The Canadian Job - Day Sept

I started off the day by saying good-bye to my comrade Paul. We shared some breakfast and then I was off not too long after sunrise.

The weather wasn't bad when I got up, but as soon I got into the little town of Sequim, literally 15 or 20 miles short my destination of Port Angeles, it started POURING rain.....and it was freezing. I pulled over and put on my track jacket and put the rain covers on my panniers, but they did little good, everything ended up getting soaked anyway. Those last 15 miles were the most grueling, painful, trying miles of my life. I was shivering so bad that I could hardly steer in a straight line. It got to the point where I was looking forward to riding uphill because it warmed me up a little. The cold wind on my soaking wet body was cutting (again all I had was a spandex cycling shorts, a thin jersey, and my track jacket, all of which were drenched). By the time I actually got to the ferry terminal in Port Angeles I think I had a mild case of hypothermia and was sort of disoriented, but never the less I was stoked to finally be there.

A train trestle that had been converted into a bike path between Sequim and Port Angeles

After getting into the ferry station and drying off as much as I could with paper towels and the hand dryer in the bathroom, I sat down and tried to warm up. I ended up having to sit there a lot longer than I had anticipated, but I got to chatting with this guy from North Carolina. He was touring the U.S. in his Jeep and camping along the way (he was just making a day trip to Victoria). I sat by him on the ferry too because this weird old guy kept talking to me and he was creeping me out, so I didn't want him sitting by me.

The actually ferry ride was really fast (only like 30 minutes) and I spent most of the time trying to dry out my socks out on the baseboard heaters....didn't work well. I think the donut and hot coffee brought up my spirits quite a bit though.

The first thing I noticed in Victoria was a MASSIVE cruise ship. I had never seen a cruise ship in person before and I swear this thing was taller than most of the buildings on the skyline.

Customs was unexpectedly easy. I was in and out in literally a couple minutes. They basically just asked what I was there for, then sent me through. The cat from North Carolina who I was talking to, he got searched.

The first thing I did was find the information center that I had been told was on the waterfront. The girl there (who was really cute) set me up with a bed and breakfast by Craigdarroch Castle (pronounce Craig-Derrick I think) because it was cheaper than any hotel room and I wanted my own room to leave my bike in, so a hostel was out. As she was calling and setting it up for me this HOT eastern European girl came up to me and was like "I stay at Hostel. Very cheap. You stay too?" And of course I was like ".....I.....uh.....uh....." Which didn't go over so well. I eventually was able to form words and explained to her that I was needed an actual room so that I could explore the city and leave my bike behind. I know....I'm an idiot.

Victoria's Inner Harbour (as I got off the boat)

After I made it to the castle (I was walking my bike by that point; I was a hurting unit) I was blown away by its beauty. The castle (and by castle I mean honest-to-goodness stone "knights of the round table" kind of castle) was literally in the backyard of the house I was staying at. But after I got there the proprietors weren't there, or at least they weren't answering the door, so I was left standing, freezing on the porch for like an hour waiting for them. Eventually he did answer though. The guy showed me up to my room and after he left I proceeded to tear my clothes off like they were on fire and jump into the shower. Much to my chagrin the hot water didn't work!! I was so pissed I was about ready to scream, but then I realized that it was just hooked up backwards and the hot side was actually cold and vice versa. After I got it going....oh my God, that was my first shower in about a week, and probably the most satisfying one of my life. I stood there for what seemed like forever just soaking in the heat.

After the shower of a lifetime I came to the conclusion that my clothes were still wet and dirty, and besides that they weren't exactly 'nightlife' clothes. So I made my way down to the local Value Village second hand store (which was in a really, really bad part of the city) and bought me some new threads. I ended up getting a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, a hoodie, a beanie, an umbrella, and a little satchel to carry my old clothes in, all for about $30. Not bad at all. And in case you were curious the Canadian dollar is worth the same as the U.S. dollar at this point; most places there would take either because they are basically worth the same amount.

After Value Village I found a public bathroom to change in and wandered around the city until it got dark. Eventually had a slice of pizza for dinner, got some advice from a local on a good pub and went and had a couple pints.

By the time I got back to the B&B I could barely keep my eyes open but for some reason I decided that it was necessary to go take pictures of the castle at night. I was probably looking kind of suspicious, walking around taking pictures at like 2 in the morning, because the security guard stopped me and wanted to know what I was doing. But after I convinced the guy that I wasn't casing the place we got to talking and he invited me up onto the porch (for lack of a better word) of the castle and he proceeded to tell me the whole story of the place. It turns out it was built by a coal baron back in the 1890s, has 39 rooms, 20k square feet, and something like a dozen fire places. The guard was a really nice guy but he seemed a little off; said something about being in a mining accident when he was younger. He seemed really lonely there and didn't want me to leave but I explained to him the incredibly long day I'd had, and that I had to get to bed.



After getting back to the house, again, I ran into some of my fellow bed and breakfasteers who were all in the living room chatting. There was a middle aged couple from mainland Canada, who struck me as quintessential Canadian folks, and an older guy named Peter who was from Victoria, yet had what sounded like a thick aristocratic type English accent. They all seemed like good people though, and I got them to teach me about Canada. It turns out there dollar coin is affectionately called the "loony." Who know.