On the road again … to Campbell River BC

Earlier this morning, we loaded up the car and set out on our 6-day road trip to Campbell River BC. It’s an easy pleasant drive from Victoria, heading north over the Malahat (with great views), through Nanaimo and Parksville, and then on to Campbell River. One of the best things about road trips on Vancouver Island in the summer is that the local farms advertise their fresh produce on huge signs right on the highway. We couldn’t resist, Sweet Meadows Farm had a big sign advertising fresh cherries, blueberries and strawberries. So we stopped in and picked some up. Fortunately we had room in the cooler!

Since we didn’t leave Victoria till about 10 AM, we stopped in Parksville for lunch at a delightful little café called Bradley’s on Jensen. We stumbled on this place quite by accident. We had actually planned to go to Lefty‘s which is a restaurant we have enjoyed previously in Parksville, but when we arrived, even though we could be seated within 10 minutes, the kitchen was completely backed up, and we couldn’t get our meals for at least another 30-45 minutes or so. Not wanting to wait, we did a quick Google search to see what was in the area, and up popped this gem. We called ahead to see if there was any seating and whether there was a wait, and much to our delight, they told us to come on right over. So we did. And it was a delicious meal. We highly recommend this little restaurant if you’re in the area, but the small restaurant rule applies. Don’t everyone show up at once and overwhelm the very pleasant staff!

After another leisurely hour of driving north, we arrived at our home away from home for the next six days. What an absolutely charming little place. Driftwood by the Sea is a small inn and RV resort, directly across the street from the beach.. We were booked into cottage number 44. The owners Karen and Bruce do a wonderful job of looking after their customers, their hospitality was exceptional, and it was just day one! Karen had already emailed and texted us earlier in the day to let us know that if they were out running errands when we arrived, we were to just go into the cottage where everything would be ready for us. When we pulled up, it turned out they were just leaving, so Karen stopped to give us the welcome package and greeted us personally. We settled into this delightful little place, small but very well equipped and functional. A living room with a full kitchen, cozy but everything you needed was there; a bedroom with comfortable linens; and a small, but very functional bathroom. The kitchen counter had a little basket of local teas and coffees, there was coffee cream in the fridge, and a special surprise of chocolates. Al will be celebrating a milestone birthday while we are here, and Karen had very thoughtfully left a gift of a bottle of wine. The little cottage has a front patio with flowers and comfortable Adirondack chairs, and in the evening it was lovely to sit there in the pleasant breeze and sip our beverages.