Nice... art

"Raven Lady" by Mike Camp

Ucluelet is just down the road from the town of Tofino on the outer coast of Vancouver Island. Tofino gets all the love though for its proximity to Canada's best surf beaches.

Nonetheless, Ucluelet is deserving of its own respect. Not as close to the major surf spots, but it has more of a home town feel compared to Tofino which feels increasingly commercialized.

These roadside sculptures from artist Mike Camp grab your attention as you drive into town.

"Surfer Girl" by Mike Camp

Indiana Jones and the Lost Gods of Rapa Nui

Easter Island relic at Central Saanich's Butterfly World...

 

For awhile it seemed that Harrison Ford was going to reprise his signature character, Indiana Jones, in one last screen adventure.

I'm pretty sure it's not going to happen. Ford is now 78. COVID has effectively shut down the movie industry for a year or two. It would then take two years for such a movie to be made which means that Ford would be into his early 80s at that point. 

And who really wants to see a decrepit Indy shuffling about? We want to remember him as the whip-cracking, fedora wearing two-fisted adventurer of our youth.

Plus the recent death of Sean Connery -- who plays Indiana Jone's father -- must surely be giving Ford food for thought as to how he wants to spend his remaining years.

Haunted

Every day she waves at me

That small girl that only I can see

I wish she would stay over there

I don't like her hungry stare

---

This alley in Bastion Square is next to Victoria's now defunct Maritime Museum. The building once served as Victoria's old courthouse/jail, and is generally considered a centre of supernatural activity.

Sally's Cafe

Downtown Qualicum Beach stands in for Chesapeake Shores...

Several years ago I posted this photo of the former Chamber of Commerce building in Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island. It served as one of the central filming locations for Hallmark Channel's Chesapeake Shores.

Currently the series is on indefinite hiatus thanks to the ongoing COVID crisis... much like every other Hollywood movie and TV series filmed in British Columbia. The Canadian-American border remains closed to non-essential traffic.

And, even if the film crew and actors were deemed to be essential and allowed to cross the border, they would still have to go into quarantine for 14 days after entering BC and before being allowed to go to work.

So the ultimate fate of the O'Brien clan remains up in the air for now...

49

One degree of separation...

Drive down the length of Galiano Island and you'll pass this unassuming boulder on the side of the road. It sits in the permanent shade of the trees around it, so you'd miss the plaque attached to it.

The plaque marks the 49th parallel... the latitude that separates Canada from the United States through much of its length.

A balancing act

A collection of cairns glow in the setting sun on Vancouver Island...

Mexican muscle...

You work out however you can...

While in Mexico, I got a workout in by pushing over the waterfront lighthouse.

My wife poses...

Lover's Leap

A cliff... and a memorial. Is there an ominous connection here?

If you drive along Galiano's length, you'll pass Lover,s Leap. It's a viewpoint overlooking Wallace Island and Trincomali Channel from Bodega Ridge Provincial Park. The drop to the water below is pretty significant. If you were to tumble off the edge, you'd hit a few ledges and trees on the way down before you hit the water.

I have no idea how/if Lover's Leap earned its name. My wife and I stopped to take some photos and we noticed two things:

i. The protective chain link was missing. And there was no warning sign to keep wayward dogs or children away from the edge.

ii. There was a memorial of some sort at the site.

It was disturbing to contemplate what the implications of these facts, but no Internet research on my part has turned up any tragic stories.

The Sea Wave lives!

The Sea Wave circa 2015...

It was more than five years ago that I first featured the land-locked Sea Wave in this blog. It was partially hidden in the undergrowth that marked the entrance to Galiano Island's native reserve.

I decided to see if it was still around during our recent Galiano Island adventure. We drove out to the end of the road, parked and I hiked down the hill.

Sure enough, the Sea Wave was still there, although she looked worse for wear. Despite having lost her superstructure to the wind and elements, her bright blue paint was surprisingly unfaded.

Galiano getaway--Part 2

Lush greenery at the Galiano...

Galiano Inn is an intimate resort. It has only ten rooms and ten villa suites.

Our room was at the end of the main accommodations block. It was very private, bright and spacious with great views of the main harbour.

We were doubly blessed in that the end-February weather was sunny and unseasonably warm.

The best view in the house...

Play ball!

Not a game for the physically challenged...

At Mexico's Chichen Itza, you'll find the remains of the Pok-A-Tok court. Pok-A-Tok was a unique ball game in which the players manhandled a ball about the size of a basketball while trying to pass it through stone hoops set along the walls of the court. (You can see one such hoop on the upper right hand wall in this photo.)

