Salt Spring Island Trip

Finally time to blog...We went on this trip back in May/June and have now just had time to write about it. Unfortunately now the details are a bit hazy so we'll see how this goes. We flew into Seattle the first morning and then drove a rental van about 3 hours to Vancouver. We then had to take 2 ferries to get to Salt Spring Island. There were clouds covering the sky almost all the time. There was rain and temperatures that were absolutely wonderful!! The picture below is of me on the first ferry, up on the top deck. I had never taken a ferry before and it was so awesome. You literally drive your car onto the lower decks of the ferry and then hang out on the upper decks while traveling to your destination. The first very was large and included TVs, restaurants, Indoor seating, and outdoor seating. If you were out on the top deck you had to stay alert for the captain announcing that he would be blowing the horn because it was Soooooo loud! The first time I missed the warning as I couldn't understand what he was saying and didn't know what to expect. It sure did wake me up:) It was a little chilly up on the top deck so we didn't stay there long. Instead we went inside and sat, I took a brief nap as I was soooo tired at this point after waking up early, flying, driving etc. The second ferry was smaller. It only had 2 decks. The parking lot which was not covered and then on the side you could sit on benches or stand. You can also just sit in your car which is what I did because it was too cold when the ferry was moving. One interesting thing on this ferry was there was a sea lion lounging on a buoy as we sailed by.

When we arrived at salt spring island we drove to our loading. We stayed at Orchard Cabin. It is basically a little cabin on someone's property, behind their house, which they rent out to travelers. The picture above on the right is from their website. It was small and cozy and very convenient. It was close to town, close enough that we could walk. We did walk to town a couple times for breakfast or just to walk. The cabin had a kitchenette, living room, loft bed and bathroom. Your knees practically touched the wall when you had to use the toilet, but other than that it was nice.

After getting settled we went into town to find something to eat. The main town is called Ganges. There were several restaurants to choose from and we wandered around before selecting Tree House Cafe. We chose it because it looked so cool. The above picture I got off line, it does not really give a great view but an idea. The restaurant was literally built around this tree and is growing out the top of the restaurant. During the summer they have live music every night. We really liked the food. Darrell got a hamburger that was to die for...the best hamburger I had a house greens salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing served with warm naan bread and a teriayaki chicken skewer. Mine was yummy too, especially the dressing. Darrell drove around the island for a while after that before we went back to the cabin and crashed.

The picture on the left is a sack of newly born caterpillars. These sacks were everywhere. Darrell and his friends here would pick them off and step on them...otherwise they destroy all the vegetation on the trees. I couldn't believe how many there were.

The picture on the right is of me in Ganges. And below was a picture of swans from standing on that dock. It is hard to see but there are baby swans following the mother swan.

I can't remember the order of all the activities we did so I'll just write about some of them. One day we went to Ruckle park and did some hiking and exploring. The pictures below are from that adventure. There were tons of star fish tucked into the rocks . The picture on the left is of a slug. Yuck!! These are pests on the island and so Darrell also enjoyed destroying these little creature. Although he learned later from his friend not to destroy these greenish ones, only the black ones.

Darrell found a crab on our adventure also. I was to chicken to hold it:)

I was also to chicken to hold the star fish at first because I thought they would be slimy. Darrell assured me they wouldn't be and so I tried it. They were hard and not slimy. I was glad I didn't miss that opportunity:)

The large crab below Darrell found on a beach we visited one morning. We have video of one of the arms falling off while Darrell was holding it. The crab was very strong and in his efforts to keep from being bit the arm fell off. We have mostly video from this adventure and not pictures, but while visiting this Darrell collected many shells for the kids, found hermit crabs, found a half eaten octopus that washed up on shore, found snails, dug for oysters, and opened clams. Darrell had the time of his life on this beach. I enjoyed the outdoors and watching him, although touching all those slimy things was not appealing to me.

One afternoon we went to Mt. Maxwell. The picture on the right is taken from the highest lookout you can get to on Salt Spring Island. It was gorgeous. There was a fence so you wouldn't fall over the cliff and the view was wonderful. You can't really capture it in just a photo but it was awesome!

We also went hiking in the forest. I am still amazed at all the green. You actually get kind of sick of the color because it is everywhere! We also saw lots of deer on this trip. The deer are everywhere because there are no longer any predators on the island...wild cats, bears, wolves, etc. So they multiply and are pests. Almost everyone has deer fences to keep deer away from their gardens and plants.

When Darrell was on Salt Spring for his mission the gentleman below was the branch president. His name is Ted Baker. Also pictured is his wife Sonja. We stayed with them one night. We ate with them a couple times. The most interesting thing about eating with them was the desert spoon that was placed on the table above your plate. I'd never seen that before. President Baker is an Iris farmer/gardener. His yard is beautiful and he grows Irises to sell.

We went on a nice walk with the Baker's on Sunday after dinner and then also had tea time with them...that was a new experience. Of course it was herbal tea...but it was so different. We had tea and cookies. Such different customs, but I loved it.

We stayed one night on the larger island of Vancouver. We went to the Craigdarroch Castle in Victoria, which was basically a mansion house with 5 different floors. It was totally awesome and I loved it. I love seeing old clothes, furniture, rooms, etc. The mansion was a home then became a school at some point and then a hospital during WWI, and then was restored and is now a museum.

Also while in Vicotoria we visited the Butchart Gardens. Below are a very few of the 200+ pictures we took. It was so beautiful. so many flowers and plants of all different colors. WOW!!

On one of the Saturdays we went to the Salt Spring Island outdoor market. It was the best farmer's market I have ever been to. There were so many vendors. We bought some soap, a wooden baby doll cradle, a wool hat, pot stickers, and this huge piece of fry bread topped with strawberries and whipped cream...delicious. Speaking of food we ate breakfast many mornings at this little bakery that had delicious things. I got these small quiches several times during the week and loved them every time:)

Our trip was very relaxing, but I was definitely excited to see the kids on our return and give them the surprises we had got for them. It was such a wonderful time and I hope we can visit again sometime.