Travels with Murray: Vancouver/DeCourcy Island

Vancouver and DeCourcy Island, British Columbia

June 21 - July 3

Canadian Border entry

We had an eventful entry into Canada: basically our giant RV barely squeaked through the border lane. Literally the RV squeaked!

What can we say about Canada? This paragraph will contain many generalizations (so far all from B.C.) but they represent our impressions. All of the Canadians we have encountered have been incredibly polite, kind, friendly, and cheery. We have not encountered aggressive drivers, loud talkers or meanies. Sue even got a friendly smiley correction when blundering the wrong way on a one-way street! Canadians seem to take a great pride in their country - we see flags on bicycles, RVs, houses, boats, shirts and hats. Can any of our three readers remember what it was like to be proud of our flag and what it represented? I did not realize how much anxiety I carried about being in the U.S. until we arrived and settled in here. No giant trucks with Trump Flags, no gun bumper stickers, no awful homemade signs ("Joe and his Ho Have Got to Go" or Trump 2024 - Fuck Your Feelings" being prime examples).

Murray and Klaus, alarmed at the possibility of getting drafted, decided to join the counter culture and flee to Canada. Murray made sure to have his Pawsport in order and Klaus drove the freedom bus. This delayed our arrival into Canada as Klaus stopped at every store to buy treats and pee.

We were happy to have supported their efforts to protest the "war" but we were puzzled as they are both beyond draft age: Murray is 91 in dog years, and Klaus is 63...

So more about Canada - it's the second largest country by land mass, outdone only by Russia. The U.S. is #4. Again, we have seen only British Columbia but most of the terrain we have encountered is incredibly lush and green, and filled with lakes and rivers. Canada's homeless population can be measured in the tens of thousands versus the U.S. which measures ours in the hundreds of thousands. Bike helmets are mandatory regardless of age! Gun ownership in the U.S. is 42.8% of households versus Canada at 32.7%. I am actually surprised it's that high in Canada. We did see a fair amount of unhoused folks in Vancouver and most appeared to be the victims of Fentanyl abuse (all bent over) but it was restricted so one or two streets in the downtown area from what we observed.

The day we arrived we visited the Museum of Anthropology on the University of B.C. Campus, it houses a First People of the Northwest Coast art and craft collection. This museum featured so many artifacts and art that it was frankly overwhelming. Do you want to see First People's rendering of an owl? There are hundreds maybe even thousands.

Here you see about 1/1000th of the Owl
representations

The museum has stunning architecture

Following that we did a bike ride around the gorgeous Stanley Park which is adjacent to the harbor. Just ... wow.

That night I (Sue) picked Oliver up at the surprisingly small Vancouver International Airport. The dogs were very glad to see him as were Denis and I. Starting Monday we tackled Oliver's tourist list while Denis worked. First we visited the Capilano Suspended Bridge Part, which is another place I would not recommend to my fellow acrophobia sufferers. It's a pretty unique situation with several bridges in the sky among the treetops. The main bridge rises 240 feet above the Capilano River.

A hawk ambassador

Whale watching was on the menu for the next day. Denis, Oliver and I can now state with confidence that we have seen A LOT of orca fins (but that is pretty much it) and many Humpback Whale tails (that is pretty much it). But it was a fun trip.

A nice sunset

Fish Chowder which I later replicated

In terms of food, Oliver enjoyed a lot!

BBQ Pork in Vancouver Chinatown

Dogs had to get a bath before
going to De Courcey Island

Oliver's sleeping arrangement
- in the front end of RV
- just an air mattress.

Had to try Japadog - this one is an
all beef dog with sauce and
seaweed. it was good!

These guys ...

They have black squirrels here!

Dogs on the way back to
Nanaimo from DeCourcey

Mike enjoyed Klaus!

These cousins are so cute together. "Mikey" and "Denny Brah"

Fresh Coho. nothing better!

Captain Elaine taking us to the ferry

After Oliver left, Sue and Denis packed up the dogs and a few bags and took the ferry to Nanaimo to go stay with Denis' cousin Mike and his wife Elaine on their place on DeCourcey Island. It is a kinda off grid place... No sewers, outside electricity, mail or any services at all. It is only kinda offgrid because they have have batteries, solar and Starlink.

We got picked up and on the way back in the boat, a bald eagle flew almost directly overhead about 20 feet up! What a welcome!

There are only 20 or so full time inhabitants. Mike and Denis went out fishing and caught a couple of Coho Salmon. We got a few baskets of prawns as well. Elaine made handmade tortillas for our salmon tacos - yum. She also made pizza dough despite being gluten free and we enjoyed pizza in their fancy pizza oven. Their neighbors were gracious enough to host us at their hand-built log cabin which they built in the 70s - a remarkable feat. We cannot thank them enough for hosting not just us but our two dopey dogs.

The Gallery, birds live in many of the holes
on the face

On the last night there, Elaine piloted us on their RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) us to "The Gallery", a limestone cliff face with all sorts of bird nests, and interesting structures. We kind just floated along the face with the current. So Cool!