Last Night on Gabriola... and beyond

I suppose that once you have been in this region of B.C for a while, you might consider eating something other than seafood.  We never came near that point.  This was the last of our five-dozen oysters from Fanny Bay.  Jeff's approach was to shuck two, eat one raw.  The uneaten half got broiled for our appetizer.

These oysters are broiled for only a minute under a very hot broiler--just enough to keep them tender but to brown the grated cheese.

Sally's neighbor, Rob, brought us these perfect salmon steaks, which we grilled with olive oil and garlic.  Simple sauteed potatoes and a side salad were all we needed with this freshly caught fish.  That and a crisp B.C. pinot gris.

The next morning we said goodbye to Gabriola and headed for Victoria where we planned to get our car into the ferry queue, then dash up to a fantastic Vietnamese restaurant where, on our way up, we had scored a sumptuous Bahn Mi sandwich.  We also planned to get more of the spectacular chocolates from Le Chocolatier.  Alas, the inspection people from customs insisted that we remain with our vehicle until boarding. Live and learn.

That night, we had driven down the eastern side of the Olympic peninsula to Olympia, Washington, and we ate at the Dockside Bistro where we enjoyed this delicious beef tenderloin.

While in Olympia, we stayed at this B & B called the Swantown Inn.  It was luxurious with a huge canopied king bed and a double Jaccuzi tub.  We hope to return here some day.

The next night, we made it about 525 miles to Missoula, Montana where we ate at one of Sally's favorites, the Red Bird restaurant.  This dish is Montana lamb chops with raviolis and a brown jus.  The Red Bird featured an outstanding wine list.

Our journey east from Missoula ended up more eventful than we had planned.  We expected to camp in a park south of Glerndive, Montana, some 540 miles east of Missoula.  Our campsite was to have been a state park that was called the Badlands of the North.  I had hoped for a dry, clear, starry night.  Kathy checked the weather forecast and found a 70% chance of thunderstorms that night.  That was an understatement.  By the time we were within 50 miles of Glendive, we were inside the most violent and continuous thunderstorm that I've ever driven through.  There was hail, massive sheets of rain.  (Rain seems like too gentle a word.)  We later discovered there were tornado warnings on top of all that.  We drove through this for three hours--white knuckles and zero vision the whole time.  Luckily, we had called ahead and booked one of the last two remaining hotel rooms in Dickinson, North, Dakota.  We landed in a good Mexican restaurant and slept through the remains of the storm.

The next night we stayed in Minneapolis and had a great French meal at Vincent, in the downtown.  We are now back in Stoughton, happy and relaxed after an adventurous journey.