Go. Go now.
Last weekend, I traveled from Eugene, OR, up to Victoria, BC with two of my friends, Kira and Steve. I manhandled them into going so that I could visit with some other friends, Pinto and Sandra, and to meet their 1.5 year old son, Aidan. I think that this qualifies as one of the best vacations I have ever taken.
Steve, Kira and I rode up from Eugene in Steve's car to Port Angeles, WA. We got to the ferry and almost didn't get to take the car with us across the Strait of San Juan de Fuca. We didn't realize that we'd need a reservation, but luckily it only took us 6 hours to drive up to Port Angeles and we got there early enough to be in the first 5 cars on the standby list. The ferry trip was a hoot and we saw dolphins jumping in the water a fair distance from the boat at one point. Once we reached Victoria, we had to go through customs, which was a lot of fun. My passport finally has another stamp other than Paris in it! We met up with Pinto and got checked into our hotel room. We went out to dinner, where I made the mistake of ordering an iced tea. Canadian iced tea is NOT the same as what is found here in the US. Without even thinking about it, I dropped a packet of Sweet and Low into the tea. As soon as I did that, Pinto told me that Canadian iced tea is pre-sweeted, and in a BIG way, and that I didn't need to add anything to it. I avoided ordering tea after that.
Saturday was the big touristy day for us. Steve, Kira and I got up early and headed to the downtown area near the harbor and Parliament. Steve decided to take the car back to the hotel so that we didn't have to deal with paying for parking and he walked back to meet us. While we were waiting for him, Kira and I wandered around and I used the time to buy some souvenirs. I bought a sweatshirt (because I'd forgotten to bring a jacket), a shot glass (of course!), and a Crunchie bar. Pinto says that the Crunchie is common in Brandon, Manitoba, where he and his family live, so I've found my eternal source of them! Yay!
Once we met up with Pinto's gang, which also included his cousin, Sean, we all bundled onto a tug boat that took us on a tour of the harbor. That was a lot of fun to be on the water in the middle of this large harbor with ships sailing all around us. We got an up-close look at the Victoria Dragon Boat Festival which was way cool. We ate at a really good restaurant called Spinnakers (where I didn't order iced tea). We spent the rest of the day wandering around until my feet hurt so badly that anytime I sat down, it hurt to get back up. We ate dinner at a Greek restaurant downtown that Kira and Steve had eaten at before and the food was really good there, too. We then headed back to the hotel for a good night sleep before leaving to come back to the US.
The trip back was uneventful and we were all a bit grumpy to be leaving and from winding down from the excitement.
So anyway....got to Victoria, BC. You won't regret it!!
