Archives for category: – Canada

Here’s another more-torque-than-horsepower bike that’s an alternative to the Royal Enfield Himalayan that I posted the other day. It’s the made-since-the-’80s Yamaha TW 200. This cinematic, poetic video does it justice.

This is pretty nutty. I’ve gone some crazy places but I’ve never driven through a mine. The poster writes that the action takes place on the Gold Rush Trail in British Columbia.

It seems super dangerous. It’s an amazing video though, if you don’t mind the music.

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Photo: Natalie Menacho

These are photos of some of my favorite moments, so far, from our trip around the San Juan and Gulf Islands this summer. Click any photo for a larger view. I hope you enjoy them. Read the rest of this entry »

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OK, I may be biased, but my fiance, Natalie, writes a great blog over at The West County Bramble. She’s been doing a much better job than I have posting about our day-to-day travels.

Here’s a link to her post about our stop in the little town of Chemainus, BC, on Vancouver Island, where we happened upon a First Nations (Canadian native peoples) ceremony as well as a very well done musical. Both were quite unexpected.

The town is full of murals. Below, Natalie sneaks into the scene of one of my favorites.

In the top photo, our boat, Carmana, lies just offshore in gorgeous twilight.

Link Trail: The West County Bramble > Chemainus, Vancouver Island, BC Read the rest of this entry »

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Well, a few weeks ago we were on relatively remote Wallace Island. It’s a 200-acre silver of land in the Gulf Islands in British Columbia. It’s not on the ferry route so you have to get there of your own devices.

We stern-tied our boat, Carmana in tiny Conover Cove and had a walk around. We’d read about this place in the book Once Upon an Island, at home in West County last winter, so it was nice to finally make it up here and see it on a glorious summer day. Then, come evening, we rowed to watch the setting sun, and made something extraordinary happen… we got engaged.

You may have seen Natalie in posts of our trips or seen her photos. She’s amazing. I’m looking forward to life of adventure together. Woo-hoo!

Natalie wrote about it on her West County Bramble blog. Check out the Wallace Island post in two parts. Part 1 and Part 2.

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If you’re planning a trip up to BC, check out this post on the best campgrounds in British Columbia.

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Here’s more on our trip through Saltspring Island on Natalie’s blog, The West County Bramble. It’s a nice little town and a good provisioning stop in British Columbia’s Gulf Islands.


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In case you’re traveling in the Pacific Northwest, I made a ferry map you may find useful. It shows routes for the two major ferry systems: the BC Ferry (blue routes), the Washington State Ferry (green routes), as well as the Victoria Clipper (red routes) and Coho (black route) ferries. All ferries accept cars and motorcycles, except for the Victoria Clipper, a high-speed ferry, which carries passenger only.

Seaplanes are another option. They fly pretty much everywhere. Kenmore Air is the biggest operator. NW Seaplanes is close behind. Saltspring Air flies within the Gulf Islands.

Note: the BC Ferry travels throughout British Columbia. I’m only showing their Gulf Island routes on this map. Also, if there’s anything on this map that I missed, please let me know.

Thanks!

Correction: A previous version of this map showed a Victoria Clipper route from Friday Harbor to Victoria. The route does not exist.

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A couple of weeks ago we were in Vancouver and spent the afternoon at Granville Public Market on Granville Island. It’s a big market hall with, I’m guessing, a hundred or more vendor stalls, offering meats, fish, pastries, bread, chocolate, fruit and vegetables, just about everything. It’s like going on a food holiday. Everything’s delicious.

It was a bit of a trek to get there as we were anchored on the other side of the Strait of Georgia on Gabriola Island. If you’d like to see more photos of Granville Market and read about our trek, check out Natalie’s blog: The West County Bramble.

Here's the seaplane at the dock at Lake Union.

Here’s the seaplane at the dock at Lake Union.

A couple of weeks ago I got on a seaplane docked at Seattle’s Lake Union and flew to Victoria, on Vancouver Island, to pick up our truck, which we’d left behind when we sailed from Canada. It turned out that flying was the most convenient, quick way to get there. Sweet. The plane belonged to Kenmore Air and the flight was $140 one way.

Here are some photos of that trip.

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