April 2 – Thursday morning we got up early to start a travel day that would include two ferry crossings and one international border transit. Our objective was to rendezvous with Pam’s cousin, Karen and her husband, Roland at their home in White Rock, BC. We would then load our stuff into their car and drive north to catch a second ferry, eventually reaching their vacation home on the Sechelt Inlet.
Traveling around Puget Sound and the Salish Sea means taking the long way around. When we arrived at Karen & Roland’s house in White Rock, we could look across the water and see Turtlehead Mountain – where we started our morning – about 27 miles away. But getting there meant driving 20 minutes across the island to get in line for the 8:55 ferry and waiting an hour to board. Then a ferry ride of just over an hour back to Anacortes and then a then a 90 minute dash up I-5. We were asked to be to their home by noon so we had time to leave for the next ferry. As we got off the boat in Anacortes, GPS said our arrival would be 11:50.
Our travel was smooth sailing until just south of Bellingham, where we encountered warning signs that I-5 was closed ahead. We took a detour that added another six minutes to our route. Fortunately, there were only a couple cars ahead of us at the border crossing and we passed through without incident.
We quickly moved our bags to Roland’s car and added in the lunch Karen had packed of us. Then it was a 90 minute drive north through Vancouver to the ferry terminal at Horseshoe Bay. The BC Ferries are much newer (and nicer) than the Washington State Ferries. We had a pleasant ride around Bowen Island and across the bay to Gibsons, where we disembarked. Another 30 minutes up the coastline and we arrived at a beautiful home in Sechelt. The town of Sechelt is on the Sunshine Coast of BC. Their house, however is on the inlet that is only accessed from way further north.
After an Indian curry dinner in town, we went back to the house where Karen & Roland’s son and his family had joined us.
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