Emily had a late morning flight scheduled out of Vancouver and back to Minneapolis. We got a late start and were further sidetracked as we focused on the delicious breakfast served by the delightful, but leisurely, hostess at the B&B. Fortunately, by the time we departed, Vancouver's rush hour traffic had subsided. I was bummed that Emily had to go. We traveled well together.
I learned several days later that poor Emily's connecting flight to Chicago was delayed several hours, likely due to the discovery of the planned attack on the Sears Tower. She missed her connection to Minneapolis and spent the night in the Chicago airport. Shame on United Airlines for not taking better care of her!
Matt called no more than three minutes after I dropped Emily off at the airport. Despite a late night of packing and preparations, he and Dawn had already arrived in Vancouver from Seattle. They were waiting for me at our designated meeting point off of Highway 99 near Tsawwassen an hour early! I put the pedal to the metal and raced to meet them as I considered what I would need to bring on the kayaking trip. Under normal circumstances, I would have felt very stressed about being so under-prepared, but I knew that everything I would need was somewhere in my trunk.
We drove in separate cars to a long-term parking lot outside of the ferry terminal, where I parked Conrad and sifted through his trunk and backseat for my gear. Matt got a kick out of the fact that all of my belongings for 2 months were in the car.
We made the 12:30 ferry to Nanaimo, a 2-hour trip. Matt and Dawn's friends, Ethan and Kook, were in Ethan's truck and on the same ferry. Everyone seemed pretty tired, so we all reclined and basked in the sun on the deck of the ferry.
We raced out of Nanaimo towards Port Alberni - where I had reserved my kayak. The rest of the team had their own kayaks strapped to the tops of their cars. Alberni Outfitters had my kayak ready to go. The girl that rented me the kayak was really sick, nearly delirious I'd say, and I prayed that I didn't catch what she had on the trip.
From Port Alberni, we headed to Toquart Bay where we planned to camp and then put the kayaks in the water in the morning. Due to construction on the gravel logging roads leading to the bay, we were delayed and often unsure of our coordinates. We asked for directions a couple of times, which confused me even more. People would tell us to turn left while pointing right and nodding their head in a completely different direction.
Eventually, we did make it to Toquart Bay and the campsite. Amazingly, other campers and RV-ists had found the campsite as well. We found a nice campsite right next to the beach, reorganized our stuff, and prepared a delicious dinner of tortillas. Dawn, the group's wonderful "den mother", had planned, purchased and packed ALL of our meals. Rarely have I ever eaten so well on the camping trip. We stayed up late talking about the trip. Ethan, a design/landscaper, played the guitar and harp.
I learned several days later that poor Emily's connecting flight to Chicago was delayed several hours, likely due to the discovery of the planned attack on the Sears Tower. She missed her connection to Minneapolis and spent the night in the Chicago airport. Shame on United Airlines for not taking better care of her!
Matt called no more than three minutes after I dropped Emily off at the airport. Despite a late night of packing and preparations, he and Dawn had already arrived in Vancouver from Seattle. They were waiting for me at our designated meeting point off of Highway 99 near Tsawwassen an hour early! I put the pedal to the metal and raced to meet them as I considered what I would need to bring on the kayaking trip. Under normal circumstances, I would have felt very stressed about being so under-prepared, but I knew that everything I would need was somewhere in my trunk.
We drove in separate cars to a long-term parking lot outside of the ferry terminal, where I parked Conrad and sifted through his trunk and backseat for my gear. Matt got a kick out of the fact that all of my belongings for 2 months were in the car.
We made the 12:30 ferry to Nanaimo, a 2-hour trip. Matt and Dawn's friends, Ethan and Kook, were in Ethan's truck and on the same ferry. Everyone seemed pretty tired, so we all reclined and basked in the sun on the deck of the ferry.
We raced out of Nanaimo towards Port Alberni - where I had reserved my kayak. The rest of the team had their own kayaks strapped to the tops of their cars. Alberni Outfitters had my kayak ready to go. The girl that rented me the kayak was really sick, nearly delirious I'd say, and I prayed that I didn't catch what she had on the trip.
From Port Alberni, we headed to Toquart Bay where we planned to camp and then put the kayaks in the water in the morning. Due to construction on the gravel logging roads leading to the bay, we were delayed and often unsure of our coordinates. We asked for directions a couple of times, which confused me even more. People would tell us to turn left while pointing right and nodding their head in a completely different direction.
Eventually, we did make it to Toquart Bay and the campsite. Amazingly, other campers and RV-ists had found the campsite as well. We found a nice campsite right next to the beach, reorganized our stuff, and prepared a delicious dinner of tortillas. Dawn, the group's wonderful "den mother", had planned, purchased and packed ALL of our meals. Rarely have I ever eaten so well on the camping trip. We stayed up late talking about the trip. Ethan, a design/landscaper, played the guitar and harp. 
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