The rest of Vancouver Island

I had been looking forward to visiting Tofino, Ucluelet, and Pacific Rim National Park.  I had been there 25 years ago and was entranced by the scenery. Sadly, those 25 years have played as much havoc with this part of the island as they have with me! Gone were all the pullouts on the highway to revel in the beauty; in their place were huge resorts with plantings of tall shrubs or trees to provide privacy for their guests. Tofino had become streets full of shops and restaurants, without much beach to see.  I did find one beach in Ucluelet that I remembered, and it was just as pretty as before.

Little Beach, Ucluelet

Long Beach in the National Park is just that, a long sandy beach, some not too high waves, and lots of families playing on the beach and surfers and paddle boarders in the water.  It's a great place for people watching!   There was a family building something with logs that had washed up on the beach, and a little girl who really didn't like the sand on her feet, so every so often she would stop and wash the sand off with water from the bucket she was carrying. I watched her doing this several times and couldn't help grinning each time! 

Long Beach

Log Construction

Sandy Feet!! 

But as great as my disappointment with the changes, I had a great time on one of the days, because I took a bear viewing cruise.  Bears live on the uninhabited islands that are dotted off the coast and during low tide, they come out of the forest to dine on whatever they can find on the beach.  The cruise I was on was small -- about 20 people -- on a very comfortable boat with a naturalist on board. We found two mama bears, each with a very small cub, on the beach at two different places. The boat stayed at each location for quite a long time, allowing everyone to get a good view and great pictures.

The bears are in the shadows

The last night that I was there, I shared a campfire with a couple from Quebec -- they were each 21 years old, not much older than my grandson Zach -- and were a delight to get to know.  They had worked their way across Canada to vacation for a while on the island, and were about to head back to the Okanagan Valley in BC to pick cherries and earn enough money to get back to Quebec in time for school to start. I was thrilled that they asked me to share the fire, so I took the makings for s'mores to share with them!

Yesterday (Saturday) I arrived at Whistler BC where Ted and Carrie have a vacation house.  In the afternoon we went on a hike to a train wreck! This is the site of a train derailment that took place in 1956; several of the cars were unsalvageable and over the years they have been painted with bright graffiti.  they are fun places to visit and climb on and around. There is even a suspension bridge you must cross to get there, and with my grandsons' encouragement, I was able to cross.

Ted, Owen and George on top of one of the train cars. 

Today I'm sitting at Ted's dining room table, the house is quiet, everyone is still sleeping, and I'm looking forward to some fun activities later in the day, to include the Farmer's Market (maybe more strawberries?) and a trip up the mountain.