United States of America here I am.

Port Angeles, WA

Left the comfort of Cape Lazo this morning, 20 minutes ahead of schedule and with a little tear in my eye. So many great memories in this part of the world. Such a great visit. Will be back, soon I hope.

The weather was not great, and it rained lightly most of the way which meant I couldn’t use cruise control, but otherwise a good trip down island. The highways all along the island are outstanding and the routes are well signed. I arrived in Victoria, British Columbia’s capital, just in time to get a couple of pics of the Legislature and the Empress before I had to check in at the ferry terminal.

Black Ball Ferry runs the ferry between Victoria’s inner harbour and Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. Taking the MV Coho meant I could miss driving the trailer through Vancouver and Seattle and it got me right on to Washington Route 101 which I’ll take down the coast. For more info on the ferry you can click here. Highly recommend taking it. https://www.cohoferry.com/

The folks at Black Ball Ferry were very friendly and efficient, and the check in process, which involved pre-clearing US customs, went very smoothly. You sit in your car and the customs people come to you and then you go in to get your passport processed. Getting on the ferry was faster than the much larger BC Ferries. My Prolite was at the end of the line of the overheights and now has 2 ferries under its belt. Don’t anticipate any more ferry crossings on the trip, but you never know.

The ferry itself has seen better days, with some of the seat backs laying on the seat bottoms unattached. I guess waiting for service. I went up on deck to take some pictures and as I was taking one of the old dame, the Empress Hotel, with the Canadian flag proudly flying over it, and we started to head out, it suddenly became real to me that I was actually leaving and would be away from the country for 6 months!

My immediate plan is to travel down the coastal highway as much as possible all the way to San Diego and take my time. I have travelled on much, if not all, of the coastal road through Washington, Oregon and California at various times in the past, but doing it in one fell swoop will be new. I have reservations at an RV Resort in Palm Desert for the month of December but aside from that I’m flying without a net.

On the short trip over I watched for whales given I had seen so many on the run between Nanaimo and Horseshoe Bay the last two times, but alas, none came into view. I did see a US submarine being escorted by a couple of other military ships in the distance though.

The ferry arrived on time in Port Angeles as the sun was getting really low in the sky and some blue was starting to show and you could just barely make out the Olympic Mountains in behind Port Angeles. It must be a fantastic sight when it’s clear and there is more daylight. I headed immediately for my campsite to get set up before the light disappeared completely, so I didn’t get a chance to look around Port Angeles.

The campsite is quite empty and the office was closed, although they had left my reservation paperwork and site map on the bulletin board. I didn’t really get a chance to look around much in the dark, but am here for two nights so will check things out tomorrow.

After setting up I did head back into town to grab some dinner and pick up some groceries. I had a lovely salad and cup of chowder at a H2O Bistro, yes, it’s down on the water in Port Angeles. It was dark so not exactly sure what the view was like but the food was great! Very generous portions. I must be in the US of A. Couldn’t find a website but you can find it by Googling H2O Bistro. And I stopped at Safeway to pick up some basic groceries so I can have my breakfast at home tomorrow morning before heading out and about for the day.