September 14, 1985
Larabee was a small, pretty state park. We watched the sun set way out across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We got light sprinkles during the night, but I slept well. Then again, I’ve slept well every night!
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I still think about Beth quite often. I suppose I should about someone closer to my age, like Anne.
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The next morning came cold and damp. We finally pushed out at about 9 a.m. We followed parallel to the old interurban tracks that ran into Bellingham. They are now a hiking trail between the city and the new state park.
John, Bill, Charlie and Jon at the border. |
From Bellingham, we rode north to Canada! Finding no provincial parks to camp at, we thought to stay in a motel. The only problem was that the Delta Town and Country Inn ran $65 for a night, too much in our estimation.
So we’re sitting on the front steps trying to decide what to do when a man comes walking up to the motel. He asks, “Where are you headed?” We don’t know where we’re going to stay. “Why not here?” Too many clams, Billy says. “We can work something out,” the man says.
This guy, Vladimir Pabis, is the owner. Sure enough, we soon have a room with four fold-up beds at only $40 Canadian. We get a key to the sauna room, TV and refrigerator!
Same time, a woman walks by with pins for the 1986 World’s Fair to be held in Vancouver. She gives us a bag to give to friends!
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Today we caught the Ferry from Tswassen over to Sidney and had lunch there. We watched some square dancers at a small mall while we ate. Then we watched a spinnaker race in the bay. That afternoon, we rode down to the Butchart Gardens. John and I went through them while Billy and Jon waited outside.
Mr. Butchart had been a fairly successful cementeer in the early part of this century. After the limestone rock quarry quit yielding good stone, Mrs. Butchart thought the pit looked as though the land had been desecrated. She began landscaping the quarry and bringing in topsoil. Since then it has become one of the prettiest flower gardens in the world.
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We spent the evening with two families. Billy and I stayed with Randy and Karen Gibson, who live in a house in the countryside north of Victoria. They’re slowly renovating the house, built in 1910. They’ve already done lots of landscaping on the five-acre lot, and have finished most of the interior restoration.
After church today, Randy took us on a tour of Victoria. Quite a pretty city, eh? We went by the Scottish Castle and the lieutenant governor’s mansion, and around the University of Victoria.
Tomorrow we begin south. I still have ascertained no notable purpose in going on this voyage.
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