Miles 4065-4170: Victoria, Ferry to Seattle, Drive to Packwood, and Packwood
Yesterday morning, I woke up with a cold, but it wasn’t that bad. I got up and went on a 3.5 mile run with Dad around Victoria. It was really pretty and the cold air made my throat feel better. We went down by the ocean, not the harbor, and there was a humongous cruise ship pulled up next to a dock. That’s where we turned around. We didn’t have a car in Canada, so we didn’t get to see much of Victoria except for the downtown right around our hotel. Dad and I got to see a little more of the residential area. It’s a nice little town. Apparently climbing is really big around there (sadly, we didn’t have much free time or I would have looked for a gym). We came back to the hotel, showered, got dressed, and went to breakfast at Mole’s (pronounced mo-lays, not moles). I knew it was a Mexican/Spanish/Central American style place, so I thought I might be able to try gallos pintos for the first time, but no luck. I had really good huevos rancheros, with a hard tortilla, salsa, and fruit. Probably the best breakfast I’ve had so far on the trip. We went back to the hotel, picked up our luggage, and started walking to the ferry. Mom had misjudged how faraway the boat was and we had to walk about twenty minutes with bookbags, purses, and suitcases. We got there on time though and boarded the Victoria Clipper with no problem. The boat moved really fast, around thirty knots, or so the captain said (35 mph).
Once we got to Seattle, we took a cab to the parking lot where our car was. Nothing had been stolen, thankfully, and we started our ride to Packwood, Washington, our jumping-off point for Mount Rainier National Park. After getting settled in at the Packwood Lodge, we went to dinner. We were planning to go to Josie’s, which was Italian, but it was closed, on a Thursday night, at 6:30 PM. There was nothing on its website either. Luckily, we found another place, Cliff Droppers, which was a small burger place. I got a Blue Cheese Bacon burger. It was delicious, especially with their housemade sauce. We went to a brewery, Packwood Brewing Co. for Mom and Dad to each get a drink. Before we walked in, we noticed a very large animal in a school yard right next to the brewery. We couldn’t tell if it was a very large deer, or an elk, or maybe even a female moose. It had no antlers and looked like a huge mule deer. We looked at a guide book inside and it was a female elk. It was very bold; it didn’t run away when people came near. It just kept eating grass and leaves off a nearby tree. In the brewery, we played Taboo, boys vs. girls. Mom and I won easily, as expected. It wasn’t even close, 21-14. It’s like we could read each other’s minds. Back at the hotel, I caught up on pictures for the past few days, journalled, and went to sleep.
“We should all do our best to not offend others, but also not to be offended by others.”