Ferry to Victoria and Parksville, Vancouver Island, BC

We're on a boat! #Airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #blackballferry #portangeles

For anyone wondering about the ferry process, it was really easy. We'd made reservations online and were told to arrive an hour early. When we got there, we were directed around the main line of cars, through a parking lot and into a lane behind another RV. I went inside to pay the balance while Ann climbing into the trailer to feed the kids and get them changed out of the pajamas they were still in from their early wakeup back at camp. At about 8:00, they started loading from various lanes of cars, big rigs and RV's picking and choosing based on length and weight. While the pic I posted showed a tight squeeze, it was all very slow and orderly with a guy standing right in front of me directing which way to turn the wheel (like lining up for an automatic carwash). 
By the time we got out and walked upstairs, the boat was already underway. There was a simple cafeteria setup, a little shop where we bought a M.V. Coho magnet for our collection and a variety of different seating from booths to large shared tables to pretty comfy seats. Not to long after leaving the port, the boat started rocking pretty good and Ann decided to go outside on the upper deck to ride out her seasickness. After about 15 minutes, it settled down to slow bob, although I didn't see her for the rest of the trip. Note, we'd left Gorilla down below in the trailer although a number of people had dogs up in the seating area. Pulling off was similarly orderly with guys in orange vests pointing at the vehicles they wanted next. Of course, this time, we were all being directed into customs and immigration lines for Canadian entry. When it was our turn, the agent was polite and *thorough,* the same experience we'd had when crossing the year before on the way to Banff. Of course, that time Wynne had been sleeping in the back seat, so we'd both whispered the entire interaction. This time, he asked me to roll down the back windows and looked confusedly back and forth between the passports and the back seat. I asked what he was looking at, and he just said, "Oh, I just couldn't find the other baby." I'd forgotten that the picture on Wynne's passport had been taken when she was about 5 weeks old, and though she was three now, would still be valid for another two years! Other than that, he wanted to make sure we weren't bringing in anything we planned to leave behind, working while in the country or carrying firearms. When we said no to the last item, he said, "You're going to Alaska but not carrying a firearm?" I couldn't tell if it was just a reasonable follow-up or if he was questioning our judgement. He also asked about pepper spray or bear spray at which point I looked down to see the canister we'd bought last time in Canada in the door pocket beside my left foot. Without really thinking, I just said "No," and he was satisfied. We'd done our best to clean out the fridge of most fresh fruits and vegetables, but there were a few things we couldn't incorporate into the last meal. We'd also read something about restrictions on raw eggs and poultry so had hard boiled our last dozen. When he asked about eggs, I told him what we had, and he apologized that the rules were changing every day and no eggs at all were allowed. We pulled over to the side and an agent approached and asked me to get the eggs. She stood at the door as I tried to open the fridge only enough to grab the carton, not sure what other contraband she might see in there, but she just commented as she scanned around the inside of the trailer that it looked like a pretty nice set up. From behind a stack of books in the back corner of the trailer, "Ophelia the Orchid" and "Aaron the Airstream Plant" silently concurred, careful not to reveal their hiding places. With a wave from the agent, we squeezed between a fence and a large class A motorhome that was undergoing a full cavity search, a tighter fit even than we'd had on the ferry, pulled out into traffic and disappeared into Canada.

There were two main things we needed to get done soon after driving off the ferry in Victoria. First, buy some groceries since we'd intentionally not crossed with much in case it was confiscated and second, figure out a Canadian cellular data plan. Actually, by the time we got to Goldstream Provincial Park, only about 20 minutes outside of Victoria, and parked the trailer in a rainy campsite surrounded by trees, we realized there was a third thing; As much as we'd fought it, trying to use purely solar power to charge our batteries when dry camping, the last few days of wet weather (with the forecast calling for at least a few more days of rain), after an uncharacteristically sunning Spring in the Pacific Northwest, had made it clear we wanted a generator. I know, tremendous blow to #TeamSolar but we'd always said that this leg of the trip would be the decider for us.


As we'd taken the exit for Goldstream Park, I'd noticed a Tim Horton's (Canadian for Dunkin' Donuts, basically) and remembered that friends had told us that they usually had free wifi. I guiltily bought a coffee and six bagels and settled in for some research. I quickly located a grocery store with decent reviews on Yelp that was not too far away from a mall that had a Telus and a Rogers cell store. I also did a quick scan of Craigslist for a used generator but came up empty. A general search for generator dealers in Victoria turned up one good looking powersports store, but their online inventory search didn't show any new or used 1000W generators. We'd decided on the smaller, lighter 1000W units since our SUV storage is tight and we only needed it to charge our batteries, not run A/C etc. In fact, I'd basically decided we were going to get a generator one time before after having been caught in several overcast days and unexpected snow earlier in the year along Highway 395 and had even ordered a propane conversion kit specific to a Yamaha generator that I hadn't quite been able to bring myself to return. Coming up empty on my searches, I started to feel like I was rushing the generator thing and didn't want to make a bad decision and settle for something other than the Yamaha.


