2019- Port Townsend, WA
We are on a 2 week vacation on the Olympic Peninsula.
Today, we walked around Port Townsend, Wa. The day was beautiful and pretty warm. I forgot my hat so had to find a new one. (any excuse to shop, right?!)
We stopped in at the information center and the guy there gave us places to eat, shop and sites to see. I asked for a quilt shop and he didn’t know what that was. He sent me a fiber shop that had, well, just that, fibers, yarn and accessories. He didn’t hear “fabrics and material” very well!
Dale was on the hunt for “grandkid” presents. Didn’t find anything he liked.
We had lunch at Sirens Pub. The top floor was crammed full so we took this really dark, narrow and dirty staircase down to the Sirens Seafood place. What a nice surprise. Only one table with 2 guys and about 6 empty tables. We were just above the beach and could view all the boats on the Sound. So quiet and peaceful. Lunch was delicious. We enjoyed the respite from getting our 5,000 steps.
Here are some photo’s of our day.
-
- Ferry leaving for Whidbey Island.
-
- Lavender
-
- Lunch at Sirens
-
- Dale on the “Dock of the Bay.”
Tomorrow we are resting up and maybe taking in a movie at the Rose Theater. Or, if we could stay up late go to their drive-in theater! Yep, they have one.
Life is good!
Not Saying Goodbye
To our dear friends, family and those following us on our life adventure.
Today was a very sad day as we had to let Morgan, our Golden Retriever, go.
Our precious Morgan was 17 years and 25 days. She was our best friend, hiking buddy and our joy.
Here are a few of our favorite photos.
We knew these dogs were destined to be ours. They were born on Dale and Dorana’s moms birthday. Their moms middle name is Golden! How could we not know these girls were ours!!!!
Morgan is in the black leash, Amika in the red. This is such a fun story to tell and if you have time I hope you read it. You will laugh along with us.
We were going on a trip with our singles group and staying in a house at Sun River. On the way there we remembered NO DOGS ALLOWED. Well, we had to sneak the girls in the room and keep them there all weekend. Some one had to stay with them so all 3 of us were never seen together which made everyone wonder. We had to sneak the girls out through the window, daytime and night time, to do their business. When they would play and growl and bark at each other we had to make noises to cover up their noises. No one ever knew they were in that house even when a dog toy ended up under the wiper of our car. Oh, we have laughed and laughed over this for 17 years. And will continue to in years to come.
She was always smiling! That is what I will remember about her. The love and joy she brought to our lives. Incredible and could never be replaced. Until we meet in heaven. Always in my heart.
Telegraph Cove, B.C
North Vancouver Island.
It’s with sadness that we leave TC on Sunday. Our summer is over here and it’s time to get back to reality. (we will go kicking and screaming!!)
However, we were truly blessed to have one last day (Friday) on the water. Fishing. Whale watching, bird watching, fishing, feeding the eagles, fishing.
Lynn and Chuck graciously invited us to go bottom fishing and this time Dale got his license (on-line) to give this sport a go. He did very well too. Photo’s prove it! 🙂
He caught dinner – Kelp Greenling Cod. A beautiful fish.
Chuck gave him pointers.
Last catch of the day!
We were out of Bausa Cove next to a small island with an eagle’s nest. Both eagles were in residence. So any small fish we caught became dinner for eagles. Chuck would whistle and toss the fish and the eagle would swoop down from the top of the trees, make a circle around us, and swoop in to grab the fish. Truly awesome seeing this.
This eagle was the first one down. He grabbed his fish and took it back to the island and ate it.
The second eagle gave us a good show.
Dale took a video of this. Check it out here.
Freaking awesome!
We saw so much action on the water today. Barges probably coming down from Alaska load down; barges in Blackfish Strait; cruise ships heading to Vancouver or Seattle after enjoying a trip around Alaska; and many different types of boats. The Orcas passed by us. Always a treat. A seal came to see if he could get dinner from us. And many, many birds and gulls.
A beautiful day with very generous friends.
Life is beautiful and so good. God shows himself in His creation all the time.
A Whale of a Tail
As I was shopping at Stubbs Whale Tour shop, I ran into Heike, owner of the Whale tour company. She is our neighbor for the summer. After small talk she asked me if we had taken their tour yet. “Not yet,” I said. “How about going on the 5 p.m. tour tomorrow?” Silly question!!!
Tuesday ended up being our hottest day here so far and that made for a great 3 hour trip starting at 5 p.m. for us.
We left the mouth to Telegraph Cove and immediately came across Orcas. Allison, our naturalist guide told us this is a family of mom, brother, 2 daughters and 2 cousins. They can tell by their dorsal fins who they are. Fife, the male has a nick in his fin from a vessel. And the mom is the boss and leader!
This is the Lukwa, “a place in the forest.” Our captain, was Wayne, who also lives next door to us. He has been on these waters for 60. First as a RCMP and then as a captain for Stubbs Island.
Heike’s dog, Cleo, keeps watch on the boardwalk everyday.
