14 vii 06: Homecoming

10:15 Dad picked me up at the Philadelphia Airport. I had arranged with Suzy that I would meet her and Willow at Central Park, since Willow's summer camp was ending, and the participants and their families were having a picnic near the Garden of the Five Senses and the swimming pool. I arrived at Lancaster County Central Park at about 12:30 after stopping at Arby's on 322 -- Dad had two sandwiches, a coffee, an iced tea, and french fries, used the rest room twice, and smoked a cigar -- 10:30-11:00, while Karl and I waited -- then in towards Lancaster on US 30 rather than PA 741, which was the route I suggested. We sat unmoving in traffic on US 30. Then Dad asked if I didn't want to leave my backpack in the trunk of his car to pick up later -- no!

As we were approaching the Park, Suzy called and asked if I could be dropped off at the truck, and bring from it the cake for the party. Keep in mind, now, that I have been awake since about 6 a.m. on the 13th -- albeit that would be 9 a.m. Eastern time, or, to reverse the equation, it was, for me, now about 9:30; I had been awake for almost 28 hours. I suppose I may have dozed briefly on the plane.

When I arrived at the picnic, somewhat dazed, having wandered about to several locations in the park before finding the campers, Suzy waved to me, but did not get up from her seat. It was blazing hot and humid, and the food which remained consisted of hamburgers, hotdogs, potato chips cooked in lard... a vegetarian's paradise. We spent much of the afternoon in the park, at the swimming pool. I slept fitfully, stretched out on a beach towel.

We arrived home around 4 p.m., ate dinner (pasta & red sauce, canned green beans) with Max Armstrong. Suzy went out for the evening, to Adams County to see the band Copper Sky (a band from Lancaster). She returned at 3:15 a.m.

The house had been extensively straightened in my absence by Suzy, Willow, Max, and Max's wife Jen. They had not necessarily vacuumed, and materials cleared from the house had been piled haphazardly in the garage attic and barn.

Max had installed new flooring in the bathroom and the upstairs hall; the front door's base had been planed, so that it would not scratch the new flooring there; the lower section of the garage had been totally cleaned; the garage attic had been reorganized; much of the material from the garage had been moved to the barn... Willow's room and our room were neat, the living room, and the kitchen, too!

My pocket journal notes, on the last page facing the record of my trip to Canada: LOVELY HOMECOMING PRESENT!

A further note on the next page reads: "14 Friday -- On 13th Suzy had melted candles in oven; one spilled -- on 14th she made cake -- oven caught on fire, kitchen full of smoke; simultaneously ceiling collapsed because [of] new[ly installed] sink leaking in bathroom [and] of course all this needed to be cleaned up [before I arrived from the airport.]

13 vii 06: Farewell to Canada

Raw notes from my pocket journal:

Saw Stu to Ferry at 7
Off to Ferry myself with Ellie & kids --
BORDER TERRIER posted cards at BOWEN [unhappily without thinking that Canadian standard postcard rate would not be sufficient to take the cards to the USA] %7.55 for 8 stamps; was issued 9, returned one.

Whole Foods Market.com
Tara's orthodontic app't.

7.16 Greenbus @ Burrard
7:29 46 59 wooden burl crown
www.circlecraft.net
MAIWAHANDPRINTS
717-xxx-xxxx Dad's mobile look for Dad around 8:30

cooked hasty dinner -- Gaeng Kari Tua & Papadums
5:50 left for ferry
6:12 on ferry eating dinner c/o Ellie's travel mug

257 EXPRESS BUS OR 250 TO GEORGIA & BURRARD THEN WALK TO FAIRMONT
HOTEL VANCOUVER ON BURRARD
CATCH AIRPORTER TO
INTERNATIONAL DEPARTURES
GATE

40 6:55 7:35 Out of the ferry by 6:40 Now waiting for 6:55 bus 257 downtown
6:55 leaving horseshoe bay 7:01 passing caulfeild [sic] where Tara and I went in Safeway
7:03 cypress creek @ 12 min past Lions Gate Bridge
7:08 entering West Van -- quite a posh neighborhood today. Ellie Mackay grew up here

Overheard on the GVTA radio:
"The crying relieved owner has retrieved her possessions"

A CAA office -- in West Van at Park Royal (where we went to Whole Foods this after) near Taylor Way & Marine Drive -- west of this intersection)
Across the Capilano river 7:16 looks like cobbles -- Lions Gate Bridge 7:17 towards Stanley Pk
7:21 in the heart of Stanley Pk -- now snarled in traffic.

"Yikes! Okay, 10-4. You do realize that that was an hour ago." "Yes. I'm sorry." "It's okay -- you just have to get up to the ferry."
&:24 out of Stanley Park
"Just so you know, the Bowen is down a few minutes so your passengers should be fine."

WELCOME TO VANCOUVER A NUCLEAR WEAPONS FREE ZONE

Now on Georgia St 7:46
on the Green Airporter
sign downtown Vancouver: "BAIT CARS ARE EVERYWHERE Your Local Police"
Granville Bridge 8:08 p
Crossing over Granville Island
"Trying to get hold of Fred; we can hear him, but he can't hear us"
"Tell him to bring the portable radio in when he finishes his run. It needs to charge."
"That could be hard 'cause he doesn't have a phone."
"Who's closest to 41st[?]"
"Stop at 41[st]"
"Inbound or outbound[?]"
"Going to airport"
"Will they have bags or a hat or flag you down?"


8:54 passed through security at YVR with boarding passes; luggage checked -- now for some sustenance -- almost 2 hours to wait! flight AirCanada 0156 gate c41, ET seat 25A
boarding time 10:05

STARBUCKS $7.73 date bar, 175g fat free yogurt, double cappuccino
Starbucks has two longhouse posts in front of it; the music is Vivaldi & Handel

the multiple tile color thing

Bus driver on Airporter most entertaining, shouting "airport" in Hong Kong accent at each stop.

Now it's Wendy/Walter Carlos realization of a baroque piece -- no, it's someone else doing it -- this has real violins and recorders. I think it's vivaldi, but am not enough familiar to say -- it's not any of the recordings I have of the piece.

Rainy but not raining -- dark closing in, unlike clear days when the twilight hangs until 11 pm.

It is now 9:25 time for a "wash"

10:10 on board the flight -- once again looking out over the wing.

[with asymmetrical sketch:] lay out of city by lights

What causes white glow across northern horizon? Dawn? or the moon?

5:45 [a.m. on 14 vii 06] descending into Toronto
the horizon for a brief time
brilliantly banded
now a diffused muddy purple
[drawing]
orange

What I thought at first were many small lakes
resolve in the growing
light as the patterns of fields
made obscure by thin cloud

[drawing]
passengers travelling to Phda E gate in Terminal 2
1:15 hrs for connection
7:14 in AC Jazz 7910, mobile off.
Bombadier CRJ1001200 series regional Jet

[drawing, labelled] FOG IN RIVER VALLEYS
[drawing, labelled] Tall cloud in center
standing out from main mass
[drawing, labelled] River dam? highway
Great curve of mts

"local conditions in Phida It's 23 [degrees] -- that's about 76 Fahrenheit... Il-y-a vingt-trois degrais, c'est sixante-sept Fahrenheit --" and you thought the basic conversion was tricky!

