Good-Bye Tofino! I Love You!!

Rosie Bay during high tide

Inukshuk on Chesterman Beach

A VERY full load 

Back seat between Kim and I

This is a common way for surfers to get to the beach 

Skeleton of a Gray Whale at Jamie's Whale Station 

Cathedral Grove

Brian & Shawn

Kim & Brian

Sharon & Shawn inside the hollowed out tree 

Looking up the inside of the hollowed out tree

Walking through Cathedral Grove

Sand Crabs

After lifting the rock, they all scramble

Saturday morning came, I looked out the garden doors which we would leave open all night in our bedroom, I could see the sun rising and blue skies, something we have not seen since last Saturday when we arrived. Now the warm weather and beautiful skies was coming to Tofino, just when we are going home! :(  Saturday turned into a beautiful, HOT day, if was quite humid too. Happy for the many families that had come for Canada Day weekend, but sad for us to miss out. We were up at 7 with most of our stuff packed, just had to shower, eat, get our last minute things together and clean out the fridge. Oh and I almost forget, we have to pack the car up also!! We figured we had less stuff to go home because we had used up quite a few groceries and Kim and I wouldn't have a pile of stuff between us. HA HA, WHAT WAS I THINKING!! We had more stuff than on the way there, we had picked LOTS of seashells, driftwood (with quite a few large pieces for the flower beds) and had done quite a bit of shopping. We were JAMMED PACKED, taking little things out of bags to find little nooks and crannies to get it all in. I think we JUST made it, The pile of stuff between Kim and I in the seats was bigger than before with lots of stuff at our feet that you couldn't even move your feet. UGGG! This would make for a long trip again! We left Tofino at 10 and had to stop at Ucluelet  to pick up a sweater and a couple mugs from Jamie's Whale Station, this all had to sit on my lap on the way home.  We stopped at Cathedral Grove again to go through the walking trail on the other side of the highway and a stretch, beautiful trees! There was one tree that we were able to stand in, just the outside body of the tree was there, the inside either rotted out or maybe lightening hit it, cause it was dark inside like it had been burned. Back on the road for another 45 mins to Goats on the Roof again, we wanted to pick up a couple more things there. By the time we got there, it was very HOT, probably about 30C, we didn't feel the heat at Cathedral Groove because it's so shaded and sheltered. We had some time to kill before the ferry would be leaving so we wasted some time at Parksville, a retirement community, but large city. We walked along the beach for about an hour, picking shells, I know, we have enough shells but these are different shells that we could get at Tofino. The beach was a stoney type of beach, if you turned the rocks over, little sand crabs would come running out trying to find another rock to hide under. Olivia and Kennedy would have so much fun doing this! It was quite hot here and there were a lot of people on the beach enjoying the heat. I could see living in Parksville with the ocean as your play land to go to anytime of the day!

At the ferry terminal

Pretty peninsula across from Nanaimo

At the ferry terminal, we still had to wait for another hour, but we didn't want to get there late and get bumped to the next ferry. The ferry ride is 2 hours long and quite expensive if you live on the island and have to use it often, $114 one-way for 4 people and vehicle. I think if you are a resident on the island you have a cheaper fee, but probably still expensive. By the time we got on the ferry, I was so exhausted, my legs were so tired from sitting in one spot in the car, we were all hot and tired and ready for home. We didn't get home till about 8:30, it was a lot of driving and a LONG day. 

Today we just laid low, did some laundry, organized our bags and packed up the car. Kim and I drove to Potter's Nursery to find an angel ornament that I want to put on my brother Keith's niche at the cemetery in Sherwood Park, also bought a few other things there. 

Tomorrow morning, we're back on the road heading home, probably stopping in Revelstoke for the night. We're hoping to get cherries in Kelowna, but all the fruit growers websites are kind of saying picking doesn't start till 2nd or 3rd week of July. We're hoping we hit it lucky somewhere so we can pick some cherries to take home, they have a late season also due to crappy weather this Spring. We will probably be home around Thursday, starting to get a little homesick and missing everyone. Here's to a safe drive home and more beautiful Canadian scenery.

Talk to you tomorrow!!