The trip planning continues. It looks as if we will take the ferry from Vancouver to Salt Spring Island and stay there for three days. The question now is: what makes the most sense in terms of the trip back to Seattle. Should we take the ferry back to Vancouver then drive down straight away or does it make more sense to take the ferry to Victoria and then down to either Anacortes of Port Angeles and drive to Seattle. It seems rather circuitous to go the Victoria-Wa route.It looks like unless we want to take an 8:30 am ferry off Salt SPring we would have to wait until 3:45 pm to return to Vancouver so either way we will have to spend a night before heading out for Seattle.

HI Pam, in my opinion the fastest way would be to drive from Vancouver to Seattle - its a straight shot on I5. Anacortes is still a good ways away from Seattle as is Port Angeles(plus taking highway 101 back to Olympia is pretty winding so its not fast like I5). Jan

Assuming that you mean the next trip out of Saltspring to Tsawwassen is not until 3:45, you could avoid that by hopping over to Swartz Bay. It would be a bit more hassle but it takes only about half an hour. Then you could take a ferry from there to Tsawwassen. They run every hour or two depending on the time of year. Even catching the 1:00 pm sailing would get you to the mainland at about 2:30.

I did a search on Google and get this:<BR><BR>http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/schedules/current/index.cfm?route=ana-sid<BR><BR>There is a ferry from Sidney (near Schwarz Bay) to Anacortes, at 11:45AM arrive 2:45PM<BR>This puts you half-way to Seattle, via the equally scenic Gulf Islands. A longer time, but less driving and skip the busy border point(?) I think.

Much of this depends on your time constraints. I've taken the trip from Sidney to Anacortes and it's a really lovely ride - we saw whales the last time we did it. You can get from Salt Spring to Vancouver Island very easily; you could go from Fulford Harbour to Swartz Bay (near Sidney) or if you're staying near Vesuvius Bay on Salt Spring, you could hop across to Crofton and then drive down the island to Sidney. That ferry ride is only about 20 minutes. It's true that the Victoria-WA route is circuitous but it's also quite lovely.

If you have to stay over anyway, the Vitoria - Anacortes trip is by far the more senic. Vitoria is beautiful and a different feel than Vancouver. Hwy 101 is where you will get a real feel for the once rugged and raw northwest.

Thanks to one and all for your help. It seems we have a variety of options. Now, on with the trip planning!