9:30 am waiting outside the terminal in Phda for Karl and Dad -- they are near Longwood Gardens, about 25 minutes away.

12 vii 06: Kelowna to Bowen Island

raw notes from my pocket journal:

up and packed 6 am
another excellent night's sleep
I TAUGHT AN ENGLISHWOMAN TO WEAR WOOL SOCKS [and gave her a pair!]

12 VII 2006 Nearing the end.

DESMOND HUGH CARR our driver [his e-mail in his hand]

Le cho: good morning in Cantonese
450 km today 8;40 leaving Kelowna
floating bridge -- longest in Can. pontoon bridge 2100 ft
3.3 ft per metre

FIRST STOP is in MERRITT
Nicola Valley -- heavily forested.
sign: GORMAN: New forest
planted 1980, harvested
1978

9.25 CASCADES FOREST DISTRICT
10:04 arrive Merritt

Clumber Spaniel
excellent samosa & tamarind chutney at snack shop $1.50

10:35 home of the Merritt Mountain Music Festival
3rd weekend of July

MICROPORE TAPE for 1st aid kit

Coquihalla Valley 10:50 am
approaching Coastal Range

DAVID GREY Babylon

11:10 in amongst foothills of snow capp'd mts again.
COQUIHALLAH TOLLBOOTH 11:20

[very shaky; written while bus was moving] great rocks! Coquihalla Valley

11:52 am Coquihalla Canyon PP Othello Tunnels

12:30 leaving tunnels
clouds concealing
mountain tops
cool breeze
two shirts and a spray deck
and still cool.

2 p.m. leaving LK LAWKAWA

Corinna Leung [a fellow traveler; her e-mail in her hand] Nurse originally from Hong Kong, now living in Australia.

My desire and your monkeyKorean dance beat

2:12 entering Fraser River Valley

It will widen out as we go and probably piss rain down upon us -- DHC

2:33 entering Chilliwack
DHC used to live near here -- was a competition sky diving place across the street -- story of the crash -- 15' of aviation-fluid-saturated soil in the front yard plane crashed between two tents

Abbotsford 2:58 p.m. "The Buckle of the Bible Belt"

Natural Escapes
Terry's Kayaking Operation

Desmond Carr
3:45 p entering outskirts of Van
IKEA in New Wesminster or Coquitlam is largest in world
NEW WESTMINSTER "The Royal City" was once provincial capitol --
4:19 p at Burrard & Georgia waiting for 427 pm #257 Horseshow Bay Xpress bus to Ferry. 5:35 Ferry $3.25 fare
4:32 on bus -- commodious compartment for backpack & gear -- double bus 4:44 Lion's Gate bridge
5:06 arrive Horseshoe Bay Ferry $7.70

In terminal at Horseshoe Bay WAITING ROOM A Coca-cola Dasani machine two Telus phone kiosks, a telus card dispenser, another coke machine a snack machine, yet another coke machine, a change machine, a coffee machine women's room, men's room water fountain waste bin -- chrome [labels on sketches:] galvanized bin for newspapers two recycling bins waste bin

along window one security camera bank of ten joined seats then a bank of five then 3 more banks of five down center of room
5:27 steady rain
terminal is filling up
5:32 on ferry looking out to Bowen.

11 vii 06: Revelstoke to Kelowna

Image: go-karting
raw notes from my pocket journal:

Steve Halstead works as a production engineer -- examining, correcting production lines & equipment.

8:30 leaving Same Sun in Revelstoke MAGIC CARPET RIDE -- Steppenwolf?
9:00 three valley gap -- ghost town

11
JULY
2006
Tuesday
[in margin beside drawing of traffic barrier] roads close periodically in winter so avalanches can be triggered with howitzers and then cleared

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU Clowns to the left of me Jokers to the right

GRIFFIN LAKE 9 am
www.indostry.co.uk 9:09
Faerie glamour akin to LOVE

Lime int he coconut
9:24 we arrive at the GO KARTING TRACK
9:46 the racers come off the track
10:02 leaving GO KARTS now on for ICE CREAM.
1014 entering SICAMOUS [arrow drawn to * below]

Okanagan towards Salmon Arm and Kamloops very like 324 along Juniata

"Houseboat Capital of Canada" [* arrow from above and another down to * below]

MOUNTAIN EQUIPMENT COOP A--- is a member

salon culture is Saloon culture
10:39
along
MARA LAKE [arrow to ** below]

[arrow from * above to this note] FOR RENT for use on the SHUSWAP LAKE

[**] ("a little lake" sez Des, "you can see the other side")

shop and fence along 97A completely covered in hubcap

South ENDERBY Flea Market 10:55
tour guide insists on our buying CHEESY TACKY GIFTS for other members of the tour -- I told him "It's more than my heart can bear."

[full page drawing labelled "NEAR SICAMOUS across from D Dutchman Dairy 25 mins HB]

the run-down-ness of this middle country is painful compared with the high delights of Vancouver, Whistler, Banff.
Some people like flea markets and garage sales -- I find them anathema. I generally know what I want and need and seek it out, but the search is so intense at a flea market -- and so much so saddens me I simply can't stand it.
At a museum one might find much the same material, but the structure of a good museum (which the 1719 house is not) is such that one is distanced from the emotion, or the emotion is showcased and focused, In a flea market the emotion is omnipresent and uncontrolled. My reaction is to become saddened or to flee -- thus to me a flea market is a flee market.

I think I'm realizing that rather than being,as some have said, devoid of emotion that I am rather extremely sensitive [continued on next page after drawing]

[drawing of a clever paper-towel dispenser with label:] hinged piece of wood to hold hown the paper towel roll Enderby flea market

emotionally and that to protect myself I take on intellection

11;55 leaving flea market at Enderby
NOON 97A South RAIN
12:19
Vernon -- oldest town in BC interior used to be called Priest's Valley
ASLAN plumbing, electric, & heating [with a lion logo]
BUT is it TAME Plumbing?

1:08 in those perfect moments for which we would wish everything about ourselves to be clean and pure, we rarely have the freshest breath or the best smelling bodies, but we find that the strength of the experience of the moment washes away those flaws.
1:16 pm off to Kalamalka viewpt

Alexanders beach pub ran its sprinklers to drive us off the lawn at Kalamalka lake
1:29 leaving viewpoint

[record of a rhyme taught me by A--- upon seeing magpies:]
1 for sorrow 4 for a boy
2 for joy 5 for silver
3 for marriage 6 for gold

7 for a secret that's never been told

bernard & bertram crossroads safeway KELOWNA!
3;45 sign in to private room
WITH AIR CONDITIONING!

