NANAIMO, BC, CANADA

Wow – Two blogs in one day!! Tomorrow we take the ferry across the Strait of Georgia to North Vancouver.  From there we’ll head east and travel the International Selkirk Loop that goes through portions of Washington, British Columbia, and Idaho.  Since we will be in the boonies we do not know if Wi-Fi will be available.

We have just finished spending two enjoyable days in Nanaimo, BC which is called the ‘Harbour City’.  It is very modern and very clean, and even has a Costco.  On Tuesday we drove in to town and walked along the harbor.  There were many boats, sea planes, shops to look at and people to watch.  We enjoyed a delicious dinner sitting and looking out at the boats.  We saw a few crews learning how to scull as a team.  It was quite a beautiful setting.  For dessert we had a Nanaimo Bar at one of the bakeries by the water.  Yummy, but very rich.  After dinner we again walked by the water and out on a pier. We even saw very small crabs in the water and a number of star fish.  There were many people strolling the harbor.  From our campsite we can see the Strait of Georgia.  In the afternoon we saw several cruise ships. Another good day of retirement!

Today we drove to Piper’s Lagoon, a gorgeous place to look for beach glass.  Unfortunately we didn't find any.  It is cut off from the open waters by a long pebbly dike.  There were many other people also enjoying the shore that we walked.  Mike did check out the temperature of the water and found it to be quite cool to begin with, but you do get used to it as many young kids did.  On land there were many dead jellyfish and we saw quite a few live ones in the water.  Mike thought the scenery was magnificent.  It was a nice, relaxing walk that we took, crossing the driftwood to get on and off the beach.  The sun was out and there was a little breeze which made it comfortable for us.

Another stop we made was at Buttertubs Marsh, which is a man-made sanctuary with a walking path.  This was the first time this trip we felt it necessary to put on our Tilley hats (along with sunscreen) because a good part of the trail was in the open.  We saw a few ducks, lily pads and grasses along the water.  There was also a raccoon on the trail.

Traveling on Vancouver Island for three weeks gives us many memories of beautiful scenery, nice people, fun activities and both really wet weather and now really sunny, warm weather.  I think we have seen more smokers, runners, bike riders and tattoos that we have seen anywhere else.