Back online

The trouble with being away from cities and in a foreign country is iffy cellular connections. Then there’s the problem of simply not feeling like writing the blog. So, let’s catch up.

George and Jo were Lou’s sailing buddies. They have a wooden boat with a main sail, jib and mizzen, plus a small outboard motor. This mission was delayed a year while the boat was in dry dock for maintenance, minor repairs, and winter.

George was concerned there wasn’t much wind in the forecast, but after motoring out to the channel there was enough of a breeze — on and off — to move under sail.

I’m not much on ceremonies or appropriate speeches, but I managed to string together some inadequate words about my friend and his meaning to me. Then I slowly returned Lou’s ashes to the sea. I spent the rest of the day alone, mourning.

_________

The southeast part of Vancouver Island is quite developed, reminding me of northern California, Oregon and Washington coasts. So having seen that I decided to cross over to the west side via Highway 4. Ah, that was better.

About halfway along is Port Alberni. It seems peculiar to have a port in the middle of an island, but there’s a long inlet (25 to 40 miles, depending on what you consider open water) out to the Pacific. It made a good stopping point for the day.

But was it a good streetdocking town? Or should I search out a place in the forest? I drove around getting a sense of the town. Resources said it was okay to overnight at Walmart, but, eh, I figured I could do better. Somewhere less crowded, farther from traffic noise. 

I didn’t see any parking restriction signs around town except at the entrances to private properties, loading zones, red curbs here and there. I found a fairly level spot with a fenced field on one side and an RCMP station around the corner. I imagined the presence of Mounties would keep any malicious element away. The night was quiet and incident free.

I continued to the west side in the morning, stopping at a rest area to use the pit toilet. It was a large place with picnic tables, roomy trash bins, EV charging stations and, as I learned later, free wifi. Fancy. It was about 7:30 when I arrived and there were several rigs that looked as if they had overnighted there. 

I wanted to stretch my legs and glutes so I followed a trail (which eventually disappeared but didn’t stop me) into the surrounding forest and down to the river. It was a very appealing place. I decided to stay there on my return trip to the east side.

There are two towns at the end of Highway 4: Tofino and Ucluelet. Tofino is mentioned by all the Vancouver Island travel writers. Ucluelet isn’t. So I chose the latter. Less touristy perhaps.

There’s a system of hiking trails in the area. I took one through a grove of old growth cedars. Those things can get huge — about the size of a sequoia. The trail continues along the costal bluff for several kilometers, down to a lighthouse. It was nice in the shade of the forest and with only a light wind from the ocean. The trail was a little busy but I still enjoyed the experience.

Rather than try to find a streetdocking spot or seeing what I might find up a logging road, Idrove back to the rest area. There were several families there when I arrived, but they were gathering their belongings and kids and heading for home. Soon I was the only one there. By 7:30 only one other person had pulled in, and then just to use the restroom. I started wondering whether I was allowed to stay overnight. There were no sign posts saying otherwise, but I finally strolled over to the notice board. There, on a poster with a list of rules, four items down, it said overnighting/camping was prohibited. Sigh. I packed up and drove back to Port Alberni. This time I picked a street with forest on one side and a commercial building on the other.

Sunday I head back to the east side to be ready for my Monday ferry to Vancouver. I had originally planned to travel through southern BC then drop down into the Idaho panhandle to see some other friends. But it’s triple-digit heat once you get away from the water. I’ll reenter the US at Blaine WA and zoom back to Port Townsend. Then I’ll work my way back down the coast free of commitments and schedules once again.