Gruntbuggly

Since our project was extended for another 3 years, I have to get my various immigration documents in order because they expire at the end of September. So yesterday I decided to look at it and maybe procrastinate a bit more. I was galvanized when I saw that things should be submitted no less than 30 days before they expire, and it has to make it onto someone's desk and they have to take notice of it before they consider it submitted, and you have to do it through regular mail. Even worse, if they don't choose to notice it in time, I could be considered in violation and deported, or worst case scenario, get strapped into the poetry appreciation chair. It makes me tired just to think about it.

A good strategy when dealing with these life-forms is to send in something, even if it's not exactly right or complete, because it won't be exactly right the first time. But it will be in the system by the deadline and then everything is negotiable. So today I managed to get all the proper forms in order and signed in triplicate, and so on, and mailed it off. Another useful thing is to always send it via certified mail so that you know they got it. Having been through this a few times, I know how things can get "sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public enquiry, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat for three months and recycled as firelighters." It's true!

Maybe they'll surprise me and everything will go without a hitch. Hey, I can dream.

A wild goose chase

Today's plan was to go to the Port Alberni area and determine how far west Pacific madrone ranges, and then meet up with some friends in Tofino.
I had GPS coordinates for a stand of madrones near Port Alberni, and put them into a website that spat out a map with X marks the spot. But the reality is always different. I had my doubts when I got there, map in hand, and saw that it was completely the wrong habitat type. Mostly riverbottom with poplar and alder, and way too wet for madrones. I had to drive through First Nations property. They don't bother with things like a lawn or paint on their houses, and most of them had the address spray-painted on a piece of plywood. It felt like trespassing, mostly because of the signs that said things like "private road" and "no exit". But no matter, I had other places I was going to look.
So next I headed west to Sproat Lake and followed the trail to the petroglyphs, and at the end of the trail on top of the petroglyphs was a group of about 5 madrone trees. The petroglyphs were really cool. They don't know how long ago they were made, or at least it didn't say on the sign, but they're ancient. They're pictures of sea monsters, turtles, and fish. One represents Hahektoak, "a mythical sea serpent like creature with a huge mouth and teeth." Probably a sister to the one that lives at the bottom of Lake Sammamish.
I saw the last madrone tree at the west end of the lake, and then the vegetation changed to a wetter type that I call the "dead cedar forest type" but probably is really Cedar-Western hemlock type. There are a lot of mature cedars that have been killed, probably by flooding, but since the wood is so decay resistant it just stays there and turns into these grey spires. It looks very desolate. And it's prime black bear habitat, but I didn't see any this time. Too bad.
I drove to Tofino along a road with stunning views of mountains, cedar swamps, and lakes right next to the road. It looks a lot like the Olympic Peninsula in areas, like around Lake Crescent. I'd been curious about Tofino because some of my friends had been talking about it, and also because it's at the end of the road, and I like to go to the end of the road whenever possible. It's on the west coast and is popular with surfers, and there's a beach, Long Beach, which is like all beaches with that name. The outskirts of the town had a lot of posh, new agey type resorts, and then you get into the town, which is very small, and find out that's where all the people from the resorts have gone, plus all the surfers and their friends. It was crowded! According to Sue, there are fewer people this year and they had no problem getting a reservation, because last year there was a severe water shortage and lots of people had to cancel. But you wouldn't know it by me. I didn't really like it and I couldn't find where my friends were staying, at least I didn't know if I had the right place or not. I don't think GPS would have helped either. So I poked around a little more and then headed back to Victoria, which was perfectly OK with me. I might go downtown tomorrow, haven't done that in a while.

Now I get it.

I've been having more than the usual hassles crossing the border during the past month and now I know why. Apparently there have been some suspicious characters on the ferries. And I thought they just were picking on my car.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003849315_ferries23m.html

What a good idea.

I've been meaning to do this, and now Becky has motivated me. In this blog I hope to post about BC, particularly Vancouver Island. But probably it will degenerate into a lot of other random stuff.

You know how it is when you live someplace. You never really do the fun, touristy things unless someone is visiting. This place is not on the way to anywhere else, so there's no good procrastinating and saying "I'll go there next time I'm out that way". Because I probably won't be.