Leg 1: Olympia, WA to Nanaimo, British Columbia
3 July 2022
We started our trip to Anchorage with a two hour tale of death and destruction due to the negligence of a narcissistic film director, John Landis. By the time we pulled up to the Port Angeles ferry terminal, Corbin was stewing and I was horrified by humanity. (PSA: Do not listen to the podcast episode: Behind the Bastards: The Twilight Zone Movie before setting off on a grand journey--it will crush your soul.)
At the terminal, we lined up in our spot and headed inside to have a Canadian check our ArriveCanada registration and passports. The process was very smooth for us (not so much for the family in front of us in line, who had just discovered their passport was expired). We encountered misfortune again not long after. As Corbin was getting into the truck after a stroll around the ferry terminal, he heard the characteristic "click click click" of a dead car battery. In the blink of an eye, he jumped into Super-Dad Mode. “We have to move fast,” he said sternly (without a hint of irony), "the ferry is about to start loading." He ran to the back of the truck and rummaged around until he pulled out a portable car battery starter that his father had fortuitously given him the day before. (Moral of the story: Dads are the best!)
A minute later, the battery pack was plugged in and... drumroll... the car started right up! The day was saved and it was time to board the ferry! Hooray!
On the ferry, we settled into a nice quiet corner by the cafe and dove into the Alaska Milepost guidebook. It wasn't long, however, before an ungodly amount of toddlers took up residence at the table next to us and a subsequent hail storm of shrieking drove us to find new seats.
The rest of ferry was uneventful! We pulled into Victoria around 2pm and were questioned by the Canadian border patrol about our intentions (they loved that I was a nurse) and then went on our merry way, headed North.
After an hour or so of driving through steady rain, we pulled into one of those "towns" centered on a sea of strip malls. Since it was so rainy we decided to search for an extra tarp to keep us dry while hanging out at camp. We stopped at a "Sportchek," not realizing it was more of a golf and basketball store than an outdoors store. Next we tried Jysk, the Danish IKEA. It was essentially a Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Befuddled once again, we finally found a Home Depot, and alas -- a tarp! Finally a familiar big-name chain store! Canada is not so different from the US of A after all.
With a tarp finally secured, Corbin proposed that after four very poor hours of sleep and no end of the rain in sight: we should stay in a hotel.
Although I was a little disappointed that we were taking the easy way out, we pulled into a Best Western around 6pm, boiled tortellini in the microwave, and watched Ocean’s Eleven before getting shut eye to prepare for day 2.
