Good omens

Monday, July 14, 2008
PARKSVILLE, VANCOUVER ISLAND — It took us all of five minutes to set up camp tonight at the lovely Riverbend Resort next to the Englishman River. We drove the camper into our slot and connected the electricity. That was it! The other three minutes were the time we took to remember which locked port on the camper’s sides would open to reveal the electrical wire.
The day began with a quick call to Canadream to ensure that a camper truck was, indeed, set aside for our use as arranged via the Internet several weeks ago. We had been told that pickup time would be between one and four in the afternoon, so we were planning on a leisurely morning. However, they told us that they would pick us up at the hotel at 10 o’clock, so that speeded up our schedule considerably.
Our driver told us that the clientele of Canadream in Vancouver, which had some 400 RVs in circulation, was nearly 80 per cent German, Swiss or Dutch! He was German himself, and the girl who prepared our paper work was Swiss. Stephan, the young man who said he would show us the ropes of our camper truck, hailed from Sri Lanka, so it was a very cosmopolitan crew.
As we walked with Stephan to the parking area where our rig awaited us, one camper truck stood out from the others, because in the whole row of white vehicles, the white camper insert was set atop a red Ford truck, just like our own truck at home, except a few years newer! We were delighted — and I took it to be a very good omen.
After a quick tour of the rig, inside and out, we transferred our belongings from our suitcases to the camper, stowed the empty bags in the Canadream storage room (free of charge), signed all the papers and headed for the ferry.
We had made reservations for a spot on the 5:45 ferry, because of our understanding about pickup times for the camper, so with this much earlier start (it was barely noon by this time), we wondered whether we’d be able to catch an earlier trip over to the island. The lady at the ferry booth reassured us that, if we didn’t make the 12:45 sailing, we’d get on the 3:45 for sure, so at any rate we’d be on our way earlier than expected.
Off we went to the lineup with just a few minutes to sailing time. It looked as though they had cut off the line at the truck and trailer just ahead of us in the line, but at the last minute the flag man asked us the length of our rig and decided he could squeeze us on! So on we went and moments later, we were sailing away!
We had a light lunch on board the ferry and then sat back to watch the water and the blue mountains in the distance. About an hour later, the captain came on the PA system to point out a pod of dolphins coming by on the port side, so I went to the window on that side, and a few minutes later a good two dozen of them swam past, arching their shiny backs above the water and plunging down again. It was a wonderful sight!
We finally arrived at Nanaimo and headed north toward Parksville and our campground. On the way, we stopped to pick up our groceries and a few supplies at a mall by the highway. It was about 5 o’clock by the time we got settled at our site. It’s a lovely spot, with tall cedar trees and evergreens everywhere, and the sound of the river flowing past.
We were too tired to get fancy about supper, so we made sandwiches and then went for a short stroll. It’s beautifully quiet, so I am sure we will sleep well tonight.