On the way to the mall with the cell phone dealers, I passed a bunch of equipment rental and sales places with scissor lifts and tractors out front. Just before the mall, I saw yet another one with a big Yamaha banner and thought, "What the heck." I went in and asked if they sold Yamaha generators. They didn't, but there on the shelf were a few of the Honda 1000W's, just as highly recommended. She quoted me a price on a Honda but, literally being "fresh off the boat," I wasn't quite sure of the conversion between US and Canadian dollars. Through the window and across the street, I spotted a Tim Horton's sign and told her I was going to think about it. Parked right by the front door, I was able to get three bars of wireless from inside and converted the price. Eh, not a great deal on something that wasn't really what I decided I wanted.


When I closed the Google window, I saw the listing for the powersports store and decided to give them a call. Turns out, they'd actually just taken a brand new Yamaha 1000W generator in on consignment from a guy who'd won it at a raffle and had never even started it. How'd a couple hundred (Canadian) off the new price sound? Twenty minutes later I was at the counter handing over my credit card for the exact generator I'd wanted at less than I'd figured I could get a well used one for back in the US. Okay, item number three on the list complete, let's get to work on number two. That sounded wrong.


Anyway, as I walked into the mall, I almost immediately saw a Bell store, so I stopped and asked about monthly data plans for non-Canadian citizens. Oh, no problem here are the deals and you'll just get a SIM card and be all set. You'd just need one form of Canadian ID (driver's license, etc). Well, I don't really have that now do I? He was very apologetic but insisted there was nothing he could do. I asked him if he had any ideas about other carriers. He said he was sure Telus was the same, but that the only one who might be able to "squeak it through" would be Rogers. On the way to Rogers, I confirmed his suspicion at the Telus store and even got the same response at a Virgin Mobile place.

Sure enough, after a call to his regional manager to confirm, the rep at Rogers was happy to help as long as I had a passport and a credit card. Monthly data only plans (with no device purchase) started at $5 for something like 100MB but would automatically bump up to the next level if you went over. There were two types of plans, one that was a little cheaper and maxed out at 5 GB for $40 ($10 extra per GB) and another that maxed at 10GB for $85. I opted for the cheaper one and he started keying my information into the computer. At one point, he asked for my Canadian address. I explained that we didn't really have one. We were moving from campground to campground. He said he just needed something to put in. I told him to put in the postal code for the store we were in. He glanced over at the manager who was listening to our conversation out of one ear while helping another customer, and he just slowly shook his head no. No problem, we'd be staying at a VRBO in Vancouver for a week in a couple weeks. We searched for the info online and found the address. There, just use that. Another call to the regional manager. This time, the answer came back that it had to be a permanent address with the follow up, "Don't you have a friend or something in Canada with an address you could use?"

The only people we knew in Canada were a couple we only knew through Facebook who had been traveling on the Pan American Highway. They were back in Vancouver for a bit making some money to continue their trip, and we had plans to meet them face to face in a couple weeks just before they headed back to where they'd left their truck in Costa Rica. I begged the rep to log my phone onto the store wireless and sent a few urgent Facebook messages asking them for a favor. Then I remembered that I had one of their cell phone numbers and sent a text. After 15 minutes of pacing around the store waiting for a response, it came. They were happy to help and we could use their address, although I honestly don't know (or care) if it's the address of the place they're about to move out of. I returned to the desk and announced, "Here. This is my permanent address in Canada." I also may have implied that following the moving around from campground to campground that I'd mentioned, and following the VRBO in Vancouver that I'd also mentioned, we would then be *totally* permanently living at this address. Then I confirmed that nothing would ever be sent there and all billing would be online, right?

One more call to the regional manger. I thought I was sunk. I'd left Ann in the trailer with the kids just after noon. It was now 4:30. I'd sent one text but didn't hear back and assumed it didn't go through. I needed to get this *done* and get home. When he returned from the back room, he sat back down at his computer and started entering the address!

I'll spare you the story of the one final hiccup that required him to call in to Rogers during which time I was absolutely sure he was going to say something about us not really having an address that would kill the whole deal. In fact, he got the issue resolved and by 5:00 I was out of there with a SIM card taped to a piece of paper beside a phone number I would never use, did the grocery shopping in record time, topped off the gas in our new generator and sped home.

So, lessons learned on getting a Canadian SIM for data:

- As far as I can tell, Rogers is your only option and they have a decent network (including some shared service with Telus and Bell) across Canada.

- Go in with your passport and a credit card.

- Have a Canadian address in mind. Could be a VRBO, a house you found on Trulia Victoria, whatever. As far as I can tell, it makes no difference but you need one. If they ask, just say you're moving there for a year.

- When I tried the rep's SIM in our Jetpack, it showed a good signal and 3G coverage but I couldn't load anything when connecting to it by wifi. I tried to update the software on the device itself and it said it couldn't connect. Hmmm. When I put the SIM in my Verizon iPhone 6, it worked perfectly. While I'll do more testing, for now, we're using it in an old Verizon iPhone 5s with the hotspot feature and it's working great.

