14 May - Powell River to Comox

Today was a day of moving again -- this time on another ferry across the Strait of Georgia from Powell River to Comox. 

While waiting for the ferry to come in we waited on the pier to watch the boats. 

A gentleman approached Mary Lou asking if she minded if they would perform a ritual. They were three brothers saying good-bye to another who passed away. They wanted to offer his ashes to the waters around the pier - a favourite fishing spot for their departed sibling when growing up. They each took turns sprinkling some of their brother's remains into the water. Mary Lou offered to take a few photos of the group as they performed their task. One of them didn't wish for their photo taken, but the others valued the possibility of being able to share the memory with the man's son who lived in Alberta. It was a moment, but one to cherish: to be part of a sacred moment for others.

While traveling across the Strait, Dave was entertained by the Snowbirds, who are in the area practicing! They are based in Moosejaw, Saskatchewan but every spring they come to Comox to practice in a different environment. And we were the beneficiaries as they performed around the 360 degree perimeter of our ferry...all in 3D against the backdrop of the BC mountains!  

Unfortunately, Mary Lou missed the performance ... cloistered away below deck with her computer doing some work!

It was a sunny day and after a late afternoon work meeting for Mary Lou at a Tim Horton's we picked up some salads and headed for a lookout point in Courtney. The tide was out - but slowly coming in. We had our meal and then headed further up the coast - planning to spend the night on the way to our AirBnb Dave booked for over our 44th anniversary on the 16th of May.

The lovely little campground of Kitty Coleman follows the pattern of some other BC provincial campgrounds.

They don't take bookings, but you can pay a first-come-first-served price (in this case $20) for a night with a site, pit toilets (that were clean and not so smelly), and access to drinking water. It was inspiring to learn that the campground is managed by volunteers from the community. They not only run the campground, but they also work to revitalize the stream that runs into the Strait to remediate the damage from all the development over the years. They have slowed the flow with rocks and created small pools all in the interests creating the best spaces for several species of salmon to spawn.

Dave had a great time creating images of the light along the pebbly beach, the rocks, waves, mountains in the background and the wildlife in the Strait.