Off to Winery tour.

lakeshore Rd in Kelowna has quite a few Indian restaurants, bookstores, & giftshops

Snipes owns the winery -- totally organic
SUMMERHILL PYRAMID WINERY

EHRENFELSER White with reddish taste
CABERNET FRANC 5:00 back, shower, dinner, nap

[notes from a conversation with Stuart Cole]
GO TO GEORGIA ST perp to Burrard
RBC walk away from Burrard
toward tanley Pk on Water (north side) TWO BUSES -farther from Burrard
GIVE A CALL 257 express bus BLUE LINE or 250 slower
Hop on BOWEN
5:35, 6;35, 7:35, 935
$11.45

talked c Willow & Suzy -- Subaru clutch died; Cooper will be put down tonight.

HORSE DRIVER from AUSTRALIA Vanessa Lowden [her e-mail in her hand]

learning to play pool to bed 9: pm

10 vii 06: Leaving Banff

raw entries from my journal, many in a shaky hand -- jostling in the bus:

8:23 a.m. MONDAY 10 JULY 2006 I had hoped it would be raining as I left Banff and I got my wish. A--- and Ben left at 3:20 [a.m.] walking through the dark to the Greyhound Station before the moon rose above Rundle

FO MO -- a faux Mowhawk
BANFF NP -- Elk (2 in field)
9:20 JOHNSON CANYON FALL great bedding planes -- cave where fall came though 8 k yr a
10:00 back to bus

LAKE LOUISE HI -- very picturesque
10:44 am

TAKAGAW FALLS -- many caves

[drawing captioned] hoodoos in training

Des has to reverse every other switchback

The Main falls are from Mt Niles 2972 m
left falls area 12:35 pm

[drawing of rock structure] white more competent but folded band within grey bedding planes

1:02 pm we stop by the Kicking Horse River to pick up some women who went on a rafting expedition.

[drawing] avalache screens chain link

DAHL SHEEP? BIGHORN SHEEP?

1:13 mountain goats -- opinions vary -- v. pics.
above GOLDEN BC

1:20 at Husky Station W. of Golden, approaching thunderstorm

[boxed, checked] RECHARGE EVERYTHING
[boxed, not checked] POST CARDS

1:44 storm breaking
2:52 ROGERS PASS 640 fires currently in BC interior

MOUNTAIN HOUSE FREEZE DRIED FOODS featured in "Bears and Man" film at Rogers Pass Interp Ctr

[I don't know whether Mountain House exists any longer, but I experienced a tremendous wave of nostalgia when we were shown this film. It must have been shot in the first half of the 1970s and has clearly been shown too many times since then. Parks Canada might want to consider reshooting, or simply creating a new film, or perhaps do something else to persuade visitors that they need not waste their time looking for folks in '70s togs with frame packs and so on... well, maybe their time wouldn't be altogether wasted... Back in the day (1974-1980) my dad's notion of proper camping involved carefully determined quantities of Mountain House freeze-dried food. I can't argue with the efficiency of this -- all that one needs is a means by which to boil a kettleful of water, and the food, since it is sealed, is relatively odorless and therefore less of a temptation to critters, etc. Also it is quite light, and in some cases remarkably tasty (Mountain House was far superior in flavor to some other brands, so I certainly don't begrudge the bit of advert Mountain House got). But beginning in about 1980 I became a devotee of Kinmont and Axcell's Simple Foods for the Pack, and I haven't used freeze-dried for camping since. So seeing the old '70s Mountain House wind-cloud-snowflake-and-sun graphic tickled me.]

3:30 leaving Rogers Pass interp. Center
4:30 arrive @ revelstoke (3:30 Pacific time)
[boxed, checked] Ask DES @ what time we should arrive in Vancouver.

Meritt Mountain Music festival Merritt BC largest C&W festival in world. avoid campground "C" -- a free for all

TO BED AROUND 8:30 -- UP AT 6;45 best night of sleep since BOWEN Island!

[small drawing at bottom of page] Mt in Revelstoke from Same Sun [hostel]

9 vii 06: The World Cup

Raw entries from my pocket journal:

DRAGOMAN.CO.UK company 60% of the profits go into the communities in which the travel occurs

[drawing; caption:] Ben watching the World Cup finals
9 VII 06

ALEXANDER KEITH'S INDIA PALE ALE $4.95 at Tommy's = 6.00 with tip [okay, so that was a bit better tip -- not great, but better]

[another drawing of Ben]

A---'s fascinating fact 415: referees at a football match put in about 13-15 miles

RAIN in Banff left Underground after an hour, walked to hostel, made dinner, ate, walked back down, looked for A--- and BEN -- found them walking back out of town

GIDDY GOAT TOURS -- to Calgary from Banff

8 vii 06: The Second Attempt on Rundle

Raw notes from my pocket journal:

SATURDAY 8 VII 06 9;30 am
on Bridge above Swift River about to ascend Mt Rundle -- prophylactic Dr Scholl's moleskin
trailhead @ 10
treeline @ 1
two men we met on the mt turned back FERDOSH & SHAFIK
1;50 MA had to turn back -- Ben Ayling went on to Summit
2:35 BA reached summit
4:00 pm BOW RIVER

[sketch drawing covering a page, with the following labels:]
RUNDLE 8 VII 06
* Ben came this far
1 1/2 hr climb
* A--- came this far
10 min climb
* Ferdosh
* I came this far

30 min/ 45 min
to treeline

NOT TO SCALE

Lovely dinner -- steak & mushrooms salads (veggie burgers & mushrooms for me) at about 8 -- then attempt to sleep in fetid smelling room while 5th graders race about the hall -- [in margin 9 VII 06 SUN] up at 3, again at 4, again at 6, again at 8
reconciled accounts, withdrew $100 to cover the last few days

7 vii 06 Day Hike to Hoodoos

Raw notes from my pocket journal:

A--- had little sleep last night. Nightmare about serial killer who she knew but could not identify.

A question now is whether t go on with the Moose Run or to hire a car to go to Vancouver (an 8-hour drive) [at break-neck speed] -- if I did that I could stay through Monday, leave Tuesday, stay in Kelowna and then Weds stay with Stu

I will travel out with STEVE

[all entries below boxed but not checked:]
POSTAGE STAMPS
cards?
LUNCH
CASH
ACCOUNT BAL.
INFO ON CARS
INFO ON HOSTELS
MAPS
MOSIE REPEL.

[phone number for KATE]

HERTZ
$69/day for economy [Hyundai] Accent, Ford Focus
2 days 147.40 from AVIS
territory
sulfur sulphur

TO DRUMHELLER @ 3 hrs 30 min 268 km
HIGHWAY 1 TO
HIGHWAY 2 IN CALGARY
HWY 72 E/HWY 2A exit 295
to crossfield/ACME/Beiseker
0.9 km to bear right @ HWY 72 --
31 km to North Rd 1.6 km
HWY 9 - 11 km
16 AVE EAST 910 OUT OF CALGARY, TURN LEFT ONTO HWY 9 to Drumheller TO HWY 10 TO THE HOODOOS 8.5 km SE or Drumheller

[Following list all checked, no boxes]

BANANAS INSECT REPELLENT
MUESLI BARS CHOCOLATE
AVOCADO CHEESE

What these entries do not make clear is that a good part of this afternoon was spent hiking with A--- and Bennett from Bow River Falls along the edge of the Bow River and at the base of Tunnel Mountain to a bend in the river where we found a small cluster of hoodoos.

