When we left the hotel a bit after 8 a.m., we headed to Beacon Hill Park in search of the zero mile marker. This sign indicates the start of the Trans-Canada Highway, which winds its way east all the way to Newfoundland on the Atlantic coast, a distance of some 5,000 miles.  Since we love a long road trip, the Trans-Canada is a drive we'd like to take someday, but not today.

With much more modest ambitions today, we drove the Beacon Loop to the top of the hill to search for a letterbox or two.  Unfortunately, both required walking through waist-high grass.  Having had too much experience with picking up ticks in such conditions, we had to pass.

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Ross Bay Cemetery offered a clearer path. Part of a public park, the cemetery is bordered on its south side by the Pacific Ocean.  Due to Victoria's status as provincial capital and its location on an island, earlier senior politicians made the city their permanent home.  Because of this, numerous BC premiers are buried at Ross Bay.

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After a return to the hotel for lunch and to deal with some family matters, we drove to ferry terminal on the north end of the island.  Arriving just before 12:30, we lucked into finding a space on the 1:00 sailing.  The Spirit of British Columbia, completed in 1994, is one of the largest ships ever built in the province. With an overall length of 550 feet, the ferry can carry 2,100 passengers and crew and 470 cars. It was quite an improvement over the old M.V. Coho we rode yesterday.

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The passage to Vancouver was 90 minutes long and arrived at the Tsawwassen terminal about 25 miles south of the central city.  Rain was a steady companion as we drove north so we abandoned plans to visit the historic fishing village of Steveston or look for letterboxes along the way. 

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Instead we arrived back at the now familiar Hampton Inn on Robson Street and checked into room 909 overlooking BC Place, which was hosting a soccer game that night.  

With a noon flight, we were able to have a relaxed morning and still arrive at the Vancouver airport the requisite three hours before our flight.  It was still a long day.  After a one-hour flight to Seattle, we waited a couple of hours before boarding our almost-five-hour trip back to Atlanta, arriving just after 10:30 p.m.  Fortunately, we had adjusted to Pacific time enough that our bodies thought it was just 7:30.  We were picked up by our Around Atlanta driver and ferried home to rest and unpack.  But first, some sleep. 

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