Tofino Camping Adventure

Last weekend I headed out to Tofino, to stay at Green Point Campground at Pacific Rim National Park. My friend and blogging buddy, Donna, had booked a site and let me know there was at least one other site available, and would I be interested in joining them? WOULD I???? In a hot minute, I had my site booked too. Then, in the most incredible coincidence imaginable, another friend and blogging buddy Erica/Erika let us know that she and her husband were staying there too. And their site turned out to be the one RIGHT BESIDE MINE. If we had tried to scheme and plan and pull this off, it would be next to impossible as this campsite is harder to get into than it was to score tickets to The Tragically Hip’s final show.

My home for 3 nights
Hammock set up, with Erica and Chuck’s campsite in the background. Note kindly left on the picnic table by Erica, letting me know they were down on the beach.
Tent interior. Due to the campsite’s BARE policy, all food had to be locked up in your vehicle or a food locker (provided every few campsites). I decided not to hook my car up to the tent, and instead use it as my food locker. So my memory foam bed ended up in the tent instead of the back of my car, due to space considerations.
View from “indoors”

After meeting Donna and Richard at Tacofino for lunch, and setting up and settling in at camp, it was time to hit the beach!

We found Chuck and Erica!
The sky, sand, and water combo was stunning.

The next day was a bit drizzly and Donna and I went into Ucluelet to check out the downtown and the Ucluelet Aquarium. Amazing place!

Mr. Giant Pacific Octopus put on quite the show for us.
We also stopped at a delicious local bakery (Zoe’s, to fuel up for our next adventure), that had this sign posted outside. Cute Schitt’s Creek reference!
And here’s why. Within seconds of us vacating this area, they descended upon it. Looking for crumbs.

Speaking of birds stealing your food: Donna, Richard and I had to defend ourselves from some very aggressive sparrows outside of Rhino Coffee, in Tofino. I had my doughnut in my hand ($4 for a doughnut??? But man, it was good!), turned my head for one second and felt something pulling at my treat. It was an asshole sparrow, grabbing a chunk of doughnut in midflight, and then retreating a few feet away to gobble it down enjoy it.

You can bet I kept my eye on these cheeky assholes Steller’s Jays, once back at the campsite.
The evening ended over at Chuck and Erica’s for one of our delicious, communal camp meals.

The next day was spent beach walking and exploring.

Donna, the intrepid beach walking buddy.
Remains of a tree, washed up on shore.
There are always surfers to be found on Tofino beaches. Year round.
Donna and I played around with taking simultaneous selfies. Like a simultaneous orgasm, but waaay less work. 😉
We eventually met up with everybody else and went off to explore the rocks exposed by low tide.
Nature is a talented gardener.
Gorgeousness.

Ever since I was a little girl reading picture books, I have been captivated by the idea of walking the shore and exploring tidal pools in search of marine life. But in my land-locked former home, there was no opportunity…until this trip! At almost 62 years of age, I finally got to live my childhood dream.

Giant Green Anemone
Red sea stars and goose barnacles and clams and mussels (and probably a whole buncha other things too).

After returning to camp for another delicious communal meal (Chuck’s homecooked BBQ ribs were amazing!), it was back down to the beach for another sunset.

Filled with peace, gratitude and wonder in heart and soul…

Sadly the next day it was time to go home. It was another gorgeous day, and the drive home was filled with spectacular views, like this one.

Kennedy Lake reflection. What a beautiful island I live on!
Colour me windblown, wind burnt, and completely happy with this adventure!

Rock on,

The WB

What’s On Your Plate Blog Challenge – Sheet Pan Edition

It’s that time of year when the weather is almost always nice, and that means a whole lot less time is spent indoors. Especially in the kitchen. A wonderful excuse to break out a sheet pan dinner! And luckily I have 2 pans because I needed the other for a crafty thing I was MacGyver-ing in preparation for future camping adventures: homemade fire starters. Very useful to starting fires here on the Wet Coast, where wood and tinder are sometimes too damp to facilitate a quick and satisfying campfire. Hey, those S’mores ain’t gonna roast themselves, ya know?

As usual, I came across something on Ye Olde YouTube that sparked my interest. The video is here:

Try to ignore all the bullet adoration in the intro to this guy’s channel. I did.

I watched the video and gathered my supplies. Then I got to work.

Note my improvised double-boiler, for melting both the petroleum jelly and the candle wax. Will the MacGyvering never end?! 😉
Cotton rounds soaked in melted petroleum jelly and ready to go into freezer to quickly solidify, in preparation for the next stage.
First dip of rounds in melted wax.
Starting the 2nd (and final) dip process.

These fire starters turned out great, and they burn heartily for more than 10 minutes after being lit with a single match.

Put to good use at Miracle Beach

The same afternoon I made these, I also made a delicious sheet pan dinner, inspired by this YouTube video:

The actual recipe to be printed off can be found here.

I hustled off to my little local grocery store and was disappointed that they didn’t have any fresh green beans in stock. They did however have some delectable-looking bundles of asparagus in the veggie section, so I made that swap. I think it turned out at least as good, if not better.

I also used sambal (Indonesian pepper paste) instead of cayenne pepper because I think it tastes better.
Asparagus ready to go into the oven
Shrimp tossed in spices and lemon peel.
Finished! The sheet pan dinner, almost complete…
Now complete! Served on a bed of some deliciously-nutty brown rice.
That was mmm-mmm good!

Have you ever made a sheet pan dinner? Chime in, in the Comments below!

And, as always: please feel free to let my co-host Donna (she is dishing up some food for thought, this month!) or myself know what’s on your plate at your house, in the Comments of either Donna’s or my post. And remember if you decide to blog or Facebook or Instagram about it, to use the tag #whatsonyourplateblogchallenge so we can find you out on ye olde interwebbs!

Rock on,

The WB

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday – Camping at Miracle Beach Provincial Park

This was my home last weekend. Donna and Richard’s vehicle and set-up are behind me.
My living room.
My cozy bedroom.
Miracle Beach
My stand-up board, “Nauti”…in kayak mode.
My first time, kayaking in the ocean.
My camp coffee maker
It makes damn fine coffee.
Donna and I split up the meal duties. This was breakfast the morning I was in charge: baked oatmeal and crispy bacon. Made only AFTER watching the sunrise on the beach, of course!
And what a wonderful sunrise it was.
After breakfast it was time to go back to the beach, for a beautiful walk.
Sand dollars (living and dead) can be found all over the beach. RIP, Sand Dollar.
Time was carved out for a visit to Hammockville.
Trying out one of my homemade fire starters.
It worked very well. This was the start of a beautiful fire.
The morning we left was cloudy but dawn was still gorgeous.
These assholes sea lions woke me up with their barking at 4 am.
A deer couple came down to the shore to check out the assholes sea lions too.
Mergansers also wondering what the assholes sea lions are barking about.
Asshole sea lions aside, it was a fabulous weekend at Miracle Beach Provincial Park. I’ll be back!

Rock on,

The WB