Day 8

I'll start this update by addressing my family. Thanks for the e-mails and phone calls, we are still alive, we missed yesterdays update simply because someone forgot to pack the camera cord in the bag we took to Victoria.  I'm not big on placing blame so I'll just suggest it was someone who's name rhymes with Darlene.

We got up Thursday and decided we would catch the 10 A. M. Ferry to Victoria to visit Char's Grandma and have dinner with a few other family members.

Missing my turn going to the ferry terminal led us into this tunnel that goes under the south arm of the Fraser river estuary, nothing earth shattering but was kind of cool to a prairie boy.

One nice bonus on a very full ferry is motorcycles go straight to the front of the line.

Here was another ferry headed to Vancouver as we were on the way to Victoria.

The two Harley's in a previous photo belonged to this nice couple from California.  They are up in B.C. for an an Old Timers MX event at the Agassiz track.

This is the view from the deck at Char's Aunt Grace and Uncle Gary's place.  This photo doesn't do it justice as it was absolutely stunning.

This is Char and her Grandma, she loved the bike and wanted a photo with it.  She spent part of the afternoon telling us about traveling on a 50's vintage Harley in her younger years.  Sadly she is certain those days have passed and try as I might I couldn't get her on my Nomad for a ride.  Hopefully it wasn't another one of those Harley/Metric cruiser things.

Here is the view from the deck of the Ferry after we boarded in Swartz Bay (Victoria) for the return trip to Vancouver.

We returned to Vancouver and spent a nice evening having dinner with Char's Aunt Virg, her friend Vic, Char's cousin Kelly her husband Greg and their son Adam.

The plan for the weekend is to enjoy our time in Surrey with my Brother and his family before turning our attention south for the largest riding portion of this trip.  Sadly the forecast for Saturday was for rain so this put an end to a planned Mt. Baker ride with my Brother and two kindred spirits from the Kawanow Nomad forum I participate in.

Mileage for the last two days was 217.1 km making our trip total 2648.9 km. For those following this from a ride perspective our family visits end on Monday and the riding will be a larger focus for the rest of the tour.