Sad, Happy, Excited, Fun, Sad, Happy

Sad - to leave Uncle Jamie's and Aunt Sheri's
Happy - to be on the Island
Excited - to be in Victoria for a couple days with Uncle Bri and Aunt Tracy
Fun - to go sea kayaking, whale watching, and museum touring in Victoria
Sad - to be at the end of our great ROAD TRIP
Happy - to go home and see family, friends, and pups! :)

Ok - so long time since I updated...

We left Chilliwack on Wednesday August 5th at 5.45am. Aunt Sheri and Uncle Jamie insisted on getting up to see us off that EARLY! We got to the ferry at Horseshoe Bay and took the 2hr ferry over to Nanaimo. Brandon and I drove 3hrs west of the islands 2nd largest city, to small west coast town Tofino. This place is filled with VW Westfalia vans with surf boards on top and dudes that say, "ya man, we'll hook you up!" - more about that later -

Our first stop was at Bella Pacifica Campground where Unc Bri took Nana, Sara, and I several years ago. We figured we'd see if we could get a site for the 3 nights we wanted to stay in the area. No, there was no spot for the first night, but Thursday and Friday two different sites were available. We took them and moved on to check out the Pacific Rim National Park area. It is really beautiful and the trees and forests are so jungley looking! Brandon went and signed up for a sea kayaking tour for Friday and then we drove down to Ucluelet to find a place for the night. No look so we drove back up to Tofino and stopped all over along the way back up. We ended up deciding to try back at Bella Pacifica just in case someone had not shown up for their reservation. So we walk in, and there are two surfer dudes sitting at the desk and I asked about a site and the one guy goes, "ya man, we'll hook you up. If you wanna get us a case of beer then we give you an ocean view site for the night." I was hesitant, you know illegal and such - but we decided to go for it as it was half the cost of a regular site and never mind that we would have a place to stay. It was an ocean view site and it was fantastic. We talked lots to our neighbors who had a crew of about 10 families for surfing the west coast!

The rest of the week - Brandon sea Kayaked on the west coast through the inlets around Tofino. Something he's always wanted to do. We hiked to a WWII plane wreck in the boondocks - SCARY. We had fun at the campground switching sites the three times. On our way out of Tofino we stopped at a beautiful beach called Wickininnish. Squid had been washed up along the shore in hundreds around that area. I looked it up and they were giant squid and scientists are baffled as to why they are all washing up. SO SAD. We went to Cathedral Grove which houses GIANT old trees, it is so magical it reminds me of Fern Gully. We stopped at Coombs (a small town) where the local celebrities are goats on the roof. Yep real goats on a grassy roof that eat while you shop or eat out on the patio. AWESOME We stopped at Horne Lake Caves which were SO neat and a bit scary. Pics to COME!!!! We then stayed overnight at Englishman River Campground before we headed to Victoria to visit my Uncle Bri, Aunt Tracy and cousins Matt and Ian.

Uncle Bri and Aunt Trace were so helpful to the two of us in setting up or "briefing" us on the days schedules of places to tour and visit. We so much wish we had more time there. We went to the city - which is probably the most beautiful city I have ever seen. We drove up the coast to see the beaches and the place where my mother and father had their honeymoon - "Point NO Point" haha. Aunt T and Uncle B treated us to a whale watching trip which was fantastic - but NO WHALES - too bad! We'll just have to come back and try again. It was still a blast as the waves were GINORMOUS and scary! Brandon and I sea-kayaked in the harbor and went to the Royal British Columbia Museum which was so much fun! It was a fantastic few days in the city. We made ourselves at home in the basement and had our maps to go all over. We played games one night with everyone it was so much fun!

THANK YOU UncB, AuntT, Matt, and Ian!!!!!

We are on the road, in a storm, needing to get on the road again- no time for photos, sorry for the lousy update. Will do a real one when I can. Lots more to write about the current road trip as well!!!

LOVE
Amy

CONGRATS TO KERSTIN, CHRISTIAN, and ARTHUR!! xox