Day 6 (7/16) – Another breakfast from the bin. Good thing we packed that or every morning would have been spent trying to figure out where and what to eat with no easy answers.
The day’s first stop was the Hoh Rain Forest. An appropriately rainy drive on our way in and a ~30-minute wait at the entrance station. But by the time we parked at the visitor center the rain had let up. We listened to the tail end of a ranger talk, looked around the visitor center, and then walked the 1.2 mile Spruce Nature Trail which takes you out to the bank of the Hoh River.
Next to the river there was a deer and fawn wandering about. We spent 30 minutes or so hanging out by the river, skipping rocks, and watching the clouds drift among the hillside trees.
Lunch was from the bin plus gas-station snacks as we made our way to Port Angeles to catch the ferry to Victoria. Once situated in the standby line we killed time by walking through the shops on the wharf and had some New Zealand style ice cream which is kind of made-to-order soft serve featuring fresh fruit. It was cool and rainy so I found a cafe to get some hot chocolate to drink while waiting for the ferry–which was late. But we managed to get on. Two more cars after us and the closed the doors. Packed in very tight (though, since they didn’t end up squeezing in anyone behind us, we didn’t need to be packed so tight). Once parked you have to leave the vehicle deck for the 90-minute trip across the Salish Sea, so getting out was a bit of a squeeze. Jess had to climb in back to get out using the sliding doors (sliding doors are practically the perfect door design for a ferry-carried vehicle).
Off the ferry on the other side we waited in line for customs for a while before proceeding to our hotel, the Royal Scot Hotel. Settled at the hotel we took a walk through the primary tourist strip in Victoria headed towards the Irish Times Pub for dinner (recommended to us by friends). Sadly, by the time we arrived it was a quarter to 9 and the pub kicks out all minors at 9 so we couldn’t eat there. Instead we found a by-the-slice pizza place, Pizza Garden, and Corinne had chicken nuggets and fries from a Burger King across the street. For dessert we looked in about 6 different ice-cream shops (I’m pretty sure there was one on every block on each side of the street) before settling on gelato and cheesecake-on-a-stick. Then, finally, back to the hotel to crash for the night.
