Day 4

5am came all too soon and by 10 to 5 we were packed up and waiting out side for the school bus shuttle. We found out after we got on the shuttle that there was a $7 fee per person and we had to quickly find some cash. It was a short ride though and soon we were getting our passage and stateroom finalized on the ferry. We walked on the ferry and went right to the our state room. Both of us wanting to go take a good look around but not wanting to haul our 4 bags with us. So we dropped them off in the stateroom. (sorry it's the only room we stayed in that we didn't get a picture of. It was pretty much 2 twin beds with a bedside table in the middle. Over the table was a window where you could look out over the water and everyone else could look in!! And at the foot of the left bed there was small desk and then a closet and on the other side there was a bathroom with a shower. On the wall of the bathroom there was a TV hanging so you could see it from the twin bed. ) We joined most of the other walk-ons on the decks over looking the water and later the car passengers as well. Papa got a great picture of a eagle that was calling for it's mate. We watched the ferry pull out of the harbor and took a picture of our hotel and then the fog rolled in and I got a bit seasick and had to head back to the room to lay down so we headed back to the state room to catch up on some sleep!! We woke up at about 9 and went for a walk a bout, taking some pictures and exploring the ferry a bit more. It had 7 levels or stories. The top one was only for crew and the bottom 3 were for cars or storage or engines. But between decks 4, 5 and 6 there was 2 restaurants, a gift shop, a movie theater, several seating areas with pretty nice chairs facing out, a paid seating area and a ton of staterooms. There was also a very obvious amount of life jacket storage containers and life rafts and rescue boats. This being because this boat is only a 2 year old boat as the last ferry sank in the last two years. At supper later we overheard a waitress telling the table beside us where it sank and what had happened to it. It was a bit eye opening as both of us had forgotten that the ferry had sank. But we were safe and all was well. We had breakfast in the cafeteria type restaurant and sat by the window and looked out while we ate. After breakfast we headed back up to the back of the ferry and a deck there. Right when we got there there was a bit of excitement and Papa and I saw our 1st whale!! It was a humpback whale and it blew air out thru the water out in a large stream. VERY COOL!!! Over the day we saw about 15 humpbacks and Papa got several pictures of them. He even got ones tail as it hung out of the water!! We watched whales all thru lunch sitting and eating by the window. We sat in the cafeteria for a good chunk of the afternoon and watched and took picture of the whales and the scenery. It was beautiful. By mid afternoon we were out in open-ish water again and my poor tummy decided it needed another lay down. (I was mostly fine the whole trip because we were in between islands and land. Only the open ocean made me sick.) So we headed back to the state room and another nap. We probably missed some whales but at that point I no longer cared!! When we woke up Papa had a quick shower (He thought the shower was really cool as we were not expecting to have one and had to try it.) and we went for a walk around the ferry before supper. Now just a note here. There were 3 stories we walked every time we went anywhere and at one point while looking for Papa I searched them all 3 times. There is a elevator in the ferry but we did not use it ONCE!!! We did a LOT of stairs!! And what with all the walking we did in Victoria and Port Hardy we had a regular work out every time we did anything. We also walked all of Rupert but I'll get to that. We had supper in the 'posh' restaurant and wow was it good. It was all you could eat buffet style and very good. Papa had a beer with his meal but it was only so so. We saw several more whales while we ate. After we were done eating Papa had to run for something and I asked the waitress if he could get a tour of the engine rooms. She told me how to arrange it and so I did. About an hour after that, and another walk around all decks and more pictures, we were just getting ready to head for the movie (there was very little to see as it was just about dark) when the phone rang. They were ready for the tour. So Papa grabbed the camera and took himself and his grin to see the engine rooms. I grabbed my book and headed to the movie. I was a bit early so I read while I waited. I laugh even thinking about the movie. Not our normal type of movie and very corny. Sorry I don't remember what it was. But BOY was it FUNNY!! I laughed and laughed. Papa came in after his tour and sat for a minute then got up and left!! But I watched the whole thing and still chuckle when I think of it. Papa went for another walk a bout but didn't take any pictures because it was dark. When the movie was done we hurried back to our stateroom and I packed up so that we'd be ready when we got to Prince Rupert. Then we headed to the top deck to watch the ferry go in. We saw the new container dock there close to Rupert and watched them loading and unloading a HUGE ship with 3 different winches putting these big truck length containers on or off the ferry. 2 Unloading and 1 loading. And then suddenly we were in Rupert and the captain parked that big boat just like we parallel park cars in to the dock using his side jets and we had landed in Rupert. 15 hours on that ferry in all and 15 whales. After walking off the ferry we had to wait for a train to go by (the same place we were to load up on the train the next day but we didn't know it.) and we jumped in a cab for the 5 minute drive to our hotel and a good nights sleep!! There were able 75 walk ons on the ferry. Only a few of these seemed to be locals most were tourists. The hotel in Port Hardy.

