Family vacations are becoming more and more challenging to arrange; last year Fenya went off to China on a school trip while Audrey, Glory and I travelled to Drumheller, and she will be working full-time at the UAlberta ombuds office for the next year, with no real vacation time to speak of.
Thankfully she had banked up enough hours in May and June to entitle her to a couple of days away from the office, so we split the cost of airplane ticket with her and flew her from Edmonton to Comox on Thursday night. It was a bit late when we got back to our campsite at Whiskey Creek, but it was grand having everyone together and our first full family night in Bride of Frankentrailer.
The next day we lazily explored Qualicum Beach and caught up with Island Mike and his wife Kelly, who Audrey and I've chummed around with on and off for a quarter-century or so. We took a stroll in the amazing heritage forest not far from their house and enjoyed a wonderful supper with them.
On Saturday, our laziness almost prevented us from visiting the Qualicum Beach farmer's market, but we got there in time to get some fresh salad greens for that night's supper and some blueberries for snacking. I also found a delightful honey liqueur called krupnik brewed right on the island in Courtenay, and the girls found some jewelry as well. We also made a trip out to the Coombs Country Market, home of the (in)famous Goats on the Roof.
Here we found a brilliant peach vanilla vinaigrette for our salad and some buns for the bratwursts we had brought for supper. Grilled over an open fire at the campground, and served with mixed greens and a fancy dressing, it felt like a true feast.
The following morning we arose on time for once and piled into the Flex. We headed out to Ucluelet on the west coast of Vancouver Island, stopping in Port Alberni for some breakfast sandwiches. It took about two-and-a-half hours with the construction stoppages, but we still got in before 11:00. We drove through the town to get the lay of the land and ended up at an entrance to the Wild Pacific Trail. With adequate time and decent weather, we decided to check it out, despite the grim warnings contained in the signage.
Right from the start of the trail there are things to check out, including the Amphitrite Lighthouse.
And even on an overcast day like this, some of the seaside vistas were a sight to behold.
The trail itself took us through some of the gnarliest rainforest, with moss-covered stumps and wildly twisted roots exposed by high winds and tidal actions.
We returned to the Flex for some pepperoni sticks and cheese curds before heading back to town, stopping at a scenic former church that now contained a coffee shop and will eventually be home to a microbrewery. From there we made our way to the Ucluelet Aquarium, a catch-and-release enterprise staffed by enthusiastic and knowledgeable young people.
Sadly, they had just released the only octopus they had managed to capture so far this season, as she had doubled in size in under a month and had become far too big for her tank. Thankfully there was still much to see, including a wolf eel and a number of young jellyfish.
We toodled about Ucluelet a little more that afternoon before supping at the Raven Lady food truck. A group from Calgary had set her up, specializing in oyster dishes and offering free shucking lessons to passersby. Full of seafood and marvellous chips, we headed home.
Monday was Fenya's last day on the island, and we would need to leave the area by 3:00 in order to get her to her flight in Comox on time. Surely that would be enough time to visit the beach to she could get some surfside action in?
Well, yes, but since it never got warmer than 16 degrees, it wasn't exactly sunbathing weather. Thankfully, Glory was not about to let a little thing like cool weather prevent her from having her bathing beauty moment, which the rest of us enjoyed from closer to the shore.
I was disappointed at not being able to swim (and from watching a crow fly off with a zip-loc bag full of Jelly Bellies that had been stashed in the cupholder of my chair), but we still had a good time beachcombing and collecting driftwood. We even managed to get the beans back, although only one of us was willing to eat what the girls termed "crowbeans" and it wasn't me, surprisingly.
We headed back to camp with enough time for Fenya to change and shower, then got an order to go from Bigfoot Burgers, a restaurant close to our campsite with amazing french fries. Wolfing them down on our way to Comx, we reflected on what a gift it was to able to spend some time together in such a wonderful environment, so different from where we live.
Even though they are sure to become rarer as the girls leave school and enter (and re-enter) the workforce, I am confident there are more excursions like this in our collective futures - I just hope we don't have to wait too long until the next one!
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