Tofino and Ucluelet

Just after the Easter weekend, we headed to Tofino for a mini holiday. To break up the trip, we stopped at Cathedral Grove and walked the boardwalk loop on the north side of the highway. (On the way home, we did the south side loop.) 

We stayed at Wild Pod in Tofino which are really unique geodesic domes. We definitely got the pod with the best view out onto the water. It was so nice that we often came back here with afternoon tea/coffee rather than sitting in a coffee shop somewhere. The only downside is that they were quite cool and we didn't want the heater going 24/7. I don't think we'd stay here if it was any colder outside. 

We did lots of short hikes in Tofino, Ucluelet and the area between such as Radar Hill, Rainforest Trail, Grice Bay, and the Wild Pacific Trail. 

At Radar Hill

At Grice Bay

Rainforest Trail

Skunk cabbage

Wild Pacific Trail
This area is part of the "Graveyard of the Pacific" due to all the shipwrecks over the years. 

My shadow and a sea star

Amphitrite Lighthouse

On a rainy day, we went to Ucluelet Aquarium which one of our favourite little aquariums. Just one big room but lots to look at and lots of touch pools for the kids (both big and small). The building sits right over the water and the ocean water is filtered in and out and fill and refresh the tanks. 

Wandering several galleries, a gelato treat at Chocolate Tofino and an afternoon drink at the Wickaninnish Inn rounded out the rainy day activities. 

We had wonderful supper meals at Wolf in the Fog, the restaurants at the Wickaninnish Inn and Long Beach Lodge. 

The view from Long Beach Lodge

On our last morning, we got in a short beach walk before more rain started pouring. 

And we finished our trip with a wine and cheese tasting at at Blue Grouse Winery. 

A fun and relaxing few days! 

Fall Road Trip 2023 - Astoria to Victoria

It felt good to be getting closer to home! We splurged and spent a lovely evening at the waterfront Bowline Hotel in Astoria and had a great meal at our favourite Astoria restaurant, the Bridgewater Bistro. 

Evening light over the water. From the lounge/restaurant of the Bowline Hotel.

The Astoria-Megler Bridge is 4 miles long and connects Oregon and Washington.
It's the longest continuous truss bridge in North America.

Right beside the hotel, we could hear some sea lions. We went out a while later and found this cutie having a nap on a lower level. We assume he got up there when the tide was higher because it was a long way to the water. 

The next morning, a younger looking one was there. I just love the eyes and whiskers. 

Our view during breakfast at the Bowline Hotel.

We took our time driving to Port Angeles, stopping for coffee again at Elixer Coffee in South Bend, another of our favourite places along this stretch of the coast. 

Relaxing in the lobby of the Olympic Lodge in Port Angeles.

It was surprisingly not very busy on the Coho Ferry coming home. All the American Thanksgiving holidayers were probably going the other way. The water looked ready for a very smooth sailing! 

Home is in sight!

Last blog post of the trip is done! No one is more surprised than me that I actually kept up with posts this time and got to the end of all this. The strategy this time was to post as we went, rather than try to group things into categories (e.g. landscape, flowers, animals, etc.). The past few trips where I've tried to do it that way has meant that trip posts never get finished because, once we're home, I'm on to other things. So, moving forward, hopefully I continue to improve the way I do things. 

Despite being sick most of this trip and some of the things we had planned to do not getting done (e.g. overnight backpacking, Andrew paragliding) it was a great trip. We saw such a wide variety of landscape and I'm really happy with some of the photos I got. Things are improving there too!  :-) 

Fall Road Trip 2023 - Coos Bay to Newport

The bronchitis saga continues. After the American Thanksgiving holiday (when everything was closed) we again found a medi-clinic, this time in Coos Bay, Oregon. And again, it didn't take long to get in with just one person in front of me. The doctor said I shouldn't still be wheezing like I am and recommended I see my family doctor as soon as get home to get x-ray and probably a nebulizer. I explained I don't have a family doctor and the long wait times to get an appointment at any sort of medi-clinic in Victoria. She didn't really respond to that but when she came back with another prescription, much to my surprise she also gave me a requisition for a chest x-ray at the local hospital. So off we went and, once again, the paperwork was the longest part of the process and I soon had an x-ray. Hopefully will know more in a few days when results come back. 

In the meantime, we carry on towards home. 

We stopped in Newport for the night and stayed at the Sylvia Beach Hotel, a grand old building located on a hill above the beach. Andrew had starred it in google maps some time ago as a potential and it turned out to be a great choice! The whole hotel has a book theme to it -- very suitable for two voracious readers. :-) 

Each room has an author or book theme and we got the Jules Verne room. There was obviously meticulous detail put into the decorating, from the porthole window in the door, the small barnacles on the bed posts, the submarine painted on the ceiling in the bathroom, the octopus toilet roll holder, and the jelly fish night light. Not to mention the book shelf full of books by Jules Verne. 

Video tour of our room and the hotel:

Other room choices were Dr. Seuss, The Color Purple, John Steinbeck, J.K. Rowling, Shakespeare, and many more. The Table of Content restaurant serves supper meals family style (we chose to eat at Zurita, a quiet Spanish tapas restaurant nearby) and a nice breakfast. Upstairs has a living room area with big comfortable chairs and couches where we hung out in the evening and enjoyed the mulled wine they serve every evening at 8pm. 

"Books" on the wall in Table of Content restaurant

All this and it was very reasonably priced! Needless to say, we would definitely stay here again. Be warned though, they don't have wifi. Shocking, I know! We simply used our phones as a hotspot when needed. 

The next morning, we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium which we've been to before but always enjoy. The sea otters and their antics are always a favourite, as were some of the birds. Some of the inside exhibits have been under construction since the last time we were here a couple years ago. Hopefully that's finished by the next time we're there. 

A fun video compilation from the aquarium:

We then had a relatively short drive to Astoria to finish the day.