Hi all,

(A few of you are family members who receive both this travel blog and my family blog....or are members of our Rick Steves Fans Travel Facebook group page....I apologize for the repeat content!)

I'm still in beautiful British Columbia, my daughter's due date was yesterday but the baby isn't ready to leave his comfy present situation yet...."due date schmoo date", says the little guy! (People seem to forget that due dates are just an estimate anyway.)

The day before yesterday we went on a walk to Porpoise Bay Park and Hidden Grove. Here I am sitting at a picnic area by Porpoise Bay.

Just a few minutes' walk away is a shallow creek where salmon come to spawn. After they spawn, they die. My daughter told me that back when the creek was crowded with salmon spawning, bears and other wildlife gather there to feed on them.

Here's a photo of Angus Creek. I didn't realize that the salmon keep going until they find shallow water to lay their eggs, because the babies have a better chance of surviving in the quiet water nooks of a creek like this. 

Hidden Grove, at a slightly higher elevation, was our next little walk. Different vegetation, less moss, still beautiful.

 Couldn't believe the size of this Douglas Fir, had to also take a detailed photo of the bark. Is it lichen growing on it? It looks different than moss...

 Yesterday, a walk down along the Sunshine Coast Highway (this area is called the Sunshine Coast because Victoria Island blocks some of the storms, and there's more sun than the rest of British Columbia). Davis Pier, a few minutes' walk from my daughter's house, has been beautifully restored by the local preservation society. (The brass plaques give credit for all the donations, and these plaques are along both sides of the whole length of the pier.)

An evening at open mike night at "the Legion" (the Royal Canadian Legion) a homey little place in the woods, connected with one of the smaller towns nearby. (There is another Legion Post in Sechelt, larger and newer, which has a lot more of a military presence). I enjoyed the small-town feel. To go there one must be a member or, as we were, guests of a member. This guy had an exceptional voice.

Love, Lennie