Dale looking for Orcas.
Only a tiny fin here but the water was really cool after the dive.
We followed these whales for about 1.5 hours. They are fish eating whales. About half way through the time we spent watching them, some White Belled Porpoises came along aggravating the Orca. Splashes occurred.
On the way to the seals, two Dall Porpoise came along side the boat and got right next to it. They can travel like 55 kph. They were going so fast. In and out under the boat. No photo because we were so amazed to actually fully see them. They zoomed off to the right lickety-split.
Once we got under way, we were head to Black Fish Strait. Here we saw the Stellar Seals, largest in the world and bigger than a grizzly.
I spotted these eagles a little to late. Actually I saw the one in the top and the other after editing the photo! I guess it is mating season.
Some scenes from the strait. Smoke from Canada came in pretty good today.
Look who else is fishing.
We could see the humpbacks blowing way off or “puffing” as Capt. Wayne said. We were off the north tip of Malcolm Island and got around 4 humpbacks. They weren’t very photogenic today.
When looking for humpbacks, one always looks for birds who are attacking a bait ball. The fish, herrings, is what humpbacks eat.
Allison was able to get this one!
Captain Wayne put us on the boat first so got a great spot. I actually sat up above my head most of the time. And then in the back. We would run from the front to the back and then up front. We had a great day for whale watching.
As we went back into Telegraph Cove, the sun was setting and gave us a great sunset.
For more great, great photo’s head on over to the Stubbs website.
Life is great! Again, God’s creation is breath taking.
Have You Heard
about the Rubbing Beach? It is quite amazing.
On our day off last week we drove the Forester (Ebony Shadow) to Port McNeil to the ferry to go to Malcolm Island. The little village we came into is Sointula. We drove through town, down past the marina to Bere Point Beach Campground and Beautiful Bay trail.
On research of this area I ran across the Rubbing Beach where Orcas come to rub their belly and bodies on the stones close to shore. No one know why they do this. Many theories about why but no one really knows why. Now wouldn’t that be a sight to see. I knew we just had to visit here. I was so excited!
We arrived at the campground which was pretty full. We drove to the trail head, got Morgan out of the car and our lunch and cameras and took off up the trail.
Bere Beach is on the west side of Malcolm Island and on the Queen Charlotte Strait. The point on the right is Bere Point and the one on the left is Malcolm Point. A trail goes from point to point.
A very nice trail but covered on both sides with foliage. We came to a platform where one can watch the rubbing beach for Orcas.
The tide was out when we were there and something we didn’t even think to plan for. Alas, no Orcas showed up to give us a show. We were bummed but if we come back next year we will plan better and earlier in the season. You can see here what this is all about.
If you look way down the beach you will see a tarp. People who monitor the Orca were camping out there with all their equipment. It was interesting to chat with them and hear about their study. We also got to talk to a couple from Victoria who want to become RVers when their time comes. We got to share RV information with them.
Time for lunch.
Since we didn’t get to photograph Orcas, next best thing was the birds.
An eagle came to visit too.
Rubbing Beach at Bere Point. A sign told us not to walk on the beach because the Orca can hear our steps. We tipped toed out and sat on a log waiting and waiting.
About an hour and a half later we left and drove to the other end of the island and then headed to get in line for the ferry and head home.
A very good day!!!
Life is awesome. The work of God’s hand in creation is so amazing and beautiful – on Beautiful Bay.
We Took A Little Trip
down the Kokish Main dirt road that goes to the dam that supplies energy to the electrical plant on Beaver Cove Rd. Our destination – Bonanza Lake.
As we were kicking up dust behind our Forester, around the corner and I’ hollering BEAR, BEAR. I didn’t have my camera with me so no photos. He/She was going down into the canyon so we pulled up as close as we could get to the edge. He/she stopped on a couple of logs and looked back at me. So I talked to it. 🙂 He listened for a minute and turned and proceeded on his/her way. Guess conversation wasn’t her/his thing! What he/she didn’t know is that I had just mentioned to Dale that we might see a bear. God heard!
The first lake we came too is Ida Lake. There are about 5 camp sites on the beach of the lake. It was so peaceful here – about 12k off Beaver Cove Rd.
The next lake we came to – 18 more kilometers south of Ida Lake is Bonanza Lake. It is a very large lake. 9.1k long.
We couldn’t wait to see the temp of the water since we were having the hottest day since we have been here. We were thinking our swimsuits should have come with us. So Dale waded in. Then I had to try it.
Some one has a sense of humor! A couple of small roads lead to campsites on the lake. There was one at this place. It also looked like deer hunters use these campsites beside those coming to camp and enjoy the lake.
On another day we drove to Woss for breakfast and then to Woss Lake. Another beautiful lake.
As you can see, this was a cooler day and only our hands tested the temp of the water.
We have enjoyed seeing the surrounding sights around Telegraph Cove. Northern Vancouver Island is so pretty.
