Day 12 - Tofino BC (331 km): I'm a firm believer that...

...good food, liquor and convivial company make even motorcycling in the rain a good thing! The good food and liquor having been provided by shelter restaurant in Tofino and the company provided by my server, Nathalie, and her colleague, Sam. I'll come back to this.

OK - the rackets I got into today....

I left Abbotsford at 0805 - a little overcast but looking promising and about 16 degrees. Completely oppositie of yesterday, I was keen to get on the road and slurped down a couple of mouthfuls of coffee and a few spoonfuls of raisin bran (I took an orange in my tankbag). Speaking of which - if I may digress- I'll be glad to get home to eat my Cheerios out of a real dish. Last week, in Buffalo WY, I was carrying my usual lazy man's load to the table - including my styrofoam dish of cereal - and the stupid dish broke at the edge because of the way I was holding it and I ended up slopping milk and cereal all over the floor!

The bike was full of gas so I was all ready to "get on and give 'er" to the ferry. Lots of traffic and a few turn-offs and towns / cities to drive through, but there was plenty of signage "Ferries: Victoria and Nanaimo" and I had lots of time, so I wasn't having any difficulty. Until....cruising along and not paying attention, I just drifted onto an exit ramp following another vehicle! Oh crap! I thought: "I'll turn around at one of those little dirt cross roads that run between the highways, that the LEO's and emergency vehicles use". And then I see an exit - but I don't see an opposing on-ramp on the other side of the highway. At the same time, I see one of those U-jobbies just before the exit - but I've already signalled, slowed and started to pull off onto the exit. I get slowed down and pointed back at the highway before I get too far up the exit ramp but, darn, the traffic's coming too fast in both lanes for me to do a little "run the wrong way across the highway" to the U-ey. On I go up the highway looking for another U-ey or exit. I'm on the outside, fast lane and by this time I'm a few km out of my way. I still have lots of time for the 1030h ferry if I can recover this situation in reasonable time. Sure enough - there's a U-ey but I'm going too fast to get stopped in time and get by it by about ...I dunno...20 or 30 feet? So, there I am, on the left side of the highway with about a foot of pavement between the yellow line and and the dirt shoulder. And traffic WHIZZING by me. I 'duck walk' that pig back - against the traffic - to the U-ey. Trying to stay out of the driving lane AND trying to keep my left foot on the pavement so I don't let it lean too far to the left and, potentially, lose the bike to a tipover. I make it back, do my U-turn and take off . I SHOULD recognize the exit I came off but I don't. On I go to the next exit and find a gas station. "How do I get back on The Road to the ferries?". I get directions from the store attendant (who is an ESL - 'english second language' and, at the risk of being charged a racist, I don't seem to have an ear for that english) and I follow what she's told me , but it doesn't seem right to me. I really do have a good sense of direction (except in hotels, where I turn the opposite way about 75% of the time I leave the room) - ask John. Next stop, a plant nursery with open gates and a few vehicles in the yard - it's clearly a private residence with an on-site business. I park, climb off and wander around "hello? hello?". A little east indian woman comes out to the house, not knowing I'm there, and I apologize for the intrusion but "how do I get on The Road to the ferries". She tells me, I do it (and I'm chuckling as I write this; it might be the liquor at dinner ....) and it STILL doesn't look right! LOL! I'm back on the highway and it looks like the same highway (northern route) I'd turned onto in the first place since the exit I took to make yet a 3rd (!) ASK was the same one, I'm sure, that I'd started onto in the very first place. I know I'm not far from the ferries since the last sign I'd seen indicated something like 20+ km. And I still had time - but c'mon, I was running out of it. And I haven't see a "Ferries" sign in ages. I was running around in circles, like a fart in a mitten. A customer at the gas station gives me directions and admires my bike. At about the same time, a guy in a car has heard this exchange, rolls up and tells me I can go the way that Buddy told me - it'll get me there - but he's going that way (not to the ferries but in that direction) and I can follow him if I'd like. I can't really hear everything he's saying because of my ear plugs (which have been working well lately, but that's another story). Off I go (are you keeping track of the number of panicky starts and stops here which carry exponential risk for a tipover?!), and as I turn onto the ramp where Buddy has directed me, I notice the OTHER ramp has The "Ferries" Sign!! He's put me onto a truck route that runs parallel to the main highway with a 50km speed limit and law-abiding citizens driving on it - along with big, freaking trucks! Geez Louise. I pass what vehicles I can and then I figure there HAS to be a way for people in this little community to get to the ferries. Sure enough, I soon come to an intersection that indicates "Ferries - 10 km" . It's all good and I get to the Terminal in great time - about 45 minutes prior to departure. With a wink, the ticket agent directs
me "to the head of Lane 30" (all right!) and it's there that I make my new Harley friends. Bruce - this one's for you :-)

Already in line, at the head of Lane 30, are 2 Harleys: one of those big dresser/tourers and one cruiser-style. I apologize - I should have gotten the models but I would have had to write it down. They all look the same to me ;-). Larry was on the cruiser (he left his tourer at home today) - he lives on the lower mainland and used meetings in Nanaimo as a great excuse for a ride. He also has a Maple Leaf 45 sailboat, which he and his wife would like to sail to Europe. I told him about my taking jabs at the HD doods and he took it all in good stride :-)
After all, I WAS wearing HD gloves (there was forecast of scattered showers).

The other HD people were a couple, Kathy & Ted, riding 2-up. From Mazatland, Mexico! Retired Canuckistanis who left Mexico on May 22nd and meandered up to Canada to vist friends and relatives, and to pick up a new-to-them '07 model and return to Mexico by July 15th. I enjoyed chatting with all of them. BTW, when I told Larry about my windy ride through the Nicola Valley on the Coquihalla, he groaned and said there was no way I should have come down the Coquihalla - that the Fraser Valley route was far preferable to ride. Live and learn.

