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Thursday, July 02, 2009
We Made It!
It was an early start this morning, we were at the airport by 6:00 AM
for our 7:30 AM flight. The flight before and after our flight to
Vancouver were both cancelled. Here are the girls in the airport.
Claudia did pretty good for a five hour flight.
Claudia took a picture of the mountains.
We landed on time and after we got our rental car we headed for
Horseshoe Bay to catch the ferry over to the island. We went up to the
sundeck and boy was it windy.
It was crazy windy.
Below deck.
Friday, July 03, 2009
Long Beach Part 1
After Cathedral Grove it was on to Long Beach. The road out to
Tofino/Ucluelet is a winding, narrow and hilly road. Some of the scenery
along the way.
We stopped at the Pacific
Rim National Park Reserve Visitor Centre and paid our fee. The day
pass was $19.60 for the family and it was good until 4:00 PM the next
day.
Our first stop was the Wickaninnish Beach. This is part of Long Beach
which is 16 km long. The weather was perfect.
There was alot of dead crabs on the beach.
There were quite a few surfers in the water trying to catch a wave.
The water was a little cold. The only ones in the ocean were the ones
with wet suits. The girls enjoying the beach.
Angela with one of the crabs she found.
Gillian with jelly remains.
Angela and Claudia heading to wash off.
After a couple of hours on the beach we headed over to the Interpretive
Centre.
Angela and Claudia found a tide pool with some sea anemone.
One more shot before heading inside.
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Long Beach Part 2
We took the trail out to South Beach, the trails are short, good for the
kids. The description of this trail is "South Beach offers spectacular,
but potentially dangerous, wave watching. Very large waves and strong
currents form at this pebble beach." Along the trail there was a totem
pole, it is the first totem pole the Ucluelet First Nation raised in
over one hundred years.
There were notices up about bears and wolves in the area.
Angela checking to see if there were any bears home.
The girls had climbed up on the huge rocks at South Beach.
Some of the rocks they were climbing on, they were on the one to the
left in the previous photo.
The waves weren't that large today.
We found a dead starfish washed up on the beach.
More climbing and exploring.
Angela and Claudia holding on for dear life.
One last look back to the beach.
We certainly lucked out with the weather today. We really enjoyed this
spot, the girls even spotted to live starfish clinging to some of the
rocks in the water. The pebbles and rocks were smooth and lots of shells
that were intact.
Long Beach Part 3
After Second Beach it was off to Radar Hill, it was a Pinetree Line
Radar installation back during the Cold War.
We saw a pair of bald eagles while we were there. If you look closely
you can see them, they came right over top of us and kept going.
In case of Tsunami go this way.
Our last stop for the day was at Combers Beach, we hit it at low tide.
This is the view as we came out of the trail.
Way out on the rocks you can see the outline of sea lions.
Even though it was kind of a long weekend, the beaches certainly were
not busy, although all the campgrounds had no vancancy signs up.
That's the amazing thing about tides, it can make the same beach look so
different. Gillian had scratched her name in the sand, only to have the
incoming tides wash it away.
Low Tide at Parksville Beach
Today we are heading to Victoria for a few days. Our day started with a
stop at the Parksville Beach. It was low tide compared to Thursday when
it was high tide.
There is a whole different world of creatures with low tide.
The girls were in 7th heaven catching the little crabs.
A little hermit crab.
Claudia's crab.
A live sand dollar in the sand.
Claudia with a dead sand dollar.
Looking back towards the beach.
Finally we hit the water.
Sand dollars.
The girls really enjoyed low tide and couldn't believe this was the same
place they waded in on Thursday.
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Victoria
Sunday was spent in downtown Victoria, we headed in from Kay's place for
the day. The Empress Hotel in the background.
Last time we were here there were painted colour orcas, this time there
are eagles.
The Victoria harbour.
We walked around the BC Legislature building.
The guy on the dome.
We didn't do the museum, maybe next time.
Hiding in the bracnches outside the Empress Hotel.
The girls making a call.
Downtown Victoria
After the Bug Zoo we walked around downtown Victoria. We came across
more of the eagles.
There was a guy playing guitar on one of the street corners, he seemed
to like watching himself perform in front of the glass doors.
Looking down Government Street, further down they close it off every
Sunday and have a bunch of artisans selling their wares.
A couple of university students trying to raise money.
Entrance to Chinatown.
Susan doing some shopping.
Not sure if the rubber duckies are to increase visibility.
All the electrical panels and boxes are painted, a lot nicer than the
standard green we get in downtown Toronto.
The girls needed a break from the walking.
We enjoyed reading the plaques of the old buildings.
