enjoyed getting out on the water!
The 'sun deck' of the ferry.
Departure Bay from the ferry.
You can also access the island by seaplane. Here they are docked in downtown Nanaimo, at the marina.
Seaplanes
Marina in downtown Nanaimo
We had a great time and hope to make it back some day. Now we have lots of work to do on Freedom. We'll do it while we are here in sunny South Florida!
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