So yes, in the end, it was #TeamSolarAndGenerator for the win. Yes, of course it's possible to be 100% solar. Heck it's possible to have neither solar or a generator, but it just means having to make choices of campsites and schedules based on your power needs. We could have easily grabbed a site at a nearby RV park and had the batteries fully charged in about three hours, but we were more interested in staying in the beautifully wooded (shady) Provincial Parks. We just finally decided we wanted total control of the options, the ability to extend a stay in a pristine location or to head straight towards the weather to experience a wild storm in the Pacific Rim National Park. A couple interesting follow ups. First, the 1000W Yamaha fits in our Thule rooftop box! Space had been a concern and we weren't super excited about keeping it in the SUV. We're very happy with it up there. Second, apparently generators do something weird with open grounds which our recently installed surge protector and voltage regulator didn't like. A quick search suggested either making some little adapter that somehow makes the ground look good or just bypassing the protector since you are pretty sure the generator power is good. I chose the second solution and feel fine about it (suggested by the manufacturer!). Lastly, the first time we ran it, the generator kept overloading and shutting itself down. Makes sense since the upgraded 50 amp charger on our Magnum MMS1012 would be maxing it out already before adding any AC load like the fridge or outlets. A quick call to Magnum who have always been super knowledgeable and helpful, and I found the settings on the Magnum remote control panel to adjust the max charge rate down to around 30 amps, still enough to top off our batteries in two hours of running. #Airstream #liveriveted #vancouverisland #canada #provincialpark #rathstrevor #generator #yamaha

I think the generator just paid for itself with this sunset over the Straight of Georgia from Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park. The tides at several points along this coast go out like 300 feet (sorry, Canada, I don't know what that is in kilofeet) making for amazing tide pooling and shell collecting. This afternoon, we checked out the more upscale Qualicum Beach but ended up back at the HUGE waterfront playground at the Parksville Community Beach. #vancouverisland #rathtrevor #parksville

Apparently, one of the main tourist attractions on the road to Tofino via Port Alberni is the country store in Coombs where goats graze on the living roof. Sure enough, the sign by the side of the road said "Goats on the Roof" next left. But with the rodeo in town, parking was tight so we decided to drop off the trailer 15 minutes up the road at the Little Qualicum Falls campground and come back. Well, that campground was closed until May 1 so we drove 10 minutes farther up the road to Macmillian Provincial Park since our BC Camping pamphlet didn't say anything about camping being closed. Around the time we arrived, we realized that was because it didn't have any camping at all. Oops. 25 minutes back to Coombs to a private park we'd passed next to the rodeo. Closed for the season. 15 minutes back towards the falls to check out another private park we'd seen signs for. Front yards full of cars on blocks and run down shacks along the road added to the skeevy vibe we got when we found the place and decided to move on. By now, it was nap or die for Mae so back to the Little Qualicum Falls day use area to park while she sleeps. On the plus side, Wynne and I took a nice hike to see the falls and Ann confirmed availability at the marina RV park in Port Alberni. When Mae wakes up, we'll backtrack for some roof goats and an early dinner before heading for camp. #travelingwithkids stayingflexible #littlequalicumfalls #coombs #goatsontheroof #whiskeycreek

Found the roof, but it looked like the goats had been on strike for some time. No sign of them other than merch. A cute country store tho with tons of hard to find pantry items from around the world, smoked and candied salmon in countless varieties and lots of misc wooden toys and crafts. Unfortunately, everything else in Coombs closed at the stroke of 5:00 so we walked around the eclectic sculpture garden across the street and settled back in at the country store cafeteria for a surprisingly decent burger. Still, when the kid's chicken fingers showed up mounded with fries but only two small chicken strips, I complained to Ann "$7.99 for a kids dinner and it's got two lousy pieces?!" Ann went to complain (more politely than I had to her) and they happily gave us two more. Then we realized it was really only like a $5.00 kids meal in USD. Oops! Soorry, Canada! At 6:00 pm with a 45 minute drive, we thought we might just squeak this day out. Then we couldn't find the port authority we'd called about a site. Or rather, the one we found was all locked up and deserted. Then we couldn't find the other campground listed in the tourist guide we'd taken from the ferry. Then the first campground at the next Provincial Park on the road to Tofino was closed. Needless to say, Mae was melting down and Wynne was on the edge. Light was fading and the steady sprinkle of rain we'd had all day continued. As we discussed pulling over to put the kids into pajamas and settle them into their car seats for a final one hour push all the way to Tofino, a sign came into view for another campground loop at the park. We tentatively drove down the road to find a completely empty and beautifully renovated campground. We backed into a site and as we started getting everyone ready for bed, I actually looked around the trailer and thought "It's good to be home," feeling like we'd just gotten back after a long drive. Within minutes, a polite and perky park ranger was standing in the rain outside our door collecting the $25 for the night. "$25 for one night?!" I complained in my head. Oh right, Canadian dollars. #sooorrycanada #sproatlake #goatswerenotontheroof #stayingflexible #airstreamwithkids