On To Vancouver Island

Much as we enjoyed Vancouver, it was time to move on. Our crack Northern Lights predictor app had forecast a decent chance of seeing the Lights from this area the next two nights. We needed to locate a good viewing point, a long northern view, and little or no cloud cover. From our AI chatbot, we divined that Vancouver Island would be a good choice, and, specifically, the Miller Creek Recreation Area campground, just south of Lake Campbell. So we drove on from our campground north of Vancouver city to the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal and rode the Queen of Cowichan to Nanaimo on the island. Another hour's drive brought us to a beautiful campsite on the the lake.

From the sites we visited, and driving around much of Vancouver,
we decided it was a pretty neat place...distinct neighborhoods, interesting
architecture, etc., and worthy of future consideration...

Aboard the Queen of Cowichan

A smaller ferry, bound elsewhere...the ferry traffic reminded us a
bit of Norway...

Looking back to Horseshoe Bay...Vancouver has one of the great
scenic backdrops...big mountains right down to the sheltered bay

Our campsite at Miller Creek, on Campbell Lake

Vicki preparing one of our better steak dinners

The view to the north, Campbell Lake

No Northern Lights yet

Now we are down on the lake, in our camp chairs, eagerly scanning
the horizon

Midnight...nothing going on except us noting how cold a breeze can
feel at 50º

Still nothing...at 2am, yawning and shivering, we retire to the camper

Next night, having broken out our arctic gear and feeling somewhat
warmer, we are dozing off by midnight, losing interest in the Northern
Lights project...something for night owls perhaps...