It was time to call it a day and head back to base camp.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Botanical Beach
Monday morning we headed out to Port Renfrew from Victoria. We were
returning to Botanical Beach, one of our favourite places from our last
trip. This time we were taking Grandma and Grandpa with us.
The weather didn't co-operate as much, it was raining on our drive out,
but it was only spitting when we ventured out onto the beach. It was
damp, but that wasn't going to stop us.
Grandpa was way ahead of us, finding the good stuff in the tide pools.
There were lots of sea anemones.
Gillian with a banana slug.
Claudia showed Grandma where to go and stuck close to her to make sure
she didn't fall in a tide pool.
The last time we came the fog was so thick you couldn't see the ocean,
on the drive up I thought it would be the same, but it was clear.
A little crab.
We found this huge starfish.
Then we found some little starfishes.
Everybody smile!
Grandpa out at sea.
This Great Blue Heron was standing about 20 feet from Grandpa and I. It
was determined to catch lunch.
While everyone was watching the bird, a deer wandered out to the beach.
Finally the heron caught his lunch.
The deer was watching us.
The forest is a lush green.
This banana slug was trying to get up one of the stairs.
The sloth tree, last time I could lift Angela and Claudia up on the
branch, but not Gillian, so she hanged from it like a sloth. This time
none of them could even hang from it.
One last look at the beach.
Angela was determined to find a new walking stick, I found this one off
the path and she carried it back to the parking lot.
Gillian helped Angela carry her walking stick.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Back to the Mainland
Today we were leaving the island and heading back to the mainland to
meet up with Shanna and Jesse. The girls enjoyed their stay at Kay and
Eden's. Here is Gillian with an idea.
Gillian on the shoe chair.
We caught the noon ferry from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen.
The girls are doing fine in the back of the Camry.
The weather was cloudy and cool today, but it didn't rain until we got
off the ferry.
The ferry wasn't full and most people stayed below deck.
That included Claudia and Susan.
Angela catching a breeze.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Steveston
Today we headed down to Steveston Village.
Steveston is on the southwestern shore of Richmond, it was a
once-boisterous frontier seaport and principal port on the Fraser River,
founded in 1880 by William Herbert Steves.
At the turn of the twentieth century, Steveston was the busiest fishing
port in the world, with fifteen salmon canneries, six hotels, numerous
saloons and gambling dens, and up to fourteen windjammers simultaneously
loading canned salmon for world markets. On a Saturday night, 10,000
people thronged the boardwalks, including Native Indians, Japanese,
Chinese, European immigrants, and sailors from the seven seas.
We watched some fishermen selling fish off their boat. Here he is with
some Lingcod.
Cutting the heads off.
A halibut. There was a lady there who bought over $500 worth of fish.
This halibut was $130.
There were all kinds of fishing boats.
Today's prices written in chalk on the side of the boat.
Lots of fish for sale.
We had fish and chips for lunch. We ordered from PaJo's, the food is
served in newsprint shaped like a cone. The fries were at the bottom and
the fish on top. We managed to get a picnic table and it has holes cut
out so you can put your cone in.
We watched a number of big boats go by.
After lunch we walked further down towards the Britannia Heritage
Shipyard.
Britannia is one of the few surviving examples from Steveston's rich
past, when a mix of canneries, net lofts, boatyards, residences, and
stores defined the neighbourhood. Restoration of the site is in the
development stage, and over the coming years much of its former glory is
slated to be restored.
A memorial statue dedicated to the Japanese.
Low tide?
This guy's dogs were living the easy life. His wheel barrow reminded me
of the kind Jiichan had.
There were a couple of swans. They were both sleeping on the shore, but
one swam away.
Another eagle outside the Starbuck's in Steveston.
We found a toy shop before we headed back to base camp.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Lynn Canyon
Today we were off to Lynn Canyon to do some exploring. There is a
suspension bridge that crosses the canyon and it's free.
The first stop is the Twin Falls.
The trail had a lot of stairs.
We got to the bridge only to find that the work they were doing on it
was a day longer then it said on the website. There were workers working
on it.
Our guide was Carol, my cousin Mike's wife.
If we have time we may try and get back to the bridge before we leave.
First one up!
We stopped at the river and the kids had a blast climbing on the rocks.
This is the 30ft pool.
Some of the stairs we had to climb.
It was a nice area to hike around, it certainly tired the kids and us
out.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Granville Island
We headed downtown today to walk around Granville Market and near the
waterfront. We parked at Lonsdale Quay and took the seabus over and then
the bus to Granville Island.
Coming into the seabus port. There were two cruise ships in port at
Canada Place.
Waiting for the bus at Howe and Robson. It took us awhile to figure out
which bus we should take and where to catch it. Granville street was all
ripped up for construction.