6 vii 06: The First Attempt on Rundle

raw entries from my pocket journal:

10:00 a.m. started walking up Mt Rundle with A--- and Bennett Ayling
2:00 p.m. nearing summit [that was my impression at the time -- we were still probably 750 meters below the summit] almost level with Sulfur Mt
3:15 pm after reaching area above treeline turned back because of approaching thunderstorms a bit of rain below treeline
5:35 pm reached Bow River Falls
6:35 in Tommy's Pub -- 20.00 cab to hostel 3.00
7:15 dinner at Hostel
8:00 beer in pub at Hostel
12:45 to bed. Room 101 this time.

5 vii 06: Wednesday: Bow Lake Trail

At this point in my travels, I was caught between wanting to carry out as much of my original tour plan as possible and spending as much time as possible with A---. What I didn't fully consider was just how much time A--- might wish to spend with me. I guess that's all part of infatuation. Even the slightest availability seems to be an open invitation to a lifetime together! Ah, looking back on this a year later, it seems, well, comical. On the 5th of July, 2006, I was less able to place matters in a broader context.

At this point I had for several days been keeping two journals -- one, my pocket journal with daily notes, and another, a larger journal not so easily managed while walking and so kept in my large backpack, in which I recorded more lengthy reflections upon my situation, sometimes in the form of letters to A--- or to my wife.

The rapid unfolding and changing of plans is reflected in the following notations in my pocket journal:

WEDNESDAY 5TH VII 06
Horseback riding [struck through] or
canoeing [struck through]
Bowlake walk [underlined: this was what I actually did]

THURSDAY 6TH VII 06
Hike on Mt Rundle
Sulfur Mountain Gondola [struck through]
& walk on mountain [struck through]
HOT SPRINGS [struck through]

FRIDAY 7TH VII 06
LONG DAY HIKE

SATURDAY 8TH
canoeing or
Horseback riding [neither struck through, but neither done: this was our second attempt on Rundle]

SUNDAY 9TH
PREP FOR RETURN

MONDAY 10TH [followed by the time notation, written later in a darker graphite:] 8: am
MOOSE TOUR OUT TO REVELSTOKE

TUESDAY 11TH
MOOSE TOUR OUT TO KELOWNA

WEDNESDAY 12TH
RETURN TO VANCOUVER
with Mackay-COLES

THURSDAY 13TH
FLIGHT OUT

FRIDAY 14TH HOME

[Annette Barrie's e-mail address, in her hand, and her mailing address, in mine]

Amusing UK Shows
The Fast Show
Harry M. Field & Chums
Little Britain
The Office (UK)
Two Pints of Lager & A Packet of Crisps (HMV)
Phoenix Nights (or Peter K.)

Alan partridge
Billy Connolly
In League of Gentlemen dark twisted humour

yy cwdoll
DELHAUSIE Scotch whiskey

[Delwyn Savage's e-mail address in her hand]
BOW RIVER & SWIFT RIVER with A---
6 VII 06 MORNING

Tom Isherwood -- manchester geography & geology [his e-mail in his own hand]

hardtail bikes (style of mt bike[)]
back to Banff Underground [internet cafe] downloads & e-mail
Borrowed $20 from A---

Matthew [from the UK] studied at U of Va

Montreal a hostel in M recommended by A---
free internet breakfast laundry $22.00

[Stephen Halstead's e-mail address in his own hand]
Stephen back from Calgary ate dinner c him; after A--- and I had each a beer at the HI pub. $4.00 + 25 c tip [okay, okay, so that's a lousy tip, so sue me already]

[Kasper Fundahl's (i.e. the "Caspar" of "Caspar and Pernilla" fame) e-mail -- actually his wife's; in his hand]

Other than the notation "Bow River & Swift River with A--- / 6 VII 06 Morning" there is little here to suggest the activity of the day: apparently much of it was spent talking about television shows and talking about or consuming alcohol. Actually, I think that may be more accurate than not. However, I did take an extended (but very fast) walk -- almost a jog -- along the Bow and Swift Rivers at the base of Mt Rundle.

4 vii 06: In Banff

Raw entries from my journal:

Tunnel Mt Rd becomes OTTER ST

PRANA CAPS 29.99

sign in Warner Guide & Outfitters shop:

THE ONLY TIME A WOMAN CAN CHANGE A MAN IS WHEN HE'S A BABY

WILD FLOUR artisanal cafe

LOVELY WILL RETURN

$4.25 for toast and coffee

MOUNTAIN MAGIC OUTFITTERS $50.77 for camel pack and hat [that is, a 3 litre hydration sack by Platypus and a baseball cap by Cloudveil]

Toward Tunnel Mt Trail from Tunnel Mot Rd 4.VII.06 12:16 pm

DIFF BETW. SCIENCE & PHILOS. [remainder of entry all in caps, but for clarity here in mixed face] Philos. provides grounding principles -- when science articulates laws it intersects with philosophy. Science is oriented largely to practical knowledge -- is more grounded in specifics rather than speculation. When I adjust my paddle stroke or my hydration nozzle, this is science -- when I consider the beauty of a good stroke or placement of the nozzle this is art or philosophy -- art is more the direct experience of the beauty, philosophy more the implications...

12:30 at trail head of Tunnel Mt Tr. The summit is 2.3 km away, 750 m up

rug/mat juniper privet some sort of rose tiny sarvisberry strawberry pussy toes (pink) harebells sedum (flowering yellow) yarrow golden ragwort or something very similar, gaillardia, lots of mosquitoes, carpenter ants and other sorts as well pines c two short needles to a bract, delphiniums (not flowering) uva ursi, some kind of short goldenrod or ranunculus [drawing of leaf] [crossed out:] might also be corydalis
pinkish corydalis lower down
lichen moss
[drawing with caption:] this is the flower head (unopened)
Gooseberry or something closely similar
[drawing of leaf, stem, and flower:] some type of white madder

1:54 pm at the summit -- butterflies on the mountain

LOGAN & CHRISTIE from Edmonton a pleasant conversation on the way down

This is the Western Edge of the Atlantic Realm.

2;40 back to the hard road halfway to the Banff Center

DAVE from TX gave lift from road

TOM TOM GPS GARMIN is good handheld recommendation by Fred Allen
FreddieAllen.com 3:00 pm
3:19 assessing foodstocks

BAGELS YOGURT sugar
SALAD PASTA pepper
BUTTER NACHOS tomatoes
JAM SALSA potatoes

Pernilla and Caspar 301

3 vii 06: Shuswap to Banff

At this point in my travel, although I had kept fairly detailed notes giving a clear sequence of events in the day, I had been in conversation with an English traveller who suggested that rather than recording the experience I should, well, experience it.

So, for example, the entry in my journal for 3 vii 06 makes no mention whatever of the fact that the Moose Tour stopped in the Revelstoke area to learn kayaking techniques from a man named Terry [www.naturalescapes.ca] who also makes his own kayaks (he is an industrial arts instructor in the off-season).

