We're back! We didn't have much wifi in Tofino, so couldn't report on our various activities there. But we truly enjoyed the area, as there is great beauty on the far side of Vancouver Island. Tofino itself has refined itself from humble fishing town to busy tourist attraction, with lots of Artsy shops and restaurants. There's a fine harbour, the focus primarily on seaplane flights, whale and bear watching excursions. and recreational fishing charters. We sat in a bar called JACKS, and watched one of the charter captains clean a half dozen beautiful salmon. (We had to have a beer there, as son Jeff and family use the acronym to define their family...Jeff, Anna, Claire, Kate and Sharon...get it?)

We did several good hikes, despite cloudy, rainy and cool weather. Typical West Coast stuff. There's a nice walk through woods down to a beach in Tofino, as well as several good hikes between Tofino and Ucluelet. The latter town, by the way, also has its charm, despite having transformed from a timber town to a commercial fishing center. Along the shore at Ucluelet there's an 8 km. seaside walk which we did part of. a section called the Wild Pacific Trail, Many spectacular views. But no whales in sight. Seems to be our plight.

Just as we entered the trail, we met a couple coming the other way. We got talking, and it turned out they are Edmontonians. When we told them we were from a little town in Ontario they'd probably not heard of, the response to "Picton" was "Oh, you're County people." Turned out two of their best friends are people we know quite well, Tom and Nancy Fenora. Cool coincidence.

We also did two or three walks along the beaches, watching the surfers, who were there by the score. Labour Day week-end had any beach with any measure of wavy water packed with people trying their hand at catching a wave. Not too many looked like they knew what they were doing, which is fine. Give them credit for trying on a cool cloudy day. Wet suits and boards, determination, and lots of tumbling in the surf. There are miles of beaches, so no lack of space for the large numbers.

We also did a bog hike, and a rainforest hike, exploring two contrasting areas on the coast. The latter is an ancient forest, with moss-covered, vine-wrapped old growth and huge fallen logs, much of the forest in the final stages of development, with ferns and undergrowth in abundance. A truly ancient rainforest, many tall cedars and their cousins reaching a hundred feet above the damp floor. The walk was mostly on boardwalk, as it's the only way you could get around the area because the ground is completely sodden.

Similarly, the bog is only walkable on a boardwalk. There we found dwarf trees, many only 2 to 4 feet high, despite being up to 300 years old. The bog permits only miniscule growth, but somehow these small trees survive, growing on hummocks of meters-deep sphagnum. Another contrast area we found on the way back to Nanaimo was the Cathedral Grove, where there were giant Douglas Firs and Cedars growing up to 250 feet tall, some of which were over 800 years old. Reminded us of our treks through the giant redwoods in California. Humbling, when you consider the size of these wonderful miracles.

This adventure to the coast was shared with Dan and Dianne, Gail's sister and her husband. They drove their car, so we had wheels to get to the various hike sites, and they shared our r.v. for meals and sleeping. Four in the van worked out fine for the four days of the trip. We had three nights in Tofino in a great r.v. park, and a fourth night in Nanaimo, where we had a chance to visit our niece, Dan and Di's daughter Allie. Hadn't seen her for several years, and it was good to see that she is doing okay after some tough times.

We took the ferry from Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay, after saying goodbye to Dan and Di, who took an earlier ferry. We emerged from the ferry on the other side into a downpour and major traffic along highway 1. But we finally got to Don and Joy Vance's, where we had a lovely evening. Joy did her usual magic in the kitchen, and Don made sure there were sufficient libations to make us forget about the rain. This was the third time this year we've seen these good friends, so mark 2016 down as a banner year.

Today, we got off to an early start, the writer harbouring a major head cold, which has somewhat lessened thank to Joy's provision of various remedies. After 8 hours on the road we gave up, dripping nose and sagging eyelids in need of rest. We're in a nice campground at Moses Lake, Washington and hope to make good time tomorrow so that we can get to Yellowstone in timely fashion on Saturday.
Yep, that's where we finally decided to go, after much indecision (par for us). Alaska, the Peace River country, Edmonton, Vernon, all were given agonizing consideration, but we decided to head south to warmer climes in order to fulfill Gail's desire to see Yellowstone.

One final little incident. We stopped in Coombs, on the way back to Nanaimo, a very different little touristy town on route 4. Famous for having goats on the sod roof of the main restaurant, and tons of Chinese sculptures all over the place. But also a great book store. As I purchased yet another James Lee Burke, the owner mentioned how busy he is keeping the store going. "Keeps you out of the pool hall" was my response. "Yeah, I play quite a lot. But my brother's better. He's a pro pool player." Turns out both men have competed in the World 9 Ball Championships in Las Vegas, the brother with considerable success. Simple comment on my part let to an interesting result. Gotta love it!

Enough already. My eyelids are dropping onto my cheeks. Time for bed. More later. Stay tuned.