We flew up to Seattle early on July 13th. But an unexpected thing happened when we went to pick up the
rental car for the car trip to Vancouver Island. They didn't have the car that we reserved. The woman at
the counter came out with a set of keys in her hand and asked if we would mind if they upgraded us to an
Expedition with GPS. Anyone who knows me will know that what seems like an easy answer to an obvious
question isn't quite so easy. You see I absolutely hate SUVs. They use up too much gas. They're big so us
economy car drivers can't see over or around them. I personally have had two of my economy cars crushed
by SUVs. In one of those accidents, I was squished in an SUV sandwich (rear ended and slammed into an
SUV in front of me). I have other issues with SUVs as well. HOWEVER, when asked if I would like to drive
one for a couple days, I had a real hard time saying no. It was funny to everyone (including me) that Larry
the SUV hater was going to actually drive an SUV for a few days. Donna thought this was an especially fun
joke so she took lots of pictures of me with the Expedition.
Unfortunately, I just loved the car. And I now
understand why there are so many on the road. It was very likely
one of the most fun vehicles that I have
ever driven. For weeks I was scheming of ways that I could justify
compromising my prejudices to buy one.
Fortunately, we don't have enough money so I'm still driving that
economy car (Chevrolet Prizm). But a girl
can dream...
We drove the Expedition up to where the Tsawwassen ferry departs for Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island.
After a short wait in the ferry line we drove aboard. It was a gorgeous day and when you could get out of the
wind, was quite warm. The trip over to Vancouver Island was a little over an hour and was quite smooth.
We got our first taste of the
Gulf Islands when we entered Active Pass. After disembarking from the ferry
we drove down to Victoria, checked into the hotel then had dinner at the Canoe Club.
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Me and my Expedition |
Inbound cars disembarking from the ferry before we got on |
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Loading up the ferry |
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Donna and Jack before the ferry departs |
Off we go... |
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Looking off towards the Gulf Islands |
The folks who knew how to get out of the wind |
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The fam in our wind hiding place |
The obligatory wake picture |
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Active Pass |
The boys on the bow as we enter Active Pass |
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Ferry coming in the opposite direction |
Rock stacking on the road to Victoria |
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Lotsa rock stacking |
There were even patriotic rock stackers |
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I didn't know that Canada had their Pacific Fleet stationed in Victoria. |
Another shot of the Expedition in case you missed the others... |
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