There and back again.

[Diane CBPFC]

I'm back. Got caught up on the board - sorry I missed the war but would have had to remain neutral anyway as although I purchased a "mug" I use it for a pen holder. 

I drove out to the Pacific coast to go whale watching with my daughter. I must have put on over 5500 KM on the car to do that - we camped in a tent, stayed with my nice and got motels along the way. I had planned on camping the whole way and booked camping spots, but for some reason the province of British Columbia has made every campsite rock hard and level - ideal for RVs - awful for ladies with tent pegs, and you are not allowed to camp on the grass even if there is any in your tiny speck of land.  Camping in Jasper and Banff national parks is still okay and camping in Alberta is fine too, but you would need a jackhammer or a pop-up tent to camp in B.C.

Saw some amazing things along the way! Wild elk, mountain goats, blue herons and whales and recovering bears in a rehabilitation park. Soaked in hot springs, had fish and chips in Victoria harbour, took the ferry, cooked sausages in the pouring rain in our Banff campsite and visited the world famous Butchart Gardens, a place where you don't have to even stop to smell the roses as the air is thick with them 

Glad to be home - much too many people zipping around too fast on the roads and crowding up the pavements. 

[Mince]

Why didn't you just take a drill?

[Diane CBPFC]

I would, if we ever went camping there again, or there are new tents now that pop up.   

Didn't like how close the spaces were all jammed together in British Columbia either though, and it is not cheap $35 a night plus $8 for a campfire permit most places. Add to that the hour to set up and take down and often miles off the road you go adding up to another hour, it is often a better idea to stay at a motel. One motel we stayed at was only $45 and a cabin was $95 and that came with $33 of hot spring passes.  Now I think camping is one thing but doing a road trip is another.

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

Love the idea of a road trip, Diane. Almost as much as I love the fact there's a Banff in Canada! Wonderful! And it's named after the one in Aberdeenshire too.

[Mince]

I assume the person who named it was drunk at the time.

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

Almost certainly. And your point is...?

[Mince]

I'm just pointing out the obvious. 

[Mince]

Saw some amazing things along the way!

Is that a summary or advice to others? Will any saw do?

Bu seriously, did you watch the whales from the shore? Or were you in a boat of some kind?

[Roger Kettle]

Back in '99, I had a family holiday in Boston with my wife, kids and sister. We had a wonderful time, despite record-breaking temperatures of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit all week. On one of our days there, we went on a whale-watching trip which I remember with mixed emotions. After setting off from Boston harbour in the baking heat, it took our boat around two hours to get to the perfect viewing area. It was spectacular. Humpback whales surfaced and dived within yards of us for the entire hour we were there. Seeing a huge whale at close range is awe-inspiring. It is a truly magnificent creature and I will never forget that day as long as I live. Having said that, I'm rather ashamed to quote our commentary which went along the lines of....
"OH, LOOK! A WHALE!"
"OH, LOOK! ANOTHER WHALE!"
"OH, LOOK! ANOTHER ONE!"
"Oh,  there's one."
"There's one."
".....and there."
"...there's one over there."
"Can I have an ice cream?"
I blame a long, blisteringly hot day and a surfeit of whales for our eventual indifference. It is still a very special memory.
By the way, the mention of "Banff" reminded me of a sixties TV show called "F Troop". This was a spoof U.S. Cavalry comedy which I loved. In one episode, they were talking about Banff and kept pronouncing it with two "F"s. Sort of "Ban-fuh-fuh". I thought it was funny.
This was 50 years ago. Maybe I dreamt it. I'm old.

[Rob Baker]

If you walk up to the top of Glastonbury Tor and look west, you can see Wales.

[Mince]

This was 50 years ago. Maybe I dreamt it. I'm old.

I love how your posts dribble into bewilderment at the end.

[Diane CBPFC]

We went out on a boat trip. It was the only activity I booked a time slot for - got horribly lost driving around Vancouver (yes, we shouldn't even have been in the city) and missed our booked ferry, the next one was full so we missed our whale boat trip, the company was so kind as to let us go on a trip the next day instead.  I am glad because we were able to park downtown Victoria at 8 in the morning and I am not sure that would have been possible at 3 in the afternoon - the place is jam-packed with tourists! People line up for an hour for fish & chips.

We got to see both Orcas and Humpbacks, the boat is required to keep quite a distance but you can hear them breathe when the boat engine is turned off and see them shooting up water. They didn't do the ocean ballet as shown on the advertising, mostly they were flat against the water but I got a cute photo of a mother and baby Orca which was symbolic as it was a trip that just my daughter and I took together and it was her main quest to see the whales. I got some good tail photos of the humpbacks too, but nothing National Geography quality.

[Diane CBPFC]

Love the idea of a road trip, Diane. Almost as much as I love the fact there's a Banff in Canada! Wonderful! And it's named after the one in Aberdeenshire too.

Banff, Alberta by the way is the home of the very first National Park in Canada - because of the hot pools.

[Max]

At least you got to see them Diane and even manage some photographs.
When Kate and I were on Vancouver Island at Sooke Sound (I think) the owner of the Icehouse (yes we had hired an old icehouse) knocked on the door to let us know a pod of Orcas was passing by.
I grabbed my camera (35mm) and just had time to snap an Orca broach into the air, all 4 tons of it.
Picture was a dismal failure, I hadn't had time to set shutter speed so it was basically a blur, but what a sight at the time. 

[Mince]

I don't know why, but on first reading Max's post, I imagined Orcas flying past his icehouse in the air.