Today we said farewell to the Pacific Ocean and traded the ocean views for mountain views. It was a VERY early wake up call today – 4 a.m. The only ferry reservation available for today was at 6:15 a.m. with check-in at 5:15 a.m. This far north and this close to the summer solstice, sunrise was at 5:11 a.m., and there was daylight in the sky when we left for the ferry at 4:40 a.m. It was smooth sailing again today and no fog. The ferry system here in British Columbia is very organized and efficient.

Once we left Vancouver, the drive was picturesque with bright sunshine and some snow capped mountains in the distance. Despite the sun and views, after driving about 60 minutes our short night caught up with me, and we stopped at a roadside farmers’ market that had a small cafe. The strawberries were incredible. Huge, bright red and delicious! A caramel macchiato and cinnamon bun were also delicious and revived me some, but we decided to stop for the day about 40 minutes later in Hope. The next town of any size for a motel could be 3 hours away, and we were not sure either one of us could drive that far on 5 hours of sleep. (Even knowing we had an early wakeup call, we just weren’t ready for sleep before 11 p.m. last night.) As luck would have it, we found a nice recently refurbished motel with a room ready for us. Naps for both of us was the first order of business!

After an hour nap, we caught up on our email and went foraging for food. That wasn’t too difficult as there was a local micro-brewery (Mountainview Brewery in Hope, BC) about 100 yards up the road that had delicious food and great beer. The weather was perfect for sitting out on the patio enjoying a delightful cherry-chocolate stout with a french dip sandwich.

Back at our pad, we finished up the blog and prepared for a restful evening with our stories and a good night’s sleep.