Thursday, September 14, 2006

Vancouver Bound

After the canoe trip, we packed up the girls and headed to Vancouver Island. All the way out to Tofino & Long Beach. I remember driving out there when I was a little kid. That was long ago enough that it was still a dirt road back then, and it was a place the draft-dodgers went to avoid civilization. My dad stuff sleeping bags down into leg room of the back seat so us three boys would have a place to place and sleep (seatbelts? We don't need no stinking seatbelts.) We camped on the beach, picked sand out of our oatmeal, and I tried to bring a starfish back home. When I mentioned this to my dad, he remembers tossing the starfish out after 50 miles. Apparently it had a bit of an aroma.

These days it has a National Park, paved roads, and many tourists buying Haida art. I'm not sure which is better, but I'm glad the land is protected and the indigenous tribes (what's left of them) are making a living off the white people. The bears are still there, so the eco-system is still relatively healthy. For now anyway, since logging has recently started again.

If you ever get a chance, check out the University of British Columbia Anthropological Museum, and the Nitobe Memorial Gardens. The Bill Ried carving there (pictured above) is six feet tall. Absolutely fantastic.

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