Post by Cascadian Transport on Aug 31, 2022 19:13:53 GMT -8
On August 1-3, I took the largest-scale ferry trip I've been on since 2017, a three-day excursion into BCFerries Land to ride the Powell River Queen one final time, amongst other things. It was an intense seventy-two hours of ferry-riding; the itinerary was organized chaos, and if a ferry possibly could be shoehorned in, it was. Overall, it was a fun time. I'll post the story in bits and pieces here over the coming days/weeks.
Day 1: Boise to Swartz Bay
At 4:00 on August 1 the first alarm went off, the start to what would be a very long, very fun day. By 5:00, my coworker Lex picked me up from my apartment, and by 5:15 I was at Boise International Airport, in good time for a 6:20 flight to Seatac. Check-in and security went smoothly, and by 6:00 I was onboard the Alaska/Horizon Embraer 175 that would take me to Seattle.
I make the trip between my school and part-time job in Boise and my home in Tacoma about once per month, but almost always via car. The aviation experience was therefore a bit foreign to me, but nevertheless most enjoyable. We took off at sunrise, and were treated to spectacular aerial views of Lucky Peak and Bogus Basin at first light. Over the next hour, I got to watch out the window as the foothills of southern Idaho gave way to the deserts of Eastern Oregon/Washington and eventually the evergreen mountains of the Pacific Northwest.
The plane landed at Seatac just before 7:00 local time, and after a quick stop at baggage claim, I made my way to the light rail station and caught the next northbound train. One uneventful hour on the rails later, I arrived at Northgate Station. Spencer picked me up about 20 minutes thereafter, and after a quick stop to pick up Nathan, we were on our way to the Canadian Border.
Nathan was excited, which was a good thing. This would be his first time riding ferries north of the 49th parallel, and this trip would be a plunge off the deep end. This was also Spencer's first BCFS trip since before lockdown, and he was very much looking forward to being back. The drive up I-5 was enjoyable, with much ferry-nerd conversation happening between the three of us.
We arrived at Pacific Crossing at about 10:45. Our experience at the border was formal, concise, and by-the book. We arrived at the Tsawwassen carpark about 30 minutes later, and after paying for parking, we made our way to the Departures lounge. Spencer had only ever driven onto a Major route before this, and Nathan had never been on a BCFerry before at all, so the experience was to be quite foreign to them. Nevertheless, all three of us got our Lyall Harbour thoroughfares without issue, and we then made our way to the Berth 5 waiting area, where we snapped the first photos of the trip as we waited to board the Queen of New Westminster.
By the time we got aboard the New West, I had been up and running for nine hours already, and had yet to eat anything except for a single packet of airline pretzels. This was beginning to catch up with me, but the queue for the Coastal Café was sure to be already out-the door, and I really wanted to be at the bow for departure. Ah, the difficult decisions we face as ferry-enthusiasts... It was 11:53 at this point, so I determined that I would have enough time then to dash to the Coast Café Express, to tide myself over until a proper meal after Active Pass. Without much time for deliberation, I settled on a hulking slab of chocolate cake that elicited a eyeroll from Nathan and Spencer both. But there was no time to dwell on that- it was 12:00, we were preparing to set sail, and the Coastal Inspiration was coming into view. It was photo time.
As we got underway, I headed to the Passages Gift Shop to see if I could score another deck of BCFerries playing cards, as well as to see if I could find a "giant maple leaf" T-shirt- this is verbatim what Lex asked of me in return for giving me a ride to the airport at 5:00 in the morning. The mission in Passages was unfortunately unsuccessful on both counts. Alas.
About 45 minutes after leaving Tsawwassen, we reached the northern entrance to Active Pass. The pass is always a thrill, it never gets old. Spencer, Nathan, and I positioned ourselves on the bow for the show. The Coastal Celebration did her part, passing us just off Matthews Point. Passing another ferry within the confines of Active Pass is a spectacle, an for Nathan whose first BCFerries ride this was, it was quite the experience indeed.
We soon thereafter decided that it was time for lunch, so we headed to the Coastal Café, where the beginning-of-voyage queue had dissipated. I opted for a bacon cheeseburger and a Nanaimo bar. The seating area in the cafeteria was still quite crowded, however, so we opted to eat our meals in the nearly deserted Coast Café Express one deck above instead. As we were enjoying our lunch, we noticed that we were overtaking the Mayne Queen, and that some good photo opportunities were coming up. So Spencer and I naturally scrambled outside to take pictures.
The rest of the voyage was pretty uneventful. As we neared Swartz Bay we made our way down to Deck 2 to avoid the crowds lining up at the overhead walkway. With a full day of adventure under my belt and still half a day left to go, we walked off the New West happy and ready for the remaining adventure that lay ahead.
