We took a slow morning today in Victoria, partially because we wanted to stay in Victoria, partially because we did some car stuff.
Never before in my writing have I been able to use the phrase “murder of crows,” but that is exactly what watched Evan as he investigated his turbo oil leakage situation. Without a lift, the turbo is very difficult to investigate, so he pulled up on a stoop in the hotel parking lot — a stoop of an estate sale liquidator and pawn shop. (Remember how his Volvo came from an estate sale?) Meanwhile, George and I both did a fluids “check and refill.”
After a hearty brunch at an Irish pub, we got on the road. Today, we made the run all the way up Vancouver Island from Victoria to Port Hardy. We made a few stops at scenic view points and picnic spots, but didn’t really have any island adventures today. But I did see enough that I am absolutely determined to return here one day for hiking and probably climbing and maybe even Xterra’ing. This island is full of amazement, outdoor and automotive.
After a few stops along the way, we did a final motor all the way into Port Hardy. I spent a lot of today with the top down in the Celica. That is still a lot of fun, but as it got late, that got super cold… We found our AirBnB here, and it’s a tragedy we’re only here for such a short time.
On the way in, the Celica and the Volvo both hit 168,000 odometer miles, and the Volvo and Tracker both hit 200 then 400 miles with their current owners. The Celica and I hit 3,000+ miles together today, which fills me with a heartwarming feeling of accomplishment and companionship with my vehicle, but an edge of jealousy for the other two who reached this point with their vehicles in Vancouver Island, BC instead of Brownfield, TX.
We ran down to the Sporty Bar & Grill for a quick dinner before coming back up to the cabin. We have an incredibly early morning tomorrow because we have to be in the ferry line by 5:30am. Tomorrow’s ferry takes us over 300 miles up the Inside Passage to Prince Rupert back on the mainland around midnight. We will be on this ferry for nearly 18 hours.
We board at 5:30am, depart at just after 7 and arrive at nearly midnight into Prince Rupert. I am so excited, this is going to be an amazing voyage. Once in Prince Rupert, we’ve debated the merits of a few car repairs, but the most we’ll ask of the cars tomorrow is to make it about 5 miles to the ferry terminal and to avoid leaking an amount of fluids on the deck that may get us noticed.
