black bears and tofino...a fab long weekend

So last weekend was a creepy guy....July Long weekend was black bears. we joined up with 6 other friends and headed out to Tofino/Ucuelet for an adventurous camping experience. and adventure we had...after trying to take off around 6 we finally made at about - um...7:30/8 and on the way picked up one of our crew at the ferry in Nanaimo. along the way, just before arriving to our destination, we encountered a roaring fire at an industrial building. it was really awesome - fire is quite terrifying, mystifying, and captivating all at once. that was around 1 am. then we got to our parking area and hiked in to a spot on the beach.
morning came quite quickly, but brad and i ambitiously got up and explored the territory in the clouded gray moring as a fishing boat gently rode the waves of the early hours. we climbed over the rocky shore and watched the fascinating tides swoosh into the crevices, the vibrant sea anenomes wave their bright green tentacles, and an orange starfish creep along the rocky bottom looking for ...well i don't know what...breakfast?
i am getting way too detailed here. so i will cut it shorter.
we spent the day checking out Tofino and catching abit of a Canada Day skate tournament, then hit the beach. Long beach..it was loooonngg and fabulously sandy! we ended the outing at a rustically posh lodge to warm up a bit (lots of wind + the north west coast = chilly when the sun disappears) and have a drink. my drink of choice was water since we spent the entire day in the sun once the early morning fog burnt off- i was a wee bit deehydrated.
and then around midnight hiking into our campsite - it was bad news when we flashed our lights down and didn't see our tents. But the 2 missing were there all rolly polled up in a bunch snacked on and played with by mister black bear. we managed to set back up with the help of some handy ductape. our tent is most likely repairable, however our thermarest camping mats are not quite going to make it...well maybe one. so we slept and in the morning we decided to pack out our tents and stuff. we checked out Uceulet and then hit the beach, this time with our wetsuits and boogie boards. it was great! after a full day, we headed to find a new camp but with the long weekend at hand, we had to drive back east. we found a provincial park on a lake and a parkie kindly let us set up camp on the beach/lawn where we had a quiet serene sleep. What a difference compared to the constant activity and noise of the ocean! Monday held swimming and heading back home. But upon arrival quickly showered and headed to Folkfest to see Nekko Case perform. A great end to a great weekend --i'll take bears over creepy strangers!
(the bear pictured was actually seen on our north island adventure weekend. we didn't really see the bear that wrecked our tent, we just have the teeth and claw marks as evidence)

Hittin' up the Ports & Creepy Camping Weekend

The weekend before July Long, we ambitiously drove up to the north end of the island.Leaving after work on Friday,we slept in the car just north of Campbell River. Our first stop was at a little cabin along the road with a big sign across the front of it - BREAKFAST. It was a good down home breakfast that came with a pancake the size of frisbee!
The mountains, trees, lakes and eyesore logging patches surrounded our beautiful sunny drive north. First stop was Telegraph Cove, a tiny coasal town built on stilts over the water. The whale museum was fascinating with it intense knowledge of a variety of whales and seals. It also had the skeleton of a 60 ft Fin whale! Whoa! From there were trekked over to Port McNeil. we checked out town and then had a picninc on the rocky beach.
Then onward we explored to Port Hardy.



Port Hardy being a bit bigger had a little more to do. After take a look at their famous "dangling carrot" statute (not pictured here. it was in honour of finally getting a nice road completed all the way to the town that had been promised by government for umpteen years. after way too many broken promises they started the "Dangling Carrot Campaign" to get bring attention to their need and unfulfilled promise - so then they got a road as well as a statue)
Stories Beach is a lovely long sand beach that we walked around and enjoyed wading in the ocean. from there we went to set up camp for the night.



Hmmmm....here's a pic of Marble River behind our site at Marble River Campground, now known by us as 'Marble River Creepy Campground.' It was the perfect camping evening, ideal,superb, extraordinary weather and the amazing thing of having the entire 33 campsites to ourselves. After finding some firewood and getting the fire going, the dinner was just started when a man in a pickup strangely drove by our site and slowly pulled into the site next to us. He sat in his truck apparently watching us...hmmm...we were getting wigged out. So after 45minutes we decided to go to the outhouse in order to walk behond where he was and scout the scene. And to our surprise he wasn't there. His door wasn't shut tightly and he'd disappeared. Ewww....creepy! To make a longer story short just long and not longer -I couldn't sleep in the tent so I bugged brad to go sleep in the car with me since we never heard him come back and it was dark and I was paranoid. "what is someone doing parking right next to us, watching us for awhile then dissappearing without us hearing him?!!???!" so in the car I finally drifted off to sleep..but awoke to creeply footstep sounds around the car in the middle of the night. oh it was freaky, especially since the windows were fogged up and we had no flashlights. (and we knew it was creepy guy cuz at some point his dome light in his truck came on. then it was quiet...creep...creep..creep...rustle....EEESHHH!!!!) we had to get out of there - so brad bravely got out slowly after awhile, flipped on our headlights, we saw nothing so we quickly grabbed our tent and shoved it in the back of the car, checked our site withour headlights and then his. And we didn't see anything just an empty pickup...and we left at 3 in the morning. omigoodness, did i tell you it was creepy?!?! we drove to Port Alice, slept in our car outside town and slept much more soundly.
We ventured home that next day making a few meandering stops, one being the beach for the afternoon and then cooked up dinner there. And made it safely home Sunday evening.
That was out adventure north...a great weekend.
More pics here...

sunny days sweepin' the clouds away...

You Are Big Bird

Talented, smart, and friendly... you're also one of the sanest people around. You are usually feeling: Happy. From riding a unicycle to writing poetry, you have plenty of hobbies to keep you busy. You are famous for: Being a friend to everyone. Even the grumpiest person gets along with you. How you life your life: Joyfully. "Super. Duper. Flooper."

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz
i have the personality of big bird. i think mylife is complete now that i have the satisfaction of knowing what sesame street character i am like. big bird is a good character....slightly yellow...slightly big and awkward...hmmmm...i am okay with big bird.
he was alway really amiable and conscientious - lookin' out for snuffleumpugus (sp????) and all.