The first part of Day 1 was a good time. Planes, Trains, Automobiles, and Ferries, and it was just a start. The coming hours and days would be just as spectacular.
Day 1: Boise to Swartz Bay
At 4:00 on August 1 the first alarm went off, the start to what would be a very long, very fun day. By 5:00, my coworker Lex picked me up from my apartment, and by 5:15 I was at Boise International Airport, in good time for a 6:20 flight to Seatac. Check-in and security went smoothly, and by 6:00 I was onboard the Alaska/Horizon Embraer 175 that would take me to Seattle.
I make the trip between my school and part-time job in Boise and my home in Tacoma about once per month, but almost always via car. The aviation experience was therefore a bit foreign to me, but nevertheless most enjoyable. We took off at sunrise, and were treated to spectacular aerial views of Lucky Peak and Bogus Basin at first light. Over the next hour, I got to watch out the window as the foothills of southern Idaho gave way to the deserts of Eastern Oregon/Washington and eventually the evergreen mountains of the Pacific Northwest.
The plane landed at Seatac just before 7:00 local time, and after a quick stop at baggage claim, I made my way to the light rail station and caught the next northbound train. One uneventful hour on the rails later, I arrived at Northgate Station. Spencer picked me up about 20 minutes thereafter, and after a quick stop to pick up Nathan, we were on our way to the Canadian Border.
Nathan was excited, which was a good thing. This would be his first time riding ferries north of the 49th parallel, and this trip would be a plunge off the deep end. This was also Spencer's first BCFS trip since before lockdown, and he was very much looking forward to being back. The drive up I-5 was enjoyable, with much ferry-nerd conversation happening between the three of us.
We arrived at Pacific Crossing at about 10:45. Our experience at the border was formal, concise, and by-the book. We arrived at the Tsawwassen carpark about 30 minutes later, and after paying for parking, we made our way to the Departures lounge. Spencer had only ever driven onto a Major route before this, and Nathan had never been on a BCFerry before at all, so the experience was to be quite foreign to them. Nevertheless, all three of us got our Lyall Harbour thoroughfares without issue, and we then made our way to the Berth 5 waiting area, where we snapped the first photos of the trip as we waited to board the Queen of New Westminster.
By the time we got aboard the New West, I had been up and running for nine hours already, and had yet to eat anything except for a single packet of airline pretzels. This was beginning to catch up with me, but the queue for the Coastal Café was sure to be already out-the door, and I really wanted to be at the bow for departure. Ah, the difficult decisions we face as ferry-enthusiasts... It was 11:53 at this point, so I determined that I would have enough time then to dash to the Coast Café Express, to tide myself over until a proper meal after Active Pass. Without much time for deliberation, I settled on a hulking slab of chocolate cake that elicited a eyeroll from Nathan and Spencer both. But there was no time to dwell on that- it was 12:00, we were preparing to set sail, and the Coastal Inspiration was coming into view. It was photo time.
As we got underway, I headed to the Passages Gift Shop to see if I could score another deck of BCFerries playing cards, as well as to see if I could find a "giant maple leaf" T-shirt- this is verbatim what Lex asked of me in return for giving me a ride to the airport at 5:00 in the morning. The mission in Passages was unfortunately unsuccessful on both counts. Alas.
About 45 minutes after leaving Tsawwassen, we reached the northern entrance to Active Pass. The pass is always a thrill, it never gets old. Spencer, Nathan, and I positioned ourselves on the bow for the show. The Coastal Celebration did her part, passing us just off Matthews Point. Passing another ferry within the confines of Active Pass is a spectacle, an for Nathan whose first BCFerries ride this was, it was quite the experience indeed.
We soon thereafter decided that it was time for lunch, so we headed to the Coastal Café, where the beginning-of-voyage queue had dissipated. I opted for a bacon cheeseburger and a Nanaimo bar. The seating area in the cafeteria was still quite crowded, however, so we opted to eat our meals in the nearly deserted Coast Café Express one deck above instead. As we were enjoying our lunch, we noticed that we were overtaking the Mayne Queen, and that some good photo opportunities were coming up. So Spencer and I naturally scrambled outside to take pictures.
The rest of the voyage was pretty uneventful. As we neared Swartz Bay we made our way down to Deck 2 to avoid the crowds lining up at the overhead walkway. With a full day of adventure under my belt and still half a day left to go, we walked off the New West happy and ready for the remaining adventure that lay ahead.
The first part of Day 1 was a good time. Planes, Trains, Automobiles, and Ferries, and it was just a start. The coming hours and days would be just as spectacular.
