We head out early to Port Alberni passing Sproat Lake on the way. This is always on the list, but we never make it. The famous Mars Waterbombers planes, the only two of their type in the world are stationed here. Again we pass them by, DARN and double DARN.
We gas up, and do a quick look thru town. I've always wanted to stay here, but it never gets on the itinerary. Boats leave from here down the inlet to the Broken Islands. I grab a photo of a native "welcoming" carving.
Then we stop at Cathedrial Grove to do the boardwalk thru the big trees. This is the handicapped access boardwalk and I am impressed. Perfect for families pushing baby strollers, or anyone using a wheelchair. We do a quick boardwalk stroll thru the old growth, crawl up on some fallen trees for photos and leave.
We're stopping in Coombs to see goats on a roof. This should be interesting. The Old Country Store isn't hard to find, with all the advertising signs. After parking, we look at the roof and see only grass. Oh well, they also advertise ice cream, so we are now inline deciding what flavors we want from a large selection. It's hard to decide so I close my eyes and point to two areas.
The flavors are delicious. This store sells everything. And the stores within the store seem to blend into each other. Produce, grocery, a deli. Then the fun stuff. There are beautiful scarves, clothing and even furntiture from China, Indian, and Mexido. Their prices are very low with the exchange rate. Kary and I are looking at some shirts and jewelry. We'd love to pick up a piece of antique furniture, but the shipping costs and duty would kill the price.
Back outside, we stroll up the hill and find more stores on a "strip." These are clothing, arts, crafts and souvineer type stores. A guitarist is playing in the grassy area across from the stores and we stop to listen.
Walking back to the store we spot them. The GOATS. And they are on the roof. Gotta get the photo of that. An employee tells us that the goats are put up on the roof in spring and brought down in late fall.
Back in the car and on to Mt. Washington. Four lane highway, BUT the speed limit is not 65. We've never been to Mt. Washington, so we're enjoying the scenery as we make the climb up the mountainside. Our directions from the owner were perfect and we found the condo without any problems. Our unit is on the top floor, so lug our bags in the entrance and zip up on the elevator.
The photos did no lie. This condo is going to be a very comforatable place, including the bathroom jacuzzi. The views out the deck are of more mountains and green areas. We're paying $60 a night for the condo, one heck of a deal.
A quick unpack and then out to see what is on the mountain. We found the "center" which is at the ski lodge. The lift is runing, but we want to do that later. There's mini golf , a gift shop and information on hiking trails. We want to do the bungee trampoline, we're skipping the mountain bikes (saw a few kamakazi riders coming down the mountain and think that might be hazardous to our health).
Gary is looking at golfing information. It's gettin fill our tummy time, and we need some breakfast food and snacks, so we head back down the windy mountain road to Courtenany and find the Boston Pizza. Not traditiional Canadian but it's good. Then found the Safeway Market, stocked up on snacks & more water and back up the mountain. We're calling it an early night, since we want to hit the alpine trail in the morning, and Gary wants to get down the mountain to golf.
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