Lee,

I notice you want to spend more time before or after MUSH. I see you already went to Victoria but have you seen the rest of Vancouver Island? It is beautiful. We spent a week there a couple years ago. The Pacific Rim National Park is well worth the drive - it takes about 5 hours from Victoria. Large gorgeous beaches, woods with trails, a couple of small cute villages with good places to eat, and a wonderful lodge built on the rocks on the beach called the Wickanninnish Inn(or something like that.) It has a great restaurant. The drive there is through mountains along streams - not scary. Just another suggestion.

Also, there are several small interesting islands to see. One of them has a huge art show each Saturday, I think.