These hoops were set quite high, and the game was made even more challenging by the fact that the players could not use their hands or feet. Not surprisingly, games could last for days before a single point was scored, leaving players exhausted.

You can watch a modern version of the game being played in this video.

The REAL downer about playing this game though is that the winners(!) were sacrificed to the gods. It was considered an honour.

The Mayans were effectively killing off their genetically superior males which perhaps goes some way to explaining why their civilization went extinct.

Twedes again

A gloomy cloudy day over North Bend in Washington...

Whenever we go through Washington state, we try to make it a point to stop in at Twedes Cafe in North Bend. It's a popular gathering place for visitors, particularly those who are fans of the quirky and spooky cult series Twin Peaks.

Although it's famous for its coffee and cherry pie as a result its appearance in the show, on this particular trip I decided to try their banana creme pie instead. I can reliably report that it too is very good... and VERY filling.

Haiku: The bridge

mist greets the sunrise

where will this old bridge take you?

do not think...forward!

The end of the Century

Ghost signs exposed by a now missing wall after the fire...

Recently, Victoria's historic Century Inn -- later the Victoria Plaza Hotel -- burned down in a dramatic fire that was notable for its ferocity in the heart of the city.

A bit of my history went up with it. Back in my 20s, it was home to many of the night clubs where I spent numerous Friday and Saturday nights. Julie's -- as the dance club was known then -- was the first (and only) club where I was punched in the face by a female, a former room mate of mine who had a notable malicious streak.

After investigation, the fire has been deemed as suspicious. The police are looking for the on-site custodian who hasn't been seen since the fire took place.

Remains of the day...

Third time the charm?

The sea stacks of Cannon Beach at sunset...

I'm in the middle of planning our summer 2019 trip to Oregon. It will be our third trip in five years.

Once again we are hoping to see the city of Bend and the nearby Painted Hills. On both of our previous trips we had to give up on them due to the thick smoke from wild fires.

It is the grim reality of climate change. It has had a big impact on summer tourism in the Pacific Northwest.

And not just tourism... it's affecting our health. Our son who currently lives in Edmonton Alberta was recently describing the apocalyptic smoke hanging over the city which has resulted in health warnings from local authorities.

Movies under the stars

The old school advertisements for the concession stand...

During our road trip last summer, we made a special detour to visit the Starlight Drive-In in Enderby, BC.

I've spoken before of my fond memories of going to our local drive-in as a kid. Today, drive-ins have all but disappeared across North America so I wasn't going to let this opportunity pass.

We arrived early. It was raining so to keep the rain off our windshield and ruining the experience I improvised with a tarp and a couple of paddles.

You do what you gotta do...

Authentic vintage

The remains of an old gas station in Oregon...

Unlike the previous post, this gas station on an Oregon roadside is less vintage and more derelict.

I wonder: Did the driver of the last car to fill up here realize  that the pumps would forever fall silent behind them?

Forlorn and forgotten...

Elkhorn

The original saloon of Elkhorn...

Elkhorn Montana is a ghost town located about forty minutes off the nearest major roadway. At one time it was home to 2500 people when it was the centre of the local silver mines.

It's unusual for the fact that alongside the decrepit and decaying 150-year-old buildings is a smattering of modern ranch homes and trailers that are home to a handful of inhabitants.

It must be an odd experience to walk down the dusty streets among the ruins of the past from two centuries ago...

Living with the ghosts of the past...

The Washoe Theatre: Part 2

Interior details of the Washoe Theatre...

The interior details of the Washoe Theater in Anaconda, Montana are beautiful to behold. You won't see lush artwork and finely crafted details like this in today's antiseptic cineplexes.

According to Wikipedia:

The interior design and furnishings were done by Hollywood theater designer Nat Smythe. The exterior doors are etched glass. Each joint and trim work is carved in complicated relief patterns with much use of ornamental ironwork.

Use of copper is especially prevalent, as Anaconda was a company town for the Anaconda Copper Mining Company. Silver and gold leaf supplement the accent work.

Carved rams heads line the walls. Every flat surface, including the domed ceiling, is a painted mural done by Colville Smythe.

The silk curtain is a piece of art in itself, though seldom seen. Its age presents a problem for curators who are afraid that taking it down, even to try and restore it, would cause it to fall apart. It has a painting of deer stags.

Lush murals adorn the walls...

The Washoe Theatre

The Washoe Theatre... since 1936...

During our road trip last year, we made a special side trip to visit the small bucolic town of Anaconda, Montana.

There you will find the Washoe Theatre. It was built during the Great Depression, the last theatre to be built in the style of Nuevo Deco, a form of Art Deco

The Smithsonian rates the Washoe as a national treasure due to the lavish interior which we'll see in the next post.