Victoria, B.C.


We took off to Victoria, B.C. for the weekend.  We felt we needed to redeem ourselves after our last "camping" trip in Home Depot's parking lot!  This time we got it right!  It took a little longer to get to our destination but it was well worth the time.  After arriving at Port Angeles, Washington we caught a ferry over to Victoria.  

We set up camp in Bamberton.  It was a great camping site, less than a mile from the beach.  As soon as we pulled into our tent site, Will saw this sign.  He knew it meant "Bathroom" but failed to understand the actual bathroom site was an outhouse a few yards farther down the path.  After setting up camp we hiked to the beach where the kids found all sorts of empty crab shells, and some even with a dead crab inside!
With our one full day in Victoria, we went to Butchart Gardens.  It was everything people had told us it would be.  It was such a beautful time of the year to be there with so many flowers in bloom.  I was surprised at how long it held the kids attention.  Every Saturday night in the summer they have an amazing fireworks show at night.  Unfortunately, we finished our tour about 4:00 pm and knew we could not keep the kids occupied for another 6 hours in the gardens!  So, that is something we put on our "to do" list for the next time we visit.  

After  Butchart Gardens, we took the kids to the Pacific Undersea Garden Aquarium.  Scott and I thought this was mostly a waste of money but the boys said it was their favorite part of the trip!  We did get to see an octopus, a wolf eel, lots of fish and the kids got to touch several star fish.  
We had just enough time to stop by the Butterfly Garden before taking the ferry back to the good old USA.  Never mind how awful we all look (did I mention we camped all weekend?),  try to focus on the beautiful butterflies!  This is the first butterfly Garden I have been to where they didn't have cups of nectar for you to buy to lure the butterflies to you.  We had to really work and be very patient to get to hold a butterfly.  Cassidy got two as soon as we went in, so she was designated as the "Butterfly Whisperer".  By the time we had to go, everyone had gotten a chance to hold a butterfly.  What a great weekend we had!  Camping is my favorite way to spend quality time together as a family.

Comments

klonghall said…
'Looks like a much better place to camp. The gardens look amazing. What fun!

We are planning an October weekend trip to the Smoky Mtns. We are trying to decide if a weekend trip is enough time to justify packing all the camping gear. How many nights did you camp? We have the option of staying in a cabin, but the kids really want to camp. Any suggestions?
July 29, 2008 at 11:51 AM
cjdustin said…
What a fun trip! Next time you need to invite your "almost" cousins the Dustins. Then we could hang out and look "scary" together!
July 29, 2008 at 1:06 PM
Christy said…
Looks like a lot of fun! We have lived here 4 years now and keep saying we will go to Canada to visit and we have yet to make it up there.
July 29, 2008 at 3:42 PM
Heidi Rushing said…
In answer to the question, I think a minimum time to camp is 2 days and max 3 days. I could do more if there are showers! I hate going too long without a shower and it gets hard to pack food for much more than three days. We did a chalet up in Gatlinburg years ago and loved it! Nothing is more affordable than tent camping though!
July 29, 2008 at 4:44 PM
klonghall said…
Ooooh, no showers? We had a decent bathroom with a shower when we camped this summer. That nightly shower saved me! We camped for 5 days, 4 nights, and we did haul up a whole lotta food. I think that's why Donnie's not sure we should do it for just a weekend. We'd go to the same place we went this summer. We want to see it in the fall. I'm drawn to camping when it is cool rather than July in North Carolina.
July 29, 2008 at 4:50 PM
Grandma Bethany said…
Another fun mini-vacation for you!
You have done so many fun things this summer with your family. Any you aren't through yet!! We are excited for your trip to Utah next month.
Loved the picture of Will going potty. Now that is one picture that should win a prize!Look closely and you will see he is even standing on the side for boys!
Beautiful gardens too.
As you know from your childhood, we too spent so much time camping. So much fun all sleeping in the same tent or trailer and bedtime stories...fun memories for sure.
July 30, 2008 at 5:10 PM
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