Vancouver Island - Part 2

After we sadly left Sean in Victoria we travelled up the coast to Nanaimo to visit my good friend Jo-Ann who moved there from Regina almost 9 years ago. I had visited her there 2 1/2 years ago so I knew we were in for a good time! We were not disappointed although I am a little disappointed that I didnt take more pictures of the beaches because that is one of my favorite things to do there.

On our way to Nanaimo we saw this tree which is called an Arbutus tree. It's quite picturesque. You are'nt suppose to cut them down or anything but on the way home while we were driving out of Vancouver I am pretty sure I saw a huge branch attached to the back of a trailer amongst some bikes!

On our way to Nanaimo we also stopped for a few minutes to take in some of the scenery. Just so pretty!

This is Jo-Ann. We lived down the street from each other and we met because of our kids. I would call Jo-Ann and tell her that Caleb was walking out the door and as I watched him walk down the street Jo-Ann kept her eyes open for him. Caleb would play with her son Trevor and when it was time for Caleb to come home, she would call me and we would do the same thing again. Caleb and Trevor were only about 3 years old. Maybe 4.

Now, I know this is an odd picture but it's really pretty cool. What you are looking at is seaweed and some shells we found on the beach. The cool thing about this seaweed is that once it is dried you can then use it as a natural exfoliator for your skin. It's super cool when you first use it because it smells just like the ocean!

After walking along the beach after dinner Chris took this picture of the full moon. He was testing out the "night mode" option on the camera for the first time and this happened. A heart shaped moon!

The next day Brad (her husband) and Jo-Ann took us to Cathedral Grove and man was it neat!

Here is Seth and I inside one of the tree trunks. Cool eh?

Seth is pretending that he is King Of The Forrest. You can't really see it much but he was sitting on a tree trunk that looked like a throne.

Here is Jo-Ann and I standing (duh!) in front of an 800 year old tree!! Can you even get your head around the thought of looking at a 800 year old tree?
It's pretty wild to think about.

After Cathedral Grove we drove to Parksville Beach where they had a sand building competition but why I did'nt take any pictures I'll never know. There were about a dozen or so that you could vote on to pick the crowd favorite. Anyway, after walking around there we walked down to the beach. It's very cool when the tide is out because you can walk out "forever". That's Brad. Jo-Ann's husband. He was nice enough to take the day off of work to show us around.

Now this is cool! You are looking at a peach tree in Brad and Jo-Ann's backyard. But what's neat about this peach tree is that is is flat. Flat right up against the back of the house!

On our drive back home we had a flat tire. I went and bought treats at the gas station store while Chris and Seth did all the dirty work.

Like I mentioned in the Vancouver Island Part 1 post, we weren't able to find an open camp ground but we did on the way home. We stayed just outside of a little place called Golden. The view behind us was nice but our "neighbors" kept me up until 2:30am. As I was laying there feeling mad I wished I had taken a picture of the full moon outside the tent door because boy, was it pretty.



That concludes one of the best vacations ever! Thank you so much Brad and Jo-Ann for showing us around and feeding us outstanding food! Another great time!