Walking onto Granville Island.
We walked around the market.
There is a lot of colour in the market wherever you go.
We enjoyed our trip down to the market.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Canada Place
After the market we headed back down to the waterfront to walk around
Canada Place.
This was the Sapphire Princess which had come from Whittier, Alaska.
This cruise ship was a Holland America Line Zuiderdam, it was leaving
from Vancouver and heading to Alaska.
Maybe one day?
We walked through the skytrain station to get back to the Seabus
terminal.
Claudia and Angela on the floor surrounded by coins.
The tugboats at the Lonsdale Quay.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Birch Bay
It is on to Washington State today, our first stop is in Blaine, WA.
Pat, Mo and Jodi and Sally and their families are staying at a cottage
in Birch Bay. It is just across the border. Pat invited us to stop by
for lunch on our way to Seattle. Here is Claudia outside the Lion's Den,
this was our base camp while we were in the Vancouver area.
The border wait was only about 20 minutes.
The girls with Nicholas, he followed Claudia around like her shadow.
After lunch we headed down to the beach.
Here is Jodi and Justin. Jodi is my first cousin once removed.
Mo had purchased a clamming licence.
The kids enjoyed all the creatures on the beach and under the rocks.
This is Jodi and Justin's oldest son, Jeremy, he is the girls second
cousin once removed.
Dad with the boys.
Claudia holding a big crab they found.
Clamming wasn't going so well at first. Note the empty frisbee.
But things got better, Shanna discovered that the key was to dig shallow
and dig out, rather than dig down. Sally holding the clams.
Mo with his grandson Nicholas.
As the official licence holder, Mo had to carry the tools and the catch.
Everyone washing the sand off their feet.
A few pictures before we left. The girls with Grandpa and Pat.
Mo with the kids and Tucker.
Shanna, Mo and I (first cousins).
Us with Mo and his girls, Jodi and Sally.
Claudia with Tucker.
On the way down to Seattle we stopped in Tulalip to do some shopping at
the Premium Outlets.
Some happy shoppers.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
San Juan Island
We headed from Seattle to Anacortes to catch the ferry over to San Juan
Island. We are spending a few days at Nikki and Richard's cottage. We
stopped for some groceries. This is the entrance to the store, wide open
no doors. Not sure what they do in the winter.
The morning sailings were delayed due to fog, so our 3:10 ferry was
delayed about 30 minutes.
Approaching the ferry terminal.
On board the ferry waiting for it to leave.
Mount Baker.
Angela on the outside looking in.
It was good weather for sailing as we passed many sailboats with their
full sails up.
The ferry arrives in Friday Harbor, here is the movie theatre. It was
playing Harry Potter, the girls are going to see it with their cousin
Melissa when they get back.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
The Beach
It was about a 15 minute drive to the cottage, we unloaded and headed
down to the shore to explore. It was high tide so there weren't many sea
creature things to look at. But the kids enjoyed it just the same.
Claudia fishing with some bull kelp.
The view is to the north and east.
The cottage.
This is the ferry that goes to Sidney, BC, it goes by at 7:00 PM every
night.
Marine Life
The morning started with Shanna spotting some sea otters down in the
water. We all headed down to get a closer look.
There were a couple of deer lying in the bush that we woke up.
There was still some fog rolling through.
The first of our many sea stars we would see.
Of course there were lots of crabs.
Shanna found a sea star stuck to a rock, so the girls could hold it by
the rock.
The girls like to stand on the rocks waiting for the boat waves to come
in.
We even saw a jelly fish, not sure if it was dead or alive.
Roche Harbor
We headed into Roche Harbor on our way to Lime Kiln State Park.
We saw a Humdinger.
One of the guests of this hotel was John Wayne.
The yellow brick road in front on the hotel is made from the fire bricks
which lined kilns one thru eight.
As there was no local source of brick when the kilns were built, bricks
were purchased in Canada from Vancouver Island and shipped to Roche
Harbor.
Many of the boats docked were ginormous.
We came across the Humdinger, modelled after the Hummer, a quick search
of the internet shows that these things retail for $15,900 USD.
At one time the largest Lime works west of the Mississippi.
Not too many people take crap for a living.
There are still a couple of Lime kilns standing.
Lime Kiln State Park
We were hoping to see some of these in the water, the dorsel fins, not
the girls.
The Lime Kiln State Park light house, they use this as a research
station to monitor the Orca pods.
Scanning the water for Orcas.
This is Haro Straight.
We had our eyes scanning the distant waters for Orcas, but all we saw
were some harbor porpoises.
While we were all looking way out, a harbor seal came swimming by really
close.