Life is very good – calm and peaceful. It helps to keep God’s peace close to the heart. Amazing.
Moon Snail Shells
While in Port Hardy at the craft fair, we saw a woman who collected Snail Shells and made a
do-dads out of them. So we thought we should go find some and make our own do-dads. We found out that the snails like sand and we knew of Storeys Beach in Port Hardy.
So we set off early to catch low tide.
There were many, many shells. Actually, there was an abundance of the shells below. Not the ones we wanted though.
We had a great walk as this beach is very long. I did find a moon sail shell as you saw in the photo above. It was a small one but we got ONE! Click the link to very interesting facts about Moon Snails.
We had a picnic in the park, purchased groceries and went home happy.
Life is good. God’s grace comforts us with peace and His Holy Spirit.
Bausa Cove
When we went on our half day kayaking jaunt, we went into a cove called Bausa (bouza) Cove. We discovered that access to this cove, other than boat, was through the Forest Campground down the road from us.
This weekend is a holiday for the Canadians. So Telegraph Cove is full of people. Our RV park is full of RVs. Dale and I decided to get out of Dodge for a while and we hiked to the Forest Campground and out to Bausa Cove. Here are some photos of that hike.
Jelly fish.
A selfie!
Great driftwood here. We did pick up a rock from Bausa Cove and a cool looking piece of wood.
Life is good. God is protection. A black bear came busting out of the bushes and crossed the road right in front of us on the way home. All I saw was a BIG butt.
Deep Sea Fishing
Our bosses, Lynn and Chuck, asked us to go boating with them on Thursday. When I found out there was going to be fishing, I got a fishing license online for the day for $10.
We board the Sea Harmony about 10 a.m. and headed out into the Johnstone Strait. It was a pleasure to be out on the water. With much anticipation about catching a salmon and see whales, I don’t know which one was the one I was most looking forward to.
First thing sightseeing as we headed out into the strait was an eagle nest.
We motored out to Black Fish and Chuck taught me what to do to catch a fish. We picked a flasher, a hoochie and put it about 77 feet down.
Gotta keep that tip tight and bent! I got a hit right off and landed a pink salmon. Sadly, it was let go because it was too small. However, we found out later it wasn’t too small. (sob, sob) Chuck brought in a good-sized salmon next. In all, I lost 3 fish (no barbs in the hook) caught another pink and a bass. Chuck caught a Spring.
We trolled around Flower Island waiting for those pesky fish to find our spoon lures. While doing that we got a great show from the humpback whales way out. We could see them blow and move in and out of the water. I got these photo’s with a long lens.
We also got a good view of our national bird.
Also saw a couple of Stellar Seals. They were huge.
Many of the “island” out here are inhabited. Either with locals or week-long kayakers.
Rip tides are common here and dangerous.
An Orca Lab studies the pods of Killer whales that come “home” each year. Pods are numbered.
Going back to Telegraph Cove.
Remember to click the photos to enlarge.
Happy. Satisfied. Blessed. And with fish.
Dale’s video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG6XARpL1Uk&feature=youtu.be
Life is good. God is “I am.”
Lost? Us?
Wednesday, our day off, we decided to go explore Port Alice. Port Alice is located about 73 K (about 45 miles) from Telegraph Cove. Port Alice sits on the Neroutsos Inlet. On our way up the road to Port Alice we stopped at every scenic spot.
Back in the 60’s Port Alice was a growing community with a pulp mill. They hail themselves as “Gateway to the Wild West Coast.” This will probably be as far west as we will get this trip. This inlet goes out to the Pacific Ocean. Today, it is a small village with about 1000 people.
Visitor’s Center
After driving to the place where the pulp mill was, we turned around and came back to find a beach to have lunch.
It was quiet and we watched boats heading toward the end of the inlet.
After lunch we decided to take the Alice Loop (dirt logging road) back to Hwy. 30. We later learned that the log trucks were off for 2 weeks and boy, were we glad. It would have been miserable if we had to contend with them or them us!
We found Alice Lake.
There were few road signs to lead us back to Hwy 30. There was no “Hwy 30” this way! So, with our trusty map we thought we were on the right road.
We came to:
This is Katherine’s lake. This was, also, where we discovered we were lost. We should not be this far east. Hwy 30 was not in this direction. We started to turn around and Dale saw in the rear view mirror that a black bear was behind us. I tried to get a quick photo but he was too far away. When he saw us he turned and ran away. Our first bear sighting!!!
On the way back to finding which road we were to be on, one of God’s human angels came by. He was a local and had a crew building bridges for the log trucks. We had a nice chat with him and he explained how to get back to the highway. We saw our mistake – turning right when we should have turned left.
Around a curve and we saw this. He had just pooped in the road and went off in the bushes. When he saw us he ran across the road and silly me did not have my long lens on. So we have finally seen 2 black bears.
Back on the highway and off to Port McNeil for groceries and back home by 5.
Getting lost is always fun and you see stuff you wouldn’t have seen otherwise.
Gwen's Blog 