Doin' the Tourist Thing

Ever since I decided to try and quit smoking, Zach and I have been busier than ever. I think he's trying to help me keep my mind off of the nicotine I heart so much, and it's working for the most part. We have been getting out daily to do tourist-like activities, and have been really enjoying ourselves.

We even went out last night on a ghost walk in downtown Victoria without the dogs. We even got hot chocolates and walked around a bit after our ghost tour before coming home to continue our nightly ritual of watching House before bed. It was wonderful, although Daddy Zach did worry about them most of the evening. I'm guessing this is how parents feel when they get to go out without their offspring.

On top of the historic ghost walk last night, we've checked out Craigdarroch Castle, some new trails around Goldstream and Victoria's small but lovely Chinatown. Zach's Uncle Bruce came for a surprise visit bearing gifts yesterday too...our first visitor!

I still want to smoke 4000 cigarettes all at once, but all the fun we've been having is making it much more bearable. Thanks, Zach. You're the best.

The Salmon Dance

Our RV park is located a few minutes from Goldstream Provincial Park. We decided to try and catch the tail-end of the salmon run that occurs here every year. We didn't see the teeming hoards of salmon thrashing madly upstream as my minds eye suggested. We did see lots of salmon carcasses littering the stream and it's shores. If bears and predatory birds had raucous frat parties, this is what I imagine the morning after would look like. It was macabre but kind of interesting to see little eddies forming around their hollow eye sockets. Nature, you are simultaneously ruthless and beautiful, not unlike many females I have known over the years.

Patches and Maggie met several of their furry brethren and for the most part responded with minor conniptions. I wonder if they make a canine counterpart to catnip, if so our dogs should be on it. The old growth trees here are amazing, especially when you try to imagine how old they must be and how many generations of people these trees have outlived. Phew, I came close to sounding a nutty tree-hugger in that last sentence, sorry! All in all it was a relaxing and awe-inspiring afternoon (can you put those words together in the same sentence? Is it possible to be in awe of something in a relaxed fashion? We may never know).

In closing, here is a picture of a tree that looks like a bum-hole.