Raw entries from my journal:

CENTRAL BC near SHUSWAP LAKE in SALMON ARM

9:42 am 3 VII 06
recycling does not seem to have caught on here -- despite the Tim Hortons rather than Crispy Creme [sic] this area seems very AMUHRICIN

[some British terms identified by British travellers as distinguishing the Brits from the Yanks:]
WONKY BOLLOCKS DODGEY [several others were offered, but I did not write them down, to my regret]

Although the rocks are different the geomorphic structures here are reminiscent to a degre of Sunbury or Lewisbury -- but the ridges are not as tight; there is a bit more air, although it is apparently record high temperatures here

Birmingham accent [identified by a British traveller as the most un-lovely of English accents]

Charles DeLint for Willow
Emily Rodda
Cornelia Funke
Paolo Couli -- ? Brasilian The Pilgrimage, Eleven Minutes
[authors identified as worth investigation by an Englich traveller]

REPORT POACHERS AND POLLUTERS [a sign on the highway]

Selkirk Mountains -- part of the Columbia Mountains

ROGERS PASS 1330 meters
sub-alpine ecosystem

[sketch of mountains]
spruce & birch or aspen

[sketch of road sign indicating the danger of a car sliding and overturning if travelling at too great a speed]

[sketch of three trees, with labels:]
birch fir aspen

[sketch with label:]
brown cone of pebbles

Tom Petty: Let's Get to the Point You don't know how it feels...
COLDPLAY

MASON JENNINGS BUTTERFLY I don't know how you got inside me baby but you're in there now

FIRE IN YOHO [National Park] -- watch fr KICKING HORSE RIVER -- PROCUPINE NESTS!

[sketch with label]
erosion in flakes
[second sketch of eriosion in flakes]

[sketches of mountains in the Lake Louise area]

[sketch with label:]
Mt Rundel

Canadian Rickies Rafting Company Bow River and Horseshoe Canyon

8:00 am pickup $71 CAD per person
Kicking River Gorge 7:50 pickup 110.25 CAD per person
GONDOLA $22.50 roundtrip
:10, :22 7 - 11 $2.00

9:40 pm ROCKY MTN TIME IN THE KITCHEN OF THE BANFF HOSTELL WITH ANNETTE FROM AUSTRALIA She is cooking dinner -- pasta and red sauce
Drinking cider -- whichever bottle has the most is hers

[in his own hand, Ben Ayling's address]

A bit of explanation

My original intent in travelling to Canada was not, in fact, to fall in love: neither to fall in love with Western Canada, which I did, nor to fall in love with a woman, which I did.



As to the falling in love with Western Canada, I think this is one of those largely safe and unrequited loves in which no-one sees any real harm. It didn't really do a thing to help my failing marriage that I came home raving about the wonders of British Columbia and Alberta, but in and of itself, my infatuation with them was neither here nor there.



As to the falling in love with a woman, well, I must at this point, a year after the business, exercise some degree of caution: British Columbia probably doesn't mind that I blog about it, but my acquaintance of those two weeks in June and July of 2006 probably does mind that I would blog about her. My concern here is to illustrate my travel experiences, which, for good or ill included the experience of falling in love, not to libel the person who, for good or ill, was the object of my attention. That I fell in love with her and that she was strictly involved with her own affairs is very important to remember here.



Suffice it to say that I changed my plans radically at this point, while I was 8 days into a 21 day trip. I don't regret the change in part -- the pace of the journey was hectic and I was ready for a bit of rest -- but I do regret that I missed seeing the Athabasca Ice Fields, for example.



My reflections upon my feelings may be instructive for those suffering from similar feelings, or for those who (for whatever reasons of their own) are interested in studying me.

2 vii 06 Squilax to Copper Island

Raw entries from my journal

Departing Squilax HI on canoe 10:35

Furthest out & heading back c current 11:25

mink -- merganser c 4 chicks -- kingfisher -- fish jumping -- osprey

2 beaver lodges -- one on far side (west)
Attempt to photograph osprey nest, but speed boater's wake makes it difficult

daytime (red) BAT!

12 noon damn! here comes another [speedboat]

Perilla's sweater

AT SQUILAX waiting for TIM from COPPER ISLAND

Blair [proprietor of Squilax General Store HI] sez:

TRUE NORTH tours are the best tours of Canada
[www.]truenorthtours.com

Jasper is great on the trail
Via Rail on the Canada Pacific line is not that great -- not worth the money.

BUT -- get a 30-day pass and it's actually CHEAPER than the CHURCHILL RUN -- but it INCLUDES that run!

company that rents SUVs equipped for camping: Canadian Adventure Rentals

www.canadian-adventure-rentals.com

[address of a fellow traveller's blog -- withheld for legal considerations]

HI Jasper Box 387 Jasper AB T0E 1E0 Tel 780.852-3215
jihostel@hostellingintl.ca
877.852-0781 toll free
Athabasca Falls Hostel c/o the above
Mt Edith Clavell c/o the above


Salmon Run in fall is quite something to see

1 vii 06: Canada Day: The Thrall of Love

Raw entries from my journal:


1 VII 06 Canada Day July 1 2006

7:00 a.m. talked with Suzy -- SNAFU at home -- had to end call because Willow had fallen out of her rope swing.
9:13 driving out of Vancouver
Driver Ianna (sht for Marianna) suggest Commercial Avenue as a cool neighbourhood in Vancouver (East Van)
Ont[o] 1st Ave towards Can. 1
To Brunette Ave rt in New Westminster
to Braid Str left off Brunette
rt on Canfor rt on Edworthy Way
Moose Headquarters 104 Edworthy Way
104 - 360 Edworthy Way New Westminster
BC V3L 5T8

Laura [virtually illegible scrawl:] phone operator spoke c @ Ferry [written more neatly in margin:] phone oper. I spoke with @ the ferry. (on the phone)
10:19 am back towards 1
[very shaky -- written while bus travelling along highway:]
Transcanada (1) 7000 km from Coast to Coast -- we will travel only about 1000

Driving toward Mt Baker
Abbotsford -- Raspberry cap.
11:30 am leaving

Tim Hortons -- tea & cruller (still batter-y) $1.99
Laundry last night 4.00
1.25 for wash
1.25 for dry
1.50 for powder

10:30 driving through Chilliwack in the FRASER RIVER VALLEY, not the lower mainland any more ag region strong manure smell

11:51 bridal veil falls
Sarbjit -- she who conquers all

12:15 leaving for HOPE
JACK JOHNSON --composer performer Great Percussion!

