Sonya's Blog - Day 332 - The Ferry to Vancouver

Sonya’s Blog - Day 332 - May 19th - The Ferry to Vancouver

Our ferry sailing was at 11 AM today. We had to be there an hour ahead of time, no later than 30 minutes before or we would lose our reservation. They didn’t really want you there more than an hour ahead of time, because if they have lots of ferries coming and going, parking can get tight and they don’t have room for you. It was only about a 15-20 minute drive to the ferry terminal at Swartz Bay.

We tried to plan it perfectly, but we ended up being quite efficient with our packing up and getting to the ferry terminal at 9:30. They were not really busy, so they let us in. We were the first people in our row, so we would be parked right near the front of the ferry. We had just over an hour until boarding, so we walked Kizmet and looked around at the market. Well not the kids, they just stayed in the truck. I guess they were too lazy to have a look around. Here we are waiting to board:

Once we boarded, which was not nearly as tight as the Coho Ferry. Of course, this is a much larger ferry, with three decks for trucks and cars. We were on the very bottom deck, with the transport trucks. As predicted, we were right at the front of the ferry, but we had the wall of the ferry in front of us, not the loading bay. We would have to wait for the line beside of us to unload, before we will be able to, which is fine with us. Kizmet was allowed to come out, but there was a pet room that she had to stay in. It was on the 4th deck, which is a car deck. Blake hung out with her there and we went and found seats on the other decks. Isaac set himself up on deck six at a desk, so he could do homework. Natasha and I found seats, near the window that were pretty comfortable.

I finished reading my book, that I had started last night. It is called Fishbowl by Bradley Somers. I had read a bunch of reviews about the book and thought I would check it out. They had a copy at Russell Books, so I picked it up. The story is about a goldfish named Ian, who jumps out of his fishbowl on the 27th floor of an apartment building. The fishbowl is on the balcony and Ian begins his perilous descent to the sidewalk below. As he descends, he catches glimpses of the various lives in the apartments that he passes. The chapters then tell you a bit of a story of these various occupants. I think I didn’t like the way Somers told the story, but I thought the concept was interesting. It was an okay read, but not as enjoyable as I thought it would be.

When I finished my book, I went to relieve Blake from the dog zone. I took care of Kizmet for the rest of the journey, while Blake went to round up the kids to get ready to head back down to the truck. Here is Kizmet in the dog room:

She was supposed to be on leash, but there was nobody else in there and it was completely sealed off from the car bay. When we were given the signal, we headed back down to the truck. Here is Natasha getting back in:

We had about an hour commute to our campground in West Vancouver. We could have gone right through downtown Vancouver, but we didn’t think that was such a great idea with our rig. We are staying at the Capilano RV Resort, which is just across the water from Stanley Park. By the time we drove there and got all set up, it was about 3:30.

Blake and Isaac headed to the hot tub and Natasha and I chilled out at the campsite. After a light supper, Blake watched the latest Mission Impossible with the kids and I started a new book.

Sonya