There were alot of kayakers out in the water.
Along the trail to the light house.
The girls barely hanging on.
Angela lending a helping hand to Claudia.
Even though we didn't see any whales, the scenery was still beautiful
and well worth the time spent there.
Another (or the same) seal.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Sunrise Over San Juan
Susan and I were up bright and early to watch the sunrise. We were down
on the beach around 5:30 AM.
Here it comes...
The tide was going out, so we were able to look for some sea creatures.
There were lots of Ochre Sea Stars
Under this rock was a Sea Star and a Sunflower Star.
The Sunflower Star has more than 20 legs.
It seemed everywhere you looked or stepped there was a purple sea star.
This is where we are staying while we are on San Juan Island.
Back on the Beach
Once the kids woke up they were down on the beach to explore low tide,
after breakfast they were back down there. Claudia and Jesse collecting
some kelp.
I pretty sure that Jesse wasn't to keen on picking this stuff up, but
Claudia made him help her, because they were going to make seafood wraps.
Gillian and Angela fishing for some seaweed.
We found an eel like thing under a rock.
As well as lots of crabs.
The morning ferry going from Sidney BC to Friday Harbour.
Jesse relaxing on the beach.
The girls rock people.
I think they were only about 2ft from the shore.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Last Morning at the Beach
It was time to clean up before leaving San Juan Island and heading back
to Seattle.
The faster we cleaned up the sooner we could get down to the beach to
explore.
It was the lowest tide yet.
We saw some new creatures that we hadn't seen earlier in the week.
We tried to go out to the end of the rocks, but it was slippery with all
the seaweed covering the rocks.
A Sea Cucumber.
I think this is a Sunflower Star on its back.
Our first orange Ochre Sea Star
The girls discovered that if you squeezed the Sea Sacs they sprayed
water through their tiny pores.
We also saw a Sea Urchin.
This is a Hairy Chiton.
A closer look at the Purple Sea Urchin.
We couldn't figure out what this was, we couldn't get close enough to
get a closer look.
We were trying to reach those rocks, but couldn't make it safely.
A purple Sea Star eating his veggies.
I think these are Blood Stars.
A big Red Crab (Cancer Productus). They don't have to worry about ending
up on the dinner plate, their shells are too thick.
A Flat Porcelin Crab.
That is a quarter next to the Orche Sea Star.
Susan and Gillian relaxing before we leave.
Friday Harbor
We headed into Friday HArbor to catch the ferry back to Anacortes. We
got there early for the 1:00 PM ferry and parked in line. We had to be
back by 12:40PM for loading.
We headed into town for the artisans market. We stopped along the way to
see this fire truck.
Angela and I were behind the others and this fireman asked Angela if she
wanted to get in the big fire truck.
Angela in front of some rock art.
Friday Harbor was celebrating 100 years this year.
Part of the harbor.
The ferry is on time.
On the weekends there is a lot of foot passengers who come over for the
day.
We ended up in the front row in the very middle, it meant we were the
first ones who would be off the ferry.
I think he was trying to avoid getting run over by the ferry.
This would be the end of our travels with Shanna and Jesse. After we
left the ferry they were heading for home and we were heading back to
Nikki and Rich's.
We had a fun time and enjoyed getting to spend time with Shanna and
Jesse.
We were getting close to Anacortes. When we arrived it was like a busy
airport, we had to wait before we could dock due to there being three
ferries at the terminal when we arrived.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Lynn Canyon: Part 2
Our flight today was at 4:00 PM, so we had some time in the morning. We
saw Grandma and Grandpa off around 11:00 and then the girls and I
decided to go and see the Lynn Canyon suspension bridge. We tried
earlier on our trip but it was still closed for maintenance.
We drove to the parking lot and the bridge was only about a two minute
walk to the bridge.
It was crowded as you can see from this photo. There is also no one
telling you not to swing or jump on the bridge, not that we were.
The bridge was built in 1912. The bridge is shorter and not as high as
the Capilano Suspension Bridge, but it is narrower and moves around more
when people walk on it. It also does not cost money to cross, but at one
time visitors were charged a toll of ten cents.
The bridge is 50 metres high and spans 166 ft.
Time To Head Home
It was time to fly home, we all had a great time. We were a little more
relaxed than this guy when we got to the airport.
They are still doing renovations to the airport in preparation for the
Olympics and wouldn't our gate be in an area where the air conditioning
didn't work.
Gillian and Angela were sitting in the row ahead of us.
Claudia settling in to her seat.
So long to the mountains and the ocean.I'll be back at the end of August
for work, I'll be in Vancouver for a couple of days and then I'm heading
to Saturna Island for the rest of the week.
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