[sketch of mountains at Hope on 2/3 of page]

12:37 entering HOPE warm but extraordinarily windy

[boxed, no check] Biological Philosophy all life is a political act for humans -- How a life is led is the political STRATEGY

1:54 leaving Hope -- the chainsaw sculpture capital of CA

1870 YALE CONVENTION BC would join Canada only if a rr was built to link to the rest of Canada CBR railroad
2:12 pm YALE

RY COODER

LAZY BUT ALSO HEDONISTIC --
WILL DO MUCH FOR PLEASURE
SADISM AND MASOCHISM
MUST BE UNDERSTOOD AS
ESPECIALLY ARTICULATED FORM
WILL CREATE PAIN TO REACH A
DESIRED PLEASURE

LYTTON 44.4 [degrees] C hottest recorded temp. in Canada
3:06 entering desert
CANADA DAY CAKE @ LYTTON INFO CTR 3:35
confluence of FRASER (sediment full) and THOMPSON (glacial) at LYTTON
[shaky scrawl:] 351 leaving Lytton

many dead trees on higher slopes of desert mountains -- because of too much sun -- loss of forest cover? moth damage?
4:22 entering Kamloops forest district -- sage brush desert with ponderosa pines on the heights -- just "over the mountain" from Whistler
Cache Creek 5:00 pm

The shortsightedness and danger of irrigation -- RANT

Valley floor has cattails and sedges

GINSENG (!!) FARM 5:11
5:30 bicyclists above Kamloops Lake
Gyms rarely have fit people

SOD & LOG HUTS OUTSIDE KAMLOOPS
Be Good Tanyas -- Vancouver Newgrass
6 pm Kamloops
7:19 And now for the cookery part of our show...

8:30 JONESING FOR A---
What could be a physiological explanation for the connection I feel, and the distress at separation? Going away from Whistler was like going away from myself.

BILL BRYSON A short history of nearly everything Random House 2003 neither Here nor there

8:55 p, about to leave Squilax General Store for a walk to the Beaver lodge

THE PAIN RESOLVED ONLY IN THE PRESENCE OF THE BELOVED. I KNEW NOT THAT SOMETHING WAS MISSING IN ME UNTIL I MET HER -- NOW I FEEL THE LOSS KEENLY. I KNOW THE ANSWER TO WHAT IS MISSING LIES WITHIN, BUT SHE IS A KEY.

of all things: forget-me-nots along the shore!

9:31 at Beaver lodge saw beaver -- also least (?) sandpipers

9:45 received call from Craig and Erica at the Hostel -- A--- left today for HI Jericho and is going on the Rocky tour.

If she knew I would call HI Jericho she has a mind right for me; if not, I will make a mistake and pay for it -- it won't be the first time.

CANADA DAY FIREWORKS -- COMPLETELY OUT OF CONTROL

MOOSE TRAVEL NETWORK
(LAURA -- -- --) 8-6 in BC 9-7 in AB 1-888-244-6673
"we need to know your travel dates and pickup points. You have until 6 pm Vancouver time the night before to make changes to your travel pland if you are scheduled to depart on any trip leg on the following day. There is a $25 reinstatement fee for a no-show."

[box, no check] call Moose --
[box, checked] find out if A--- is on the Hoodapus or Wapiti
if yes [box, checked] find out if anyone is staying at HI Shuswap [arrow indicating process to point *]
[if no, indicated by arrow; box, checked] get number for other hostel if necessary.
[*, box, no check] GO ON WITH IANNA
[box, check] find out whether tour can be "jumbled["].

[note entered on the 2 vii 06] TIM'S COMING AT 2 TO PICKUP

30 vi 06: Whistler to Vancouver

My visit to Whistler was one of the high points of my travel through Canada. Several points contributed to that. First, Whistler is stunning. It is a group of villages set in a gorgeous mountain valley. Part of me wants to complain that these communities are so well-manicured as to seem plastic. And they are. And they do. And I still found Whistler stunning.

Whistler is basically a ski resort, and yet for the adventuresome there is no lack of activities in the summer: when we arrived, some of the ski slopes had been converted for mountain biking with huge mounds of earth built into ramps from which riders were launching themselves what seemed to me hundreds of feet into the air. As a protection against road rash -- and spinal injuries -- these riders were wearing quilted body suits, plated plastic armour, and, of course helmets. They looked as though they must be very, very hot; they also looked as though they should be actors in a science-fiction movie. But I think they were enjoying themselves.

Second, the hostel at which we stayed, although it was not particularly more expensive than the HIs in Vancouver or Victoria, was, by hostelling standards, downright posh. I shared a room with Steve: he had a single bed, and I had the lower of a bunk. We had between us a private full bath -- indeed, each of the rooms had a private full bath, as we discovered, and some had closets! The floors had plush new carpetting, and because everyone was to take off her or his shoes on entering, we could really luxuriate in this. Basically, this hostel was a private home converted for public use, and so it had a large living room which was cozy and home-like with sofas and coffee tables, and a large dining room with a big farmhouse style table and sideboards with dishes. The kitchen was also large, brightly-lit, newly-furnished with several commercial-size refrigerators, nice stainless-steel sinks, and composite counters. A large deck on the front of the house looked out towards Alta Lake and a smaller deck at the rear backed into the rocky, flower-grown hillside. Below this deck it seems was concealed a hot-tub (which I only heard about on the way back to Vancouver).

Third, I fell in love there. Oh, it was infatuation, but it was a thrill. After walking to Alta Lake on the evening of the 29th before dinner with some others from the tour, I took a quick swim in the weedy lake, and then when I returned to where we had stashed our towels and backpacks, I found an unfamiliar woman had joined our party. She was also staying at the hostel, but had arrived some days earlier and was staying to enjoy the mountain biking and running. She had also been swimming, and was drying in the sun on the little lawn between the shore and the boat-access road. She had a lovely tan, was obviously athletic, and spoke quietly with an attractive English Lake-District accent -- and yes, that is the order in which I observed these points.

I dried my hair with my towel and was preparing to go back to the hostel. She asked me what I was doing in my travels, and I gave what had become a kind of standard litany by that point: I have been sent by the College for which I work to study here and I plan to make a book narrating my travels. Well, she said, Why don't you sit down and say a little bit more about that? So I did.

But I had been preparing myself for a moment such as this, and I had learned a bit from my travels already. I did not want to be too focused on myself, and turned the conversation as much as possible to her background and her travels. This was very pleasant for me, as she had the sort of voice that hits a certain note or quality so that one's spine tingles to hear it. An hour and a half after I had planned to return to the hostel, one of the women in our tour group came to say that dinner was ready. My new acquaintance and I got up -- everyone else had already returned -- she went off to talk with some folks at the jetty and I went back to the hostel.

After dinner we met again and sat on the deck and in the living room and talked until dark, when Des, my driver - tour guide, led an expedition to Moe Joe's, which he apparently thought was an experience not to be missed. I didn't care for the experience, and furthermore hoped to meet my new acquaintance again before she retired for the night, and so I set off from Whistler in the dark, alone, and promptly became lost.

The paths in Whistler are wide, paved, and smooth. They are also dark. To the south in the night sky is a glow which I guess must be metropolitan Vancouver, but for the most part, the stars on a clear night are very bright. The trees are thick and beneath them is little underbrush, but along the creeks and in the deep shade under the trees a traveller at night hears grunting and snuffling, which might be the water rushing over the stones, or perhaps very large skunks. When later I described the sounds I heard to a native of the area, he said one word: "Bears."

