Sunset

Time for frisbee at Saratoga Beach

The best trip ever had to end.  But it ended on a bright and sunny day on Vancouver Island.  We said good-bye to Campbell River and took a leisurely drive down Highway 19A, the scenic coast route.  There was ample time for me to play frisbee at Saratoga Beach and to stop and enjoy the sights along the way...an art show in Comox and a visit to Goats on the Roof in Coombs.  We took the last of our ferry rides from Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay late on Saturday.  I loved this road trip and all the people I met and the bears, whales, dolphins, eagles, and other incredible creatures of B.C.  But I have to admit it is good to be back at home on Capital Hill.  I went to my groomer today and replaced my vacation-look with my urban dog persona.  So the sun sets on my amazing journey, but the memories live on.  Here's to you, British Columbia.  Thanks for the memories!

 A Campbell River morning

Goats on the Roof in Coombs---something hard to
describe

The sun sets on my adventure

That's me at home -- Urban poodle with an attitude

Thank you for sharing my adventure with me on this blog.  Watch for periodic updates on my life and times.

Another Roadside Attraction



I am chilled after swimming

 This is my last day on the road.  It is a sweet ending to a great trip.  We saw some great things and finished the day with a wonderful dinner in Campbell River.  But let me go back one day to our last day at Alert Bay.  I saw a Big House and really enjoyed hearing the drumming and singing that came from the Big House as the traditional dances were performed.  I wish I could have gone inside, but the atmosphere was nice even from the car where I waited for my people.  We said good-bye to my top rated dog-friendly hotel/inn, Alert Bay Lodge, after a visit from a spirit that started me barking in the dead of the night.  It was really a supernatural visitation that left me pretty shaken and convinced that there are spirits alive and well in Alert Bay.  We had a fantastic lunch at another roadside attraction, the Cablehouse Cafe near Sayward.  The entire cafe is made from salvaged logging cable.  The walls weigh about 26 tons, I think.  Really strange, but great food.  We are now in Campbell River at the Coast Hotel, also a very pet friendly spot. A very good dinner at the Harbor Grill, a restaurant with a Swiss chef and owner and a very nice waitperson named Scott who made sure all my dining needs were met as I waited for my people to finish their salmon and halibut dinners.  This trip must come to an end tomorrow, but I have great memories and some fantastic new friends.  British Columbia rocks!! 

Big House in Alert Bay

Inside Big House

Eagle at Alert Bay

Old totems at Alert Bay

Good-bye, Alert Bay Lodge

We are the last car on the ferry on the morning sailing

Cable Cafe

That's a lot of cable!  This was built in 1970

Time for one last game of frisbee in Campbell River

My new friend, Scott at Harbor Grill in Campbell River.
This restaurant was the BEST on the trip.
Go there is you get the chance!

The end of a great day and a great trip.

Cormorant Island & Alert Bay

View from Alert Bay Lodge

Sorry it's taken me a while to do this latest post but I sort of lost track of time here on Cormorant Island.  After our long but great ferry trip from Bella Coola, we spent one night in Port McNeil at Home Away from Home B&B.  Very lovely view from this place and nice furnishings too.  We took time to see Telegraph Cove, which was especially interesting now because the salmon are swimming and the fishing is good.  We went on from there by yet another ferry boat, the Quandra Queen II, which took us from Port McNeil to Alert Bay on Cormorant Island.  We found the most dog-friendly place yet here at the Alert Bay Lodge.  I am very much at home here and spend a lot of my days just looking out from the deck across Johnstone Straight and over to Vancouver Island.  I actually saw a deer swim this 2K straight yesterday.  Took a long hike in the Ecological Park here on the island.  This was quite a strange and mystical place.  The sound of the ravens, crows and eagles reverberated throughout the forest and the swamp.  It was called Gator Trail because it looks like something out of the Everglades due to the moss and bogs, but no gators actually live here, thank goodness.  The First Nations culture of the Namgis band is very evident, and I was especially taken by the many totem  poles that populate the island.  Some of the totems are quite old, while others are more recent additions to Alert Bay.  Old or new, they were amazing.  On our walks through the forests and along the beach, my people always miss some of the flora and fauna that are at my level.  I've added some pictures that I took to give you a better sense of a poodle's view of this wonderful island and its creatures and vegetation.  Hope you enjoy seeing my world view of Cormorant Island.

Big Tree Trail on Cormorant Island

Gator trail

An eerie place

Banana slugs rule the forest!

Bunchberry on forest floor (Cornus Canadensis)

Tranquil bog

The bog

Please, can I go in the water?

Did you know that Ravens can make many different sounds?

Deer readies to swim across the straight

Backdrop of salal

I never get tired of looking at the beach

Home Away from Home, Port McNeil

Telegraph Cove

3 Chinook and 1 Silver salmon caught off  Beaver Cove

Telegraph Cove is cute and quaint...and raining

A dog legend from Telegraph Cove

Christ Church-Anglican in Alert Bay; built in 1892

Stained glass window in church depicting Alert Bay history

Quadra Queen II

Alert Bay Lodge gets my vote for "most dog-friendly place" on this trip

Queen of Chilliwack

The Queen of Chilliwack

Pier at Bella Coola

I spent my B.C. Day onboard the ferry, The Queen of Chilliwack.  What a trip down the Inside Passage from Bella Coola to Port Hardy (northern part of Vancouver Island)!  I actually did not see much as I had to remain in the car during the 13 hour voyage.  Every two hours my people were permitted to come down and walk me and check in on me, so most of the photos you see on today's blog are from their perspective.  I was sorry that I missed seeing the white sided dolphins, the humpback whales, the orca whales, the eagles, the puffins, and the sea lions.  The marine life on this trip was fantastic.  About three hours out of Bella Coola the ferry encountered hundreds of Pacific white sided dolphins.  They played in the wake of the boat and gave the passengers quite a show. We even saw lobsters -- no, actually,  those were the passengers at the end of this very sunny voyage, almost all of whom were sunburned.  I was told that you could not resist staying on the deck of the Queen throughout the journey, as there were so many beautiful sights along the way and the marine life so abundant.  My dream is to swim with the dolphins someday.

Farewell, Bella Coola





13 hours in this car!!

BC Ferry employee befriends me

The Inside Passage

Christy Passage and Star Lighthouse

Sunset as we near Port Hardy



Good bye Tweedsmuir

Good bye, Tweedsmuir

So sad to be leaving this lovely place, but tomorrow morning we board the ferry to sail to Vancouver Island.  I made the most of my final day in Tweedsmuir Park, however.  I met some new friends from Sicily, Italy who hiked a nice trail with me.  We saw some huge steelhead trout jumping in the river.  We were reminded that bears have the right of way here.  I played some frisbee here on the lawns of the Tweedsmuir Lodge before packing my bags for tomorrow's sailing.  My frisbee flew into the pond and my person had to fish it out with hiking poles.  I was ready to go in after it, but he intervened just in time.  Good bye, Tweedsmuir.  It has been great fun.  Tweedsmuir Park Lodge is a ten star dog rated place!  I really hope we return soon.

Bears have right of way!?

My beloved frisbee is saved

What law?  Why can't dogs come into the lodge?



Bridge at Tweedsmuir Park Lodge



Mi amici -- Carmen and Vito from Italy