Long Beach, Slugs and the Freezing Dutchman

Wednesday Evening June-10 Mercoledi Sera 10 Giugno

First thing in the morning we looked across the street at the tree but there were no eagles in the tree. Maybe tomorrow morning. Today Jan went with us to the west side of the island. Mastering mounting and dismounting the Honda Goldwing is an acquired skill that she had to master but by the end of the day she had it under control. The day started off warm but in the mountains I started to feel cool. I stopped to put on an extra layer of clothing and everyone was glad of it as they also donned extra layers. We stopped at the Pacific Rim park entrance and bought passes. We then went to one of the first park sites and it had a trail through the trees down to the ocean. The trail was not as steep or long as the trail that we did in Washington but it was as scenic. On the trail we saw several banana slugs which are a yellow color sometimes with black markings. We continued north to the city of Tofino where we stopped for lunch. We naturally had fish and chips, only 2 orders split among 4 people. We then went back south and stopped at a park named Incinerator Rock. This was next to Long Beach but without the long walk to the beach. This beach is 12 miles long and it seems very strange to an ex-California boy to go through a pine tree forest to get to a beach. We watched the surfers in their wet suits riding the waves and then noticed a man splashing in the surf in his bathing suit. When he came out of the water the young lady photographing his actions rewarded him with a kiss. We talked to them and they were from Holland. He wanted the complete experience of the Pacific Ocean. I told him it was a lot of effort to get a kiss. But I am sure that I would do the same to get a kiss from my Czech bride. Part of our trip was on a very rough road. All at once the road became very smooth, right at the point where a sign said “End of Road Improvement Section”. Go figure!! 233 miles today.

Banana Slug

Wildlife warning sign, cougars, bears and wolves

Jan enjoying the good life

Oggi siamo partiti sotto il sole nel cielo ma il temperature era freddo. Dopo ~25 miglia sono fermato per un altra giacca. L’altri sono stati felice perche’ loro anche hanno bisogna di un’altra giacca. Abbiamo visto tante spiagge bella ma era strano di vedere una spiaggia accanto gli alberi dale montagne. Abbiamo mangiato pesce e patate per pranzo. Dopo abbiamo visto un’uomo nella acqua fredda. Dopo lui e’ partito dal mare ha ricevuto un baccio dalla sua ragazza. Troppo lavoro per un piccolo baccio ma anch’io sarei fare lo stesso per un baccio da Linda. C’era una strada terribile e subito la strada diventa buona. A questo punto c’era un cartello che indica “Il fine del progetto per fare piu’ buona questa strada”!! Qualcuno ha sbagliato!! Mi chiedo “Come era la strada prima del lavoro?”. Ancora la nostra ospite Jan ha fatto una cena buonissima. 233 miglia oggi.