On the 30th I rose early with the hope of catching A---- at breakfast, which I did: we talked for an hour or so and then she announced that she was planning to go for a run around Alta Lake. I thought perhaps I might meet her in her circuit if I went out walking. Once again, I quickly became lost on the trails around the lakes, and saw far more of the area than I had expected. About 1:30 I returned from my three-hour odyssey, and talked with A---- on the deck for about an hour and a half, at which point Erika, the hostel manager, invited her to go along on a shopping trip to prepare for a birthday party to be held that evening at the hostel. As it seemed like this might be the last we would see each other, we parted with a hug; but in fact the Moose Tour bus was delayed in its setting out for Vancouver and so we were only just boarding when Erika and A---- returned. So, very quickly, we said good-bye again, I jumped into the bus, and off we went, me hardly caring about anything else we saw that day.




Raw notes from my journal:


Checked e-mails until 1
6:45 up -- packed, downloaded photos from CF cards
10:45 off for a walk around Alta Lake
12:11 at Kagenwood Dr & Cheakamus beyond Whistler Creek(side) -- I think far SOUTH of where I want to be in residential community

Turning around & hope for better direction!

12:26 coming back into Whistler Creekside

The mountains express a tremendous permanency and solidity -- one can walk for hours and still one's relationship to the mountains remains relatively constant

How are the Appalachians like and unlike the Coastal Range?

Now I've found a roadsign I should have noticed an hour ago pointing to Whistler Village.

12:30 turning on to hiking trail beside creek at Whistler Creekside

12:42 at bridge N at forking of trail [?illegible: cross?] creek at Whistler Creek
Alpha LK park 1.5 km Whistler Ck 1 km > Whistler Village

1:04 readjusting pack; now off to Whistler Village

[A--- M----'s e-mail, written in her hand; notes on conversation with her:]

Delayed Onset Muscle fatigue syndrome DOMF

Plateau after 8-12 weeks, have to change the routine slightly every 8 weeks rotate

3:45 In Whistler Village picking up folks there -- now on to [unfinished; A---'s parting words:]

I want to hold you but I have these parcels...

[New travellers on the Moose bus:]

Kate from Melbourne
Tamara and Luke from Canberra
Ruth from London

4:35 Brandywine Falls "optical illusion" of cliffs moving
4:52 leaving BRANDYWINE
5:10 Tantalus Range Lookout
5:39 Brittania Beach 56 million tons of copper came out of the mine here until 1971 largest copper mine in the Empire
6:13 leave
9:00 arrive Hostel [Jericho Beach again] -- to grocery - back 10 pm

29 vi 06 Vancouver to Whistler: The Unsuspecting Traveller About To Be Changed

29 June leaving jericho Beach HI after thorough repacking and change of glasses -- my silver wire rims are finally shot; switched to "18th C" folding frames

8:04 waiting for the Moose Bus or something like it.
8:12 Steve from [Burnley near] Manchester
Rachel & Laurie Leeds University
Hampton
9:43 Cypress Hill Park
Steve from Burnley
Heidi from Somerset
Vicki from London
Rachel from Birmingham brunette U of Leeds
Laura from S of London blond
Sophie from Montreal
Duane from Toronto
Francisca f Switzerland Constance
Jo(sephine) f Rugby UK started in SA
Steve [Jo's husband -- a man of few words]
Jane from Melbourne
megan from Timmets ON
Elaine from outside Toronto Tio
[A woman whose name I never was able to figure out -- something along the lines of Pernilla] f Denmark
Caspar f Denmark
Shay f Cairns Australia

9:58 Hummingbirds
10:15 Grocery
12 following Howe Sound
12:20 Shannon Falls 3 highest pics show lower 1/3 of falls only
12:37 leaving

Stawamus Chief -- granite core
12:48
2:10 en route to Whistler -- basaltic columns
2:25 WHISTLER VILLAGE
2:57 AT ALTA VISTA
Erica manager

the Intrepid Traveller
The Imaginative traveller -- google

11:19 pm at corner of Valley Trail and Upper trail coming back from Moe Joes -- excessively nasty [the bar, not the corner]

Walked back by way of Blueberry Hill by mistake -- used mobile as light as req'd. back by 12;00 checked emails &c until 1

28 vi 06 Victoria to Vancouver

Raw entries from my journal:

28 JUNE 2006 VICTORIA
spoke c Suzy & Willow 5;30 this a.m.

WALKING IN HARBOURAGE -- "WESTSONG PATH"

a very strong, nauseating smell of kerosene

Bags stowed in HI Victoria luggage room and in KITCHEN there

Do a little walkabout and shooting.

The nightlife of Victoria is a bit rough, but i should be all right now.

8:06 a.m. beginning 2700+ m walk
8:34 a.m. nixed the full walk at 960 m and returned toward Yates St having taken a few photos of the harbour area & packed up the camera.

[In Ms Moriyama's neat and very small printing -- her mobile phone #] Tomomi Moriyama

10:10 arrive in [www].staincafe.com and begin downloads of cameras sent emails to Suzy and Willow

11:35 am
Serious Coffee on Yates in Victoria
eclectic "artsy" decor; three different types of flooring, otherwise basically unremarkable. Reminiscent stylistically of Senorita [Burrito] in Lancaster.
Standing rotator fan.

[box, checked] REMEMBER WHERE THE FIRST USB STICK IS! [STU'S]? IN THE FOLDER
[box, checked] ACQUIRE ANOTHER USB DRIVE

IN SERIOUS COFFEE, VICTORIA

Conversations about

tee shirts
It's hot in here, or is it just me?
it's hot -- it's the shirts

muffins
sold out of muffins, eh? Good for you -- bad for me.

Coffee
I'd like to by some coffee with good flavour.
We don't have any flavoured coffee, I'm afraid.
No, I don't want flavoured; I want good flavour.

about beer [last night with Simon and Kate]
Simon: in England, when I order "a beer" I get a dark beer [ *.] How much do you get -- here, it's like this much (indicates a small cup) -- in England you get a pint.
* The darker, the better [says Simon].

Simon orders a Shaftesbury's Wheat Ale -- a very pale beer.

Well, I didn't know what this was. I quite like wheat beer, though. I just picked one [off] the menu. I can have a [Guinness] at home.

about beer (after I downed an entire beer in about one draught):
Did you just drink that whole pint?

about travelling woman with no itinerary, little luggage, and no acquaintance with local language, culture, or situations:
Elaine from Scotland: I think it's half brave and half daft.

the Scottish women, in their mid-twenties and on their way to New Zealand, where they have work visas, have tremendous poise and wisdom.

12;10 p.m. and it's busy at the SERIOUS COFFEE. The stereo s playing old 70s songs -- "Sunshine of My Love" at the moment. Now it's the No No Song but in this case sung by Ringo Starr with Klaus Voorman

terrible brain freeze from smoothie!

Trash hauler: reFUSE Holdings Ltd.
large truck with a lift out of which roller cans are brought and exchanged.

City of Victoria hauler observed this morning employed a somewhat more conventional truck.

