We needed a vacation! It's true that we just got back from an extended visit to Morocco, but that's Africa. It's hot and the trees there are date palms. We needed some Northwest! So, we took a road trip around the northern half of Vancouver Island, visiting Port Hardy, the northernmost town, Campbell River at mid-island, and Tofino in the West. We drove our little red car, which meant that every morning when it warmed up, we could stop and take the top down. Luckily, most of the time the skies were perfectly blue.
Can't do anything until the coffee is finished.
News & Notes
In Pt. Hardy and it's sister fishing village Pt. McNeil we putted through town. We admired the public fish cleaning station and its clever drain that shoots the fish guts right back into the ecosystem.
Big enough to be a "keeper"
They also posted rules for whale encounters.On June 4 the first Race to Alaska (R2AK) began. It's a race from Port Townsend WA to Ketchikan AK with a simple rule: No Motors. So, competitors must sail, row or paddle; 29 teams entered to cover the 750 mile route through the "inside passage" along the east side of Vancouver Island. As we sat on our motel balcony in Campbell River enjoying Happy Hour one afternoon, Free Burd (postion #5) sailed by. The next morning, as we sat on the balcony drinking coffee,Hexagram 59 (#7) sailed past. Hexagram scratched two days later, Free Burd finished in 4th place. (And our favorite team, Soggy Beavers, of six rowers, finished in 7th place!)
Free Burd passes the Quadra Island Lighthouse
Tofino is a small resort community on the Pacific side of Vancouver Island. We think of it as home to some of BC's best chefs. So, we followed a winding mountain road across the Island, passing old growth forests and First Nations petroglyphs, for dinner at The Pointe. Among our favorites were asparagus with truffle-stuffed morels, and foie gras with rhubarb.
The sphere is foie gras with a center of rhubarb gel
Our favorite playwright, Brendan Healy, just had a reading of a new play, City of Presidents. The staff of an old motel comes to terms with their failed dreams in this dark comedy set in Rapid City SD, home of Mt Rushmore. We enjoyed it and hope it is staged soon.
We have salamanders living in our garden pond. Nothing is supposed to be living in our garden pond. But, it's now home to about a half dozen Long Toed Salamanders, Ambystoma macrodactylum (we think ... after all, they're still babies).
- Old link -- http://www.snydersR.us
- New link -- https://www.snydersR.us
Coordinates Is Now Encrypted
The tech community is pushing to increase the use of encryption on the Internet. You can help by changing your bookmark for this page:
That little 's' is the change. It will cause the connection between your computer and our Web page to be encrypted and unreadable by others. We have nothing to hide, of course, but in a small way we increase the amount of Internet traffic that is scrambled and off limits to snoops. You won't notice any differences. Our page will be just as inscrutable as it has always been.