I stopped for gas just outside Nanaimo. My VISA worked fine today, by the way. I paid $1.07 for it on the Island. I think it was $1.09 in Golden yesterday. It's a far cry from the average $2.69/gallon we were paying in the States. I'm getting about the same mileage I get at home, ie, around 20 km / liter.

Larry gave me some Zumo pointers. He has a very 'economical' Garmin model (he said it was the very cheapest he could buy) so he's familiar with the Garmin gps devices. The Zumo worked perfecttly to Tofino - but the road signs were very good as well. The road to Tofino is TWISTY but a little rough in spots. Jim would have loved it. Me....I was reminded of the time I skied the chair line at Crabbe Mountain a few years. It wasn't pretty but I did it ;-) I know the theory of riding-the-twisties but I suffer from a lack of confidence in both my bike and myself. Plus, I wasn't crazy about the wet pavement, the cracks in it and the gravel in the middle of the lanes. Although I met a number of cars travelling east, there were none following me so that pressure was off. I arrived at Pacific Rim National Park in the rain. I'm feeling like the Charlie Brown character "Pig-Pen" who walks around in a cloud of dirt and dust. Except my cloud is full of rain! I'm told "it's been beautiful" in Tofino the last few weeks. Go figure.

Before I got to Tofino, I pulled into the Long Beach area of the Park. I had considered taking off my boots and walking barefoot in the Pacific - and I would have had it been a decent day. But it wasn't - so I didn't. I took a few photos (got a great one of a surfer on the beach - or I think it's great but I can't really see too much on this wee 'puter). And I wandered up the beach to ask 2 guys to take a photo of me. A girl travelling alone's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. That particular area has strong riptides and there was a sign posted with instructions on how to get OUT of a riptide. On the highway, just before I turned off into the beach, there was a sign indicating I was entering a tsunami zone. I'm sure that's what it said. And a bit up the road, it seems to me, there was a sign indicating an Evacuation Route. At the ticket booth in the parking lot (where I did attempt to do the legal thing and buy a park pass but didn't get a ticket so I don't know if I actually paid or not), there are instructions for what to do if you feel the earth shake!

Back to the 'rackets' business. The second racket occurred in Tofino. When I got to Tofino, I thought I'd drive up the main drag to check things out. I hadn't committed to a motel (it was a toss-up and my CFR friends, Tom and Pam, had stayed at the Schooner a few days ago) so I find my two toss-up s and keep goin. Down a steep little side street I go - very slowly. I can go right or left at the bottom. I choose 'left' and, too late, I see that 'left' is taking me into a very rough-looking gravel / dirt/ grass enclosed parking area that has two travel trailers in it. OMG! It was a dead-end (I know you're asking how in the hell-o I didn't notice that before I turned, but I didn't). I can make pretty good u-turns on pavement but on this uneven gravel?! I stopped, took stock and, in first gear, tried to work/walk my way around a turn. A 3-point turn wasn't going to cut it since even in gear I could barely go over the rough terrain and a couple (few?) times I thought I was going to lose the bike. I chewed up some big rocks and got turned - miraculously, and got out of there. I'm not giving up on the Feej!

The proprietor at the Schooner Motel recommended the restaurant shelter. I wandered in and out of a few stores and got directions to the restaurant, which is just up the street. Great atmosphere, clearly a popular spot and friendly staff. Definitely a must-return-to when I come back here with John and we're staying at the Wickanannish Inn :-). I sat down and as I perused the menu and considered drinks , it occurred to me that "here I am in Tofino on the Pacific Rim - next stop, Japan. On my motorcycle. And no one to celebrate with ! " So, Nathalie and I celebrated. I ordered the drinks and she brought them :-) . Since no one was here with me and it was the best dinner of the trip (the home-cooked dinners at the Lockharts' and the Russells' notwithstanding), I'm going to tell you about in detail. I started with a smoked salmon tasting platter minus the caper-shallot cream cheese (cold smoked sliced, pepper candied, and maple smoked with 'pickled red onion, olive oil crustini and neighbours cucumber dill salad) and a 'tatanini' (2 oz x-rated fusion liqueur, absolut citron, limoncello, blueberry & cranberry juice). My main course was: 'shelter yellow thai curry' (gallo mussels, manila clams, wild salmon, local shrimp, banana leaf-steamed basmati and wild rice- beautifully presented on the opened banana leaf) accompanied by a pink! (sparkling rose wine) - for toasting myself ;-). I also had a glass of red wine, although I believe the recommended pairing was a reisling (I like what I like). It was a BC wine, made in Oliver (Okanagan) at the Misconduct (great name!?) Winery. The wine I had was an '07 blend called the "Big Take" (69% Merlot, 24% Cab Sauv and 7% Cab Franc). So, that was my celebration and a very pleasant one it was.

All in all, today was another great day.

Earliest start yet is planned for tomorrow - 0800h to meet Tom, Pam and Barb at Port Alberni to make tracks to the ferry and the mainland. Jude - no time for breakfast at Ucluelet.

This room is great. There's no phone but there IS a thermostat in the bathroom. The room is cool but I'm heating the bathroom now :-)

It seems to me these posts are starting to take on a Seinfeld-esque air. A whole lot of chatter about nothing. I hope I'm not boring you. I hear that a few of you eagerly anticipate the morning post with your coffee - especially when things are slow at the office ;-)

KSAO&E quiz:

1. the Pacific Rim is backed by what mountain range?
2. how are motorcycles handled on the ferries that run between mainland BC and the islands? (check BC Ferries website)