Bike cop.
Meter maid (metering officer, but in this case a woman)

[sketch of man observed on street several times, with arrowed labels as follows:]
sunglasses
two days beard growth
backwards baseball cap
grey Hawaiian shirt
jams
birkies
[basic label, in right margin beside sketch]
man who stood for almost twenty minutes at Yates 600 block wildly gesticulating to two others

LOTS OF BICYCLES HERE -- most pretty straight" but some considerably modified. for example, the decoupage job on the wheels of one [with a sketch]
Victoria's "no dumping" warnings are embossed in the castings of the drains.

the street markers n the sidewalk incorpoate a sort of UPC code which may be a form of braille to be read by canes

1 pm at View & Broad a white bearded panhandler sitting b a& b sound at Broad and The Bay (i.e. Hudson's Bay Co.) behind me. The Bay's Mall's architecture (190) demonstrates that the sculptural uses of brick, tile, and formed concrete in a semi-classical or semi-gothic style have not perished.

met Chestie near Chinatown -- she reported her hostel was nasty -- ours was worn but clean. Staff very involved but pleasant

walked through Fan Tan Alley

Surfing Chasid [with labelled sketch:]
crochet kippah
super-long tzitzit over shorts

To Carnaby Street -- then to Bank -- back to buy in cash ... see accounting pages 160 from machine 130 for shirt. back to hostel at 2:20
[I bought a beautifully embroidered cotton jacket-shirt from Carnaby Street for Suzy, at a considerable reduction from the marked price, and carried it carefully protected in a zip-locked plastic bag through all the rest of my travels. Donna Gross plans to write her memoirs, which promise to be most interesting. I spent the better part of two hours taking with her while in Victoria.]

...

3:15 pick up Swedes at Ocean Is.

[material deleted for legal consideration: a list of names of persons on the bus at this moment]

Check out BUG ZOO in Victoria the largest ant farm in the world

[sketch] Mt Baker in Washington State [drawn] 5:00 pm from ferry to Vancouver

W 4th St at the next past Wallace
Early Music Vancouver
1254 W 7th Av
Vancouver BC
Canada V6H 1B6

[box, no check] IN WHISTLER LOOK FOR AN INTERNET CAFE -- DOWNLOAD
[box, no check] EMAIL STU AT HOME, CALL HIS MOBILE TO CONFIRM

TSAWASSEN WHITE ROCK recommended as a nature walk

10:30 pm just after sunset at jericho beach -- guitar and drums
11:20 returned to hostel having walked out to Acacia Beach & back

27 vi 06 Tofino to Victoria

Above: Pacific Coastline near Schooner Cove, looking south towards Incinerator Beach

Raw entries from my journal:

in Victoria look for walkway around town

Post Canada
Breakers Wholefoods Cafe v. cool
8:49 departing
9:15 Schooner Cove to Incinerator Beach
9:35 out at beach -- Long Beach
10 leaving for Port Alberni
[on the way we listen to recordings of a Scottish radio programme, "The Real Radio Breakfast Show"]
Macmillan-Blowdell largest logger in canada
macMillan Park -- Cathedral grove
12:36 p.m. leaving Port Alberni
then to Coombs -- farmland established by General of Salv. Army to help 1/4 mil Welsh & English poor stuck in this area
1:00 p.m. MacMillan Park -- fun parking the bus.

Opplopax horridus devil's club [with sketch of leaf and stem]
Lee photographs us at the largest tree in Canada [with sketch of Lee, our driver, with a camera held to his face]

1:20 back on the bus to Coombs
2:10 p.m. [caption for sketch] making hay in Vancouver -- bales in stooks

ye canna geh on a lawn tractor [line of dialogue from the "Real Radio" show]

3:39 COWICHAN at MAY's Asian Cuisine to phone in eservation to Steamer's Public House in Victoria

5 p.m. checked in to room G in Victoria HI

stopped by Donna Gross's Carnaby Street store selling Afghani rugs and Guatemalan shirts

West Coast Fisherman [your guess is as good as mine, one year later!]

7:15 Steamer's Public House Victoria presentation [sketch] doiley [with arrow to doiley in sketch] paprika spilled over plates SERVICE -- all items served at once despite appetizer/entree designations. Follow up service limited.

Stir-fry veggies superlative
fries acceptable; chipotle mayo for same intriguing idea, not v. hot.
Salad mundane -- lettuce -- tomato -- cuke, red onion. Presentation nice but ingredients far from adventurous.
Guacamole acceptable, spring onion garnish.

[Comment from Scottish woman on tour as we leave Steamers: "Mark, did you just drink that whole pint?" I having just done exactly that -- downed a pint of beer in one draught... well: everyone was leaving, and I didn't want to stay alone, and I had just been given the beer; only one thing to do!]

GWEV -- Green World Electrical Vehicles [an intriguing business with a storefront near the Victoria HI]

A game of "I have never" at the hostel [liberally lubricated with hard liquor]

Youth Hostelling Association, HA -- in Britain -- avoid assiduously [on the recommendation of all Brits present]

Comment by Scottish woman to me: "You don't have much of an accent."

Elaine from Scotland
Sophie from Quebec

Carnaby Street 37 years in Business DONNA GROSS

26 vi 06 After the Bear Watch

Cedars moulded by the wind off the Pacific
































Tidal pool with anemones, starfish, and gooseneck barnacles near MacKenzie Beach

















From my journal:

26 vi 06 1:55 pm leaving HI Whalers-on-the-point for a walkabout to the beach.

Post Canada at corner of Campbell and First catacorner from Coop Foods -- the last has two entrances: the one at the back is a beverage distr.

2:33 met a woman from Quebec taking photos of the [street numbering] signs on trees: "we don't have this in Quebec."

Quite warm; sweating profusely -- me, that is, not the woman from Quebec, although maybe she also.

2:44 reached Mackenzie Beach Road, just past the Clayoquot [Field] Station Botanical Gardens

3:01 on Mackenzie Beach by the Mackenzie Beach Resort -- some nasty stinky but cool looking [?] goose barnacles

[Here follows a sketch of the said barnacles]

3:22 rock tidal pool -- pleasantly warm: bath temperature

3:45 at "magical" island on headland

4:04 at top of rock face north and inland... ground dogwoods

[Here follows a sketch of] cedars on height

4:38 returning past botanical gardens Clayoquot Fields Station [and] Sobo restaurant [which had been recommended to me the night before as a good vegetarian restaurant]

5:35 met Morgane and Roxanne from Lyon and Strasbourg [two or my room-mates]
Evening [another young woman,] Sam from London joined us.

[Spoke at some length with Bjon Malbert from Chalmers University in Gothenburg Sweden. Bjorn is a member of the Department of Architecture and of the Alliance for Global Sustainability, a partner program between Chalmers and several other institutions. Together, he and I tried to repair a pair of sunglasses belonging to an older Dutch woman, who had just bought them earlier in the day; they were designed to fit on prescription glasses and flip up when not needed, but they did not fit properly on the prescription glasses, and when one attempted to flip them up they burst into three or four pieces, which could be fit together, but could not stay together on her specific prescription glasses. After three tries, and three "explosions", we finally resigned.]

Evening -- walkabout Tofino with Tracey, Bo, Bjorn, and Christina and Kristen.

[To bed at about 10 p.m.]

26 vi 06: Mother Love Bear Style, Episode 2

The mother bear demonstrates the method of turning stones to reach mussels; the cubs attempt to imitate her.












The cubs climb up the weed-encrusted rock to the edge of the woods...













And disappear against the shadow...