Day 86, Friday, September 9

Last night at around 2am a train grinded to a stop on the rail road track just a hundred or so yards away from my campsite. It screeched and banged and squealed so much that it sounded like it was coming off the rails. I’m an extremely light sleeper so the train woke me immediately, but I’m also lucky in that I generally fall back to sleep immediately after I’ve identified what it was that woke me. This morning was bright and clear and the air smelled wonderful. From Porteau Cove I headed back into Vancouver to MEC (Mountain Equipment Coop) where I found all of the supplies I’ve been needing (two foldable dish containers, a 6L bladder from MSR, and a large Nalgene mug.) From MEC, I headed over to take the ferry from Tsawwassen over to Victoria. Motorcycles, especially those with trailers get fantastically preferential treatment. I was the #2 vehicle on and off of the boat, parked front and center. This would have been a problem if there’d been large waves (nothing to tie to bike to when dead center on the boat) but it turned out that the water was just about glass calm. The service which runs the ferries to and from Vancouver Island apparently has several varieties of ferries. Rather I should say various states of modernity. According to people I talked to on the boat, this one is one of the largest and newest in use. It was definitely the biggest boat of any sort I’ve ever been on. I’d initially thought that when I got to the island, I’d spend a day camping on the South West shore. Instead, I decided to call up the Robins (John and Susan plus their sons Dean and Noel who I met in Seattle) and see if they’d mind me dropping by. The Robins extended me a warm welcome, gave me directions and invited me to drop by. That’s how I ended up tonight staying in a warm bed instead of my tent. Actually I was planning to pitch my tent in their back yard but they invited me to sleep on one of the beds in their RV. Warm, dry, and I don’t have to repack. How could I refuse?