We have spent the past three weeks on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. We took the ferry over form Port Angeles, Washington and it was quite an adventure driving the RV with the Jeep behind it on and off the ferry.
We were on the island to visit with our friends, Tom and Diane Murphy and their dog Pepper. We spend the winters with them down in Arizona and we parked the RV near their home in the small town of Cowichan Bay, for the first and third week of our stay. We enjoyed visiting with them and had great meals at their home and one evening at the local seafood place down on the water. Josie and Diane would go out exploring in their new Smart Car while Tom and I would play golf. On one of those days Josie had her hair cut short again, and donated it to "Children With Hair Loss"
We all visited the town of Chemainus which is known for its murals. We also toured the town of Duncan which is famous for its totem poles. Duncan also has the worlds largest hockey stick attached to the front of their Hockey Arena. We shopped at the Duncan Market and one evening we attended an outdoor concert in the town square.
We started the third week of our stay with a happy hour at the Murphy's house, where we met their friends, Cliff and Joanne and Linda and Gord. August third was Tom and Diane's 39th anniversary and we shared a great meal with them at a scenic restaurant on the water in Mill Bay. Cliff and Joanne invited us to their home on Cowichan Lake one evening and we enjoyed a great dinner and an unusual sunset due to forest fires farther up the island.
We visited the BC Forest Museum and rode the old logging train and took in the exhibits about the history of logging in the area. On our final day on the island the ladies attended a matinee performance of the musical "Grease" while Tom and I played golf. Later that evening we had dinner at the Cowichan Bay Hotel on the waterfront.
We spent our second week on the island 100 kilometers up the coast in the town of Parksville. The RV park was right on the ocean and the tide would come in and go out over 1 kilometer each change. You can see the difference in the tide in the first two pictures below taken from the same spot. The Parksville Beach Fest was going on and there was music everyday on the boardwalk. As part of the festival, they had a sand sculptor contest. and they were all very good. We visited the Cathedral Trail with Douglas Fir and Western Red Cedar trees that are over 800 years old, and then checked out two of the local waterfalls. On our way home from the big trees, we stopped at the Coombs Marketplace where we saw their "Goats on a Roof" The market was built by a Norwegian immigrant who copied the style of the roofs of his home town in Norway where the houses are built into the side of hills and the goats wander freely over the tops and eat the grass on the roofs. Tom and Diane drove up from Cowichan Bay twice. The first time we looked over the sand sculptures and then had a nice lunch at a beach side restaurant. The second time it was my birthday and Tom and I played golf while the ladies went to the beach. Later we had a cookout and pigged out on the four types of cake Tom and Diane brought for my birthday.
Tom and I played seven rounds of golf at seven different courses during our three week visit. All of the courses had fantastic scenery and wildlife. For our last round, we played Bear Mountain, a Jack Nickolas course with spectacular views of Victoria, the Straights and the Olympic Mountains. Many of the courses had wild blackberries growing in the rough and I could not help but eat a few.
We had a great time on the island and want to thank Tom and Diane for their wonderful hospitality. We can't wait to see them in Arizona in October.
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