Bella Bella Coastal Food

Most of the time, wilderness trips get talked about in terms of where, when, and how. But when the weather keeps

 you under the all important tarp (outdoor

 rainy day living room), the interests turn to food. 

Ours was such a trip. With six of the 10 trip days involving 20-35 knot winds and plenty of wetness from the sky, food (thinking of, harvesting, cooking, and eating) became the easy consumer of time.

Previous encounters with similar weather in the same area led to the food names of the otherwise unnamed islands that we chose to camp on, Huckleberry Island, and Halibut Head.

Aside from the mounds of food we manage to pack in the canoes, this coast line can yield a veritable feast for those that are persistent, patient, and adventurous. This trip north of the Hakai region of BC was no exception.   

The freshly harvested listed included: Lingcod, Rockfish of many varieties, Limpets (the only "shellfish we ate because of the redtide warnings), a few just ready Gooseberries, Huckleberries and Halibut. 

First HOT weekend of the year!

Recital

Térèse on the UPS campus after her recital.

Maple Lawn Elementary's 6th Annual Art Walk

Resident Artists: Every single Maple Lawn Student
Guest Artists: Kaj Bune and Lana Hoover
Co-Chairs: Shannon Tracy and Lisa Steudel

Luhr's Landing, around Anderson Island and back

A warm Spring day, a willing flotilla, and a picnic lunch. all you need for perfect day on the water. 15.2 miles of beautiful water.   

Wild life encountered:

pacific harbour seal

california sea lion

common loon

arctic loon

western grebe

bald eagle

orange sea pen

anenome

sun star

sand dollar

pigeon guillimot

king fisher

merganser

scoter

star fish

jelly fish

great blue heron

dungeness crab

red rock crab

salmon

sea run cutthroat

kids

clams

power boater

sea cucumber

barnacle

mussel

moon snail