A DRIVING DAY.
Day 268 – It rained all night and continued on & off throughout the day. The high today was 66 humid degrees. Not knowing how much rain we would get, we decided to go for a drive. We had some areas on our list of things we wanted to do while here. When we got back to the RV after 5 p.m., we had crossed off several of the items on the list.
On the way out of the campground Rob saw a Black Bear foraging for berries right by the road. It wasn’t very far from our campsite. By the time I turned my head to look, the bear was crashing through the woods leaving the bushes quaking from side to side.
We first drove north of the campground into the Alberni Valley. This was farm land on rolling green hills, surrounded by mountains partially shrouded by clouds. Beautiful. There were Bald Eagles flying over the fields, and in the fields we saw Deer, Horses, Cows, all the usual suspects.
We turned around when the road was ending and headed back south to Port Alberni. We stopped for lunch at a place we tried to eat at when we went on the Mail Boat cruise a couple of weeks ago. Starboard Grill was closed for dinner when we were there before, but it was open today. It was located at the Wharf/Port and had a great view overlooking the water. The restaurant was quite busy. Customer service was very good and the food was great. We each had a cup of the Salmon Chowder and we each had the lunch special: fresh halibut burgers (served on brioche rolls, the herb pesto-rubbed halibut was baked and served with lettuce, tomato, red onion, and an aioli). Rob also helped me eat a side Caesar Salad.
Next we drove around Sproat Lake, stopping several times at campgrounds to check them out as backup for the next time we visit this area. We passed many waterfalls. The scenery was wild and beautiful. The Lake was very big and there were many streams. We traveled the bottom half of the Lake on a rough, rocky gravel road, and all the forest service campgrounds that we stopped at would’ve been impossible to drive to with the RV. Most of the campers were tent campers with the occasional truck camper or van. The poor Honda got all beat up again.
At the end of Sproat Lake we got on Route 4 and drove back towards Port Alberni along the upper side of the Lake on a two-lane paved major highway, a much easier drive, though with the traffic and going faster, it wasn’t as nice. We stopped at a couple of pull-outs and also at Sproat Lake Provincial Park’s upper and lower campgrounds. The campground was fully booked and was large, popular with families for its beaches, swimming and playgrounds for kids.
On the way back to our campground we stopped and checked out McLean Mills, a national historic site not far from us, but they appeared to be closed for the day. We may go back and spend some time there when they are open and if the weather is good.