June 18th Rain day - as they say in Washington State "its what we do here"

 I awoke this morning to the light patter of rain gently falling on the fly of the tent.  I rolled over to check the time as there was a hint of daylight illuminating the tent and knowing we had to get an early start to make the ferry to Victoria Canada later today.  4:57 AM – too early to be getting up but fearing the weather would deteriorate to a stronger rain I reluctantly got up and went to the bathhouse to get ready to go.  I packed everything I could inside the tent to minimize packing later (cot, sleeping bag, blankets etc.)  Then I put my jacket on the tent floor and stretched out again to get a few more moments of sleep.  All too soon the alarm went off 6:00 AM  - packed the tent quickly and the bike was loaded ready to go.

The rain started early

Visibility is low



And tucking in behind the windshield makes it worse



 Out on the highway visibility is poor when the roads are wet so caution is advised.  I light of our time constraint and the weather we opted to stop for a hearty breakfast and keep it short.  Breakfast turned into a 2 hour plus ordeal after Rebecca ate something that didn’t exactly agree with her stomach.  (She thought she was in Yakima Washington.)  Following breakfast we wanted to see Mt. St. Helen's so we stopped at the visitor center and viewed the film documenting the 1980 eruption.  Our hopes of “seeing” the mountain were dashed when we viewed the live web cam that showed only a white screen (the mountain was fogged in) so the added 2 hour trip to the top was unwarranted as it would only lead to disappointment.

Mt. St. Helen's visitor center

 As we pushed north on the I-5 corridor the rain stopped (yeah) yet the skies continued their ominous scowl over the day defying any attempt to see mountains such as St. Helen's or Rainier.  Slightly disappointing but it was still a great day.    

Overcast skies follow us to Port Angeles



 

We made it to the ferry with little time to spare.

We turned west again traveling along Puget Sound with low dark clouds and moist air greeting us over every hill, around every bend.   (By the way what kind of sound does a Puget make?)  Our goal was the Ferry to Victoria CANADA and a campground beyond the city once Customs were cleared and we meet Brad’s friends for a quick bite at White Spot (a Canadian Restaurant known for burgers and chicken)


Motorcylces all load together
- it was like being part of a motorcycle gang



Last glimpse of the US for a while -
and no more cell service for Bob

First view of CANADA

The British Columbia, Canadian, American
and Ferry Company flags. 

An English Taxi

Brads' good friend Bruce and his son Ben

After a dinner Bruce convinced us to stay with them and we invaded his friends’ apartment and were treated to “underground” secure parking as well as warm showers and …. well that is for tomorrow. Thanks for the wonderful hospitality.