Minnesota and British Colombia

Wednesday, September 03, 2008 We got home last night from a five night whirlwind visit of Minneapolis, Minnesota and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. o The Minneapolis part was planned months in advance. It was for our nephew Mathew Dean’s Wedding and reception dinner. The Canadian part was last minute. Last Wednesday Robert Wilson in our ward called and asked if we were free to go to Campbell River, BC in a couple of days. They had a pre-paid vacation planned and couldn’t afford the airfare, gas, food etc to get away. It was for two nights at Painter’s Lodge and another two nights at Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island. It included a wilderness excursion at Painter’s Lodge. They said they would give it to us for free, which still cost us around $1000.00 as they warned us. We couldn’t be there for the Qualicum Beach part and there was a conflict for one night on the Painter’s Lodge part, so we asked if that part could be moved one day which, after a phone call we were told it could. Of course we said yes. As it turned out when they changed it the one day, instead of changing it, they added another day and didn’t charge us for it. Darn! We didn’t say no to that! When we arrived at the Vancouver airport from Minneapolis Saturday we rented a black Ford Edge SUV from Budget Rent-a-car, plugged in our Tom Tom and headed for Horseshoe Bay to take the ferry across to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. At Horseshoe we paid $75.95 for the ferry ride then qued up and sat in the car for an hour and a half or so to board the boat. The boat ride itself took an hour and forty minutes. There is a nice gift shop and three or four places to dine and comfortable seats by large windows. We ate on the ferries in both directions. The drive from Nanaimo to Campbell River is on a four lane divided highway; two lanes in each direction and took an hour and a half to two hours. It is 97 miles through beautiful scenery. We checked in at Painter’s Lodge and went to our room. When we checked in we asked when the wildlife tour was. We were told it was at eleven. I wonder if the girl thought we were asking when it was over because at eight the next morning we got a call telling us that it was at eight. We threw ourselves together in about two minutes and ran for the marine center and hopped in the Hurricane Zodiac with another couple and roared across Discovery Passage to April Point Resort on Quadra Island, where we picked up two other couples and off we tore again to see the wild life. April Point Resort is their sister lodge. We were back and forth between Vancouver Island and Quadra Island pulling in near the shore and stopping when Jeff our guide and driver spotted animals. We saw a large Cinnamon bear on the rocky shore overturning rocks looking for grubs, and watched him/her for ten minutes or so then we were off again. We saw several black bears, three seals, deer and bald eagles. Finally, Jeff heard on the radio that a pod of Orcas had been spotted and off we raced, I think, as fast as the boat could go which had me hanging on to the hand rail until we reached where they were, then we cut the throttle and slowly moved in to within a hundred meters of them which is considered the best distance for viewing without disturbing their activities. They were beautiful to watch, their black and white backs and tails rising up out of the water then diving back down again. We stayed with them mesmerized for quite a while. The pod consisted of a sixty-seven year-old female and seven of her grandsons. Both resorts have excellent restaurants, coffee shops and bars. We ate in three different restaurants and bars, twice outdoors on the veranda. The food was fabulous including the best sashimi I have ever eaten in the dining room at April Point. Monday we drove to Victoria on the south tip of Vancouver Island to visit The Butchart Gardens, I have wanted to go there for twenty or more years and it lived up to every expectation except I envisioned it to be larger than it is. Still I was not disappointed. It cost $26.50 a person admission. We bought a DVD of the gardens to take home. The trip was about 170 miles each way so it took up most of the day. Unfortunately Tuesday morning bright and early we were up and on our way home reversing the route we came. It was enjoyable but uneventful.