Aylmer Express "MoHo" Extravaganza 2006

Our final day in the Victoria area … we wish we could stay here longer as well. We got packed up and then, of course, needed to upload some blog entries to keep the throngs happy. At this campground it is not wireless but rather wired access that is available so we have to go to the office to do it. When I arrived I found that some people from Israel were there making internet phone calls trying to find out how their family is back home. It is hard to imagine what it would be like to live in that area but I did wonder for a while.
Once the blogging and emailing was complete, we started off for Ucluelet, which is a village just down the road from Tofino, the place we have heard so much about. The highway out of Victoria is a little challenging with lots of curvy hills through fairly rugged terrain. Little did I know that this road adumbrated what lay ahead for us this afternoon. The upside is the fact that it afforded some beautiful views of the island and the Saanich Inlet from the Strait of Georgia and even Mount Baker ... if you look closely. Conditions improved as we continued toward Nanaimo. We stopped in there to get some groceries and gas. While at the local Future Shop (look, we have two boys 10 and 12 and it was beside the grocery store) we also happened to see a special edition version of the movie Napoleon Dynamite so what were we to do? We couldn’t resist buying it. Somehow this quirky movie that John and Shannon introduced us to in Kansas City has taken hold of my kids and now I have to sit down and watch the whole thing to get the full effect. For those of you familiar with the movie you might appreciate the fact that after purchasing the movie at the check out I told the 20-ish girl working there to have a “flippin’ sweet day”. She replied with a “Uh, what do you think”.
Then it was off to Port Alberni and on to Ucluelet. I had heard that the 100 km (60 mile) or so drive could take up to 3 hours. I won’t deny that I raised an eyebrow at that estimate with me behind the wheel, even if I am driving a MoHo with Matrix in tow. However, I have to admit that I was not prepared for the ride I, and the poor MoHo, were about to take. It started off as a reasonable drive and then slowly declined into completely unreasonable drive. At one point I was wondering if I was the only one with a MoHo who had ever driven out there before. Pulling the Matrix behind made things a little more nerve racking. Thank goodness that we were generally going downhill on our way there. And I can tell you now that we are definitely going to have Chantal drive the Matrix separately on the way back after seeing the number and size of the hills that we will need to climb for our return trip. But I must say, the scenery along that road is just incredible. It is like you took the entire crossing of the Rocky Mountains and squeezed it down into one raucous but gorgeous 3 hour drive. Imagine all the scariness and all the splendor of our trip from Canmore to Hope boiled down into one road that you can drive in an afternoon. Had I been driving my Miata, it would have been an infinitely more enjoyable drive for sure. I can report that the guy who past me (in both directions no less!) in the Porsche 911 Turbo had a much more pleasant countenance than did I for sure. So overall I would highly recommend it to anyone who comes to Vancouver Island. You won’t regret making the drive … even if you do have a few more grey hairs by the end of it.

Today’s word:

adumbrate \AD-uhm-brayt; uh-DUHM-\, transitive verb:
1. To give a sketchy or slight representation of; to outline.
2. To foreshadow in a vague way.
3. To suggest, indicate, or disclose partially.
4. To cast a shadow over; to shade; to obscure.