Sunrise.


Fog coming in.



The tail of a humpback whale!! One of the 15 we saw.

A pretty place.

The prettiest lighthouse we saw.

A sepia picture Papa took.

A fishing boat. There is a man on the boat taking a picture of the ferry!!

Snow covered mountains on the mainland. We flew over these mountains on the way down.

A cirque. We saw a few.

A pretty picture of a boat around sunset.

The container dock at Rupert. A better picture.

What they called the most picturesque lighthouse on the trip.

Dinner on the Ferry.

The Engine Room. The big silver things are the engines. The are 9 headed.

The container dock at Rupert. Too blurry I know but I can't seem to get it off. Sorry.

Bread.

I've started to put oatmeal in my bread recipe and we love the extra goodness that it brings to the loaf!! The recipe before was

2 cups warm water
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tsp yeast
4 tbsp lard or butter
2 tsp salt.

Then let it proof and add

3 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups white flour.

Then I let my bread maker mix it up and rise it before taking it out to form into balls or bread and rise again before baking it at 350 F for 15 minutes for buns or 30 minutes for bread. The original recipe had a egg in it but I found the bread molded really fast and it was a lot softer faster. Mushy in about 24 hours.

Now I'm doing the same thing at first then adding 1 cup of oatmeal to the water ( softens it up so it blends better) and only adding 1 cup of white flour and 4 of whole wheat. We love it and it's much more filling and I'm not having to make bread or buns quite so often. The bread is WAY better this way as it makes a more compact loaf and doesn't fall apart so easily.

Swiming with Kids.

We took the kids swimming in the "City" the other day and we had a blast. The best time yet swimming with the kids. They have a water slide at the pool and Papa took the boys down a few times and before I knew it both boys were going down completely by themselves!! Way to go boys!! They both had life jackets on which was good because the water is quite over both their heads. Papa would go first with E and wait for the boys at the bottom. Boy did I ever wish I had my camera. E and Papa have the same grin and it's so great to see them having so much fun. L would come SHOOTING down next BEAMING and after he bobbed up Papa would give him a little push to the right side of the pool. We found out that L can swim but only on his back doing a back stroke... it's very hard to do at the bottom the water slide. Then J would come FLYING down and go completely under water before coming up and dogie paddling to the edge of the pool. They were both so excited!! The lifeguard even told J "And you didn't want to go by yourself!!" because I guess Papa had to talk pretty hard to get him to try it. As soon as J did it so did L. Then I'd take R down which she loved!! I don't think she'd ever gone before (they all had life jackets on) and she loved it. She didn't stiffen up once. The 3rd time she giggled and yelled at the bottom. Other times we've gone Papa and I take turns taking one child at a time down the slide while the other adult watches the other three. The pool will not allow more then one child at a time with a adult down the slide even though Papa did it several times and it was great. This way we can all go and it's a LOT more fun. Then E, R and I headed to the kiddie pool to watch the boys. Papa took J and L to the DIVING board. While we were swimming with A&M and kids awhile ago L got a chance to jump off a diving board into my arms. It was really shallow water and he loved it. J did not. At the pool Papa jumped off first and then both the boys jumped off the board into the water in front of him. It helped that there was a little boy smaller then L that was also jumping off to his Papa. L LOVED this and just grinned like crazy. J not so much. I told J he had to try it three times and if he still didn't like it he could stop. He didn't like it and quite. L I think could have kept going except there was a boat in the kiddie pool he really wanted to play with. The third time they jumped off L got up on the board before Papa could so Papa just told him to jump. L walked out to the edge. Looks down. Bounces. Stops. Looks at Papa. Papa leans over to talk to him. L shakes his head. Papa laughed and jumped in the water. Then and only then would L jump off. So much trust!!