Tofino - solo twisty trip

Friday was the beginning of a weekend of adventure with a solo ride through twisty heaven - the Pacific Rim Highway into beautiful Tofino.  I have been itching to do this ride for quite awhile, but it seems every year I run out of summer time do it, and I finally did! 

My holidays didn't quite match with my hubs, he packed up our Westfalia and headed off to Tofino for a week of camping.  I decided if the weather looked  promising I would ride up and surprise him.  I eyed the forecast and it was sunny/cloudy with temps in the high teens and low 20's, which is still summery in these parts. It ended up being a surprise as well all due to electronic technology, I was talking to him Thursday on facetime and said "I'll see you tomorrow" and I guess he thought I was going to facetime him again, boy was he surprised when I showed up. 

The route from Victoria to Tofino is about 317km which  is about 4 1/2 hours riding time. 

I stopped in Port Alberni for a much needed cup of coffee to warm up, it was sunny, but in the low teens, I was wearing lots of layers and was a little cold still, in fact so chilly I had to add an extra layer, but warmed up after the ginormous cup of coffee.  I topped up the gas and after that I was ready to venture over highway 4 and twisty heaven. I actually packed light because I was hauling the hub's gear to surprise him so we could go for a ride and he could ride the bike home.

Highway 4 into Tofino is very scenic with steep hills, twists, and sharp corners. Its pretty much motorcycle nirvana.  Its easy to get distracted as you ride down the hill towards Kennedy Lake and then on towards Clayquot Sound. The scenery is breathtaking, I had to say to myself "head and eyes up, look through the turn, concentrate" Yes, I was that distracted!  You also have to constantly be watching for RVs because there are a lot of them and most of them loaded with people who aren't used to driving them and not used to mountainous driving terrain.  You just have to believe me that it is one of the best twisty roads on the Island! 

I stopped at one of my favourite spots on the ride, the viewpoint at the Ellis River. The waterfalls, pools, and rock formations are spectacular, you usually can't stop because it is so busy. The gate behind the bike is loaded with locks with initials and dates and other personal momentos.  

I didn't linger too long here, I was anxious  to get to my destination and soak up as much Tofino time as I could. 

      Our Westfalia "GoldZilla"  and The Duchess.

 

 

 

I arrived at my destination and no one was home! I left about 7:30am and got in about 12:30 because of two patches of road construction.  I wandered around, rootled through the cupboards and realized the cupboards were a little sparse, so off I went to forage for lunch in Tofino and walk about.

I ended up stopping at a few of my favourite foodie stops and was grazing along the way.  This is the best carrot cake on Vancouver Island from The Red Can Gourmet.  A little more poking around and then back to the camper and find the hubby.

 

The hubby was very surprised and happy to see me!  He was even more impressed when I told him all his riding gear was on board and that he was going to ride the bike out of Tofino on the return trip.