We woke up bright and early to catch the 10 am ferry from Horseshoe Bay into Nanaimo. The kids were relatively well behaved for such an early day, especially considering their previous evening's refusals to sleep. Micah really wanted to see the Olympic Cauldron, so we listened to the radio to find out how bad the traffic was into downtown Vancouver before we got off of the freeway. We didn't want to miss the mid-morning ferry, after all. We did throw in a new movie for them which helped subdue them. On the fly we made the decision that we didn't want to see the cauldron in the pouring rain (and traffic), so we opted to go straight to the ferry. Just before boarding, we enforced a mandatory quiet time while Aslynn slept and Judah balked.
The kids enjoyed the ferry, though they thought it was too cold and windy to stand in the front. I almost lost my hat in the stiff breeze. They played on the passenger deck in the beautifuly large, leather seats as we pleasantly and effortlessly rumbled to Nanaimo. It didn't feel like a long ride. The next one will be longer.
When we got to the island, we thought we should feed the children since it was lunchtime. But we were a little tired of fast food, so we went for something slightly different, The top hit for my restaurant app on my phone showed up as we passed by. Apparently they were on the Food Network's show "You Gotta Eat Here". Mrs. Riches Cafe. They have a burger called the Mountain Burger - one pound, loaded, with fries. But it costs over $30.00 and I'm tired of burgers and fries. Most of us are. They also had the K2 Burger. 2 lbs of beef, 3 eggs, a whole tomato, lots of cheese, lettuce, and several slices of fried ham. I'm getting hungry just describing it. We all ate other things.
Then we went out to find an off the map destination: Ammonite Falls on Benson Creek. We drove straight to the entrance without a hitch. We soon realized how back-country we had gotten. This is how others hike with kids; this is how we roll. A few wrong turns led us off of the lightly trodden path and onto a black diamond mountain bike trail called "Drunken Logger" where we saw the coolest bridge. We eventually made it to the falls following the inexact directions I had scrawled on a piece of paper. The finale to this downhill journey sent us down a steep muddy slope with one knotted rope to support us. Worthwhile? Ask Faith and the kids. I loved every second of it. It was an uphill battle most of the way back to the van to end our 2 1/2 hour hike in a Pacific cedar rainforest. So cool. 
Everyone was hungry after the intense hike, so we stopped McLean's Specialty Foods for an authentic Nanaimo bar. I won't say how much they charged, but I will tell you that we split two between five people to stay under $10. Very tasty. It competes with the ones we make. Most don't have a chance, so that's saying something.
We were now still hungry and searching for supper. We even stopped at a Chinese restaurant and walked out after seeing the buffet. So, back to the safety of Ricky's in Ladysmith it was. The food was good at least. But it took an eternity for our meals to arrive. After the meal, we got ice cream at McDonalds and headed for Victoria to stay with Kevin and Cristy Thiessen. Technically it was Langford. Close enough. We let the kids run around and play before we laid them down to sleep. They were so wound up that no one slept until way too late, which was frustrating.
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