On Friday March 10, 2006, I arrived in Victoria on the BC Ferry, The Queen of Vancouver. I arrived in Victoria at about 5:30 PM. I didn’t take pictures. I called Claire from the ferry terminal in Vancouver and wish her a happy 21st birthday.
The last stage of the trip was driving from Kamloops along the Coquihalla Highway to Hope, and from Hope to Chilliwack, Langley and the south Fraser Valley and Delta to the ferry terminal at Tswassen. Then the ferry ride and my arrival in Victoria.
The trip from Kamloops to Hope was interesting. The weather reports all week had talked about snow on the Coquihalla (number 5 highway). There was a little snow along the road from Kamloops to Merritt, a few places where there was a little moisture on the road but the road had been plowed and all the snow on the road had melted. The road was great – 4 lane divided, fast. Merritt was warm. The road is at a high elevation and drops into the Nicola valley at Merritt. Things got different after Merritt. The road climbed to higher elevations and the stretch before and after the toll plaza at the Coquihalla summit had a lot of snow. They had cut a road with snowblowers. The snowbanks along the road were as high as an SUV, in places as high as a semi. There was a lot of slush and gravel. In places there was running water in streams. The snow was melting and the water was going downhill fast. Still, the traffic moved at 90-100 kph all the way.
The next stretch, Hope to Chilliwack and Abbotsford was good – 4 lane, good roads, moderate traffic. After Abbottford the traffic in the Transcanada was very heavy. I had to catch an exit at Langley to get onto number 10 and cross along the edge of Richmond and Delta to get directly to the ferry. The traffic through Langley was heavy and slow. The road is under construction in places. It was generally faster past Langley and onto 99 and 17 down to the terminal. I got to ferry terminal just too late to catch the 3:00 PM ferry. I got the 4:00 ferry.
The ride off the ferry and down to Victoria seemed slow because of heavy traffic and traffic lights but I think I was able to do 70 or 80 most of the way. I had to drive downtown and find a motel with Hispeed Internet. I will spend my first night in Victoria in the Travelodge on Gorge Road East. It has the advantage of being a half hour walk from my new office on Douglas, downtown, and about 1 minute by bike from the Galloping Goose trail.
Tomorrow, I will go for a walk, change my cell phone to a Victoria number, clean my bike, and go for a ride.
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