Welcome to Delta Tsawwassen (Photo credit: J. Stephen Conn)

Our trip to Tsawwassen was uneventful. We waited about 10 minutes at the border, which shows what traveling at midday on a weekday can do. Weekends can mean an hour or more wait. The Tsawwassen (after a while it rolls off your tongue) ferry terminal is quite nice. There are five different coffee shops, a dozen fine food stalls, gift shops, and rest rooms. On board the ferry there was a noisy deck and a quiet deck, three restaurants and a gift shop. Washington State Ferries can’t hold a candle to this system.

We sailed through the Gulf Islands under a grey sky. Thankfully it was not raining so we could go out on the deck and take some photos. How many pictures of grey are possible? The channels through the islands are beautiful with rock cliffs, garry oaks, and arbutus trees.

Swartz Bay arrived before we knew it. We unloaded and followed “Suzie” our GPS to a Country Grocery that I knew carried our favorite Canadian brand of sauerkraut. If you’ve never had Kuhne kraut, you don’t know what you’re missing. It has a famous secret recipe: cabbage and salt. Just like grandma used to make (at least my grandma). We bought six large jars. Five will go home and one will be baked with the country pork ribs we bought today.

Our condo was the next stop. For this trip I splurged and reserved a penthouse unit on our Worldmark timeshare. It is two bedrooms, living room, kitchen, etc., but the real highlights are the hottub on the deck and the view overlooking Victoria’s Inner Harbor. Float planes land outside, tour boats leave (brightly lighted after dark), and the harbor’s Christmas lights call to us across the water. Unfortunately, it was getting dark quickly when we arrived, so photos are few. What photos I do have will not upload on this slow connection.

More tomorrow.

Paul