A Picturesque Camping Trip

Once again we tripped off to Vancouver, B.C. with a group of students from UW’s Friday Harbor Labs.  This time it was the ZooBot class (a Zoological and Botanical survey of coastal sea life).

This is Megan.
Megan
Megan teaches the Zoo part of ZooBots.  I took this shot right after the class returned from the beach and caught Megan in the act of exchanging boots for shoes. Megan is just as fun and energetic as this photo implies.

This is the classroom.
Waves

This is the class.
class

Somethings to study.
sealife 2

Some more things to study.
sea life

Of course it wasn’t all work.
Kamp Kool Kids

When in camp we roasted hats.
roasted hats

Roasted socks.
roasted socks
Played games.
cards

Celebrated a birthday …
party
… with cake …
cupcakes

… and music …
music

… and dancing.
dancing

We also ate.
ate
Megan’s friend brought us a bucket full of fresh crab.  I am sure that somewhere in all the crunching and slurping we remembered to say thank you.

And of course I found time to take a few pics:

wildflower

Wildflower

dancing grass

Dancing Grass (growing from a rock)

more scenery

River Tree

seedy

Seed Head

fiddle fern

Fiddlehead Ferns

crab

crab

anemone

Sea Anemone

gull

Gull

berry soon

Berry Soon

grass

Grass

Botany Bay path

Botany Bay Path

Botany Bay steps

Botany Bay Steps

Botany Bay lower trail

Botany Bay Boardwalk

furry trees

Furry Trees

greens

New Growth

stellar jay

Stellar Jay

BFtP — Vancouver Seaweed Camp

Originally published August 14th, 2007 on O’Ceallaigh & The Quill:

This was our camp.  We had a mini-tent city.  Our tent is the maroon one.  I set most of it up by myself.  I was quite proud of me.  At first, because I set the tent up alone (while O.C. was goofing off filling the camp water buckets at the facility a mile away — as if drinking water were important!) I was disinclined to share the tent — then I got to thinking about how chilly the nights might be and relented in favor of his body heat.

The camp ground was across the mouth of the Juan de Fuca river from the town of Port Renfrew.  That river is much wider then it looks.  To the right in this photo was the ocean and Juan de Fuca Strait.

It was a lovely campground.  The facilities were first rate — out houses and a pre-dinner show.  For some reason, the musician looked familiar ….

Despite camp being on the ocean, that isn’t were these intrepid scientists went in search of seaweed.  We all drove several miles to Botany Bay, then hiked down to the ocean.  It was a gorgeous path.

A sign:

Some steps …

And finally, the beach ….

The hunt for seaweed begins:

While O.C. and his class worked and learned, I played in the tide pools.

Anemone:

Anemones:

Starfish:

On the way home, we paused briefly in Victoria.  Here is the government building:

With a totem pole carved by a representitive the First Peoples: (note the size of the Japanese tourists in relation to the totem pole).

Then it was time to head for the ferry and wait:

and wait (caffeine helps pass the time):

and wait:

We were all looking pretty tired and scruffy.

But finally we pulled onto the ferry and started home and Mt. Baker stepped out of the fog to greet us.

April 11th — A Poem A Day

Once again, I visited my archives for the poem. Some of you know this. It is one of my favorites — if I can have a favorite among my own poems without sounding too immodest.

Enchanted Forest

Within this forest witches walk,
They cheat and steal and lie.
Cats are King and frogs can talk,
And boys and monkeys fly.

Within this green and leafy bower
by chance a prince and maid will meet.
He will be looking for a bride,
She’ll wear glass slippers on her feet.

Within this forest a maiden sighs
Locked in her ivory tower.
A handsome prince comes riding by
And saves her with love’s power.

Enchantments whisper on the breeze,
Escape the natural bonds of time;
They cling to roots and glisten on leaves,
Waking fairy tales and nursery rhyme.

CLA

Poetic Asides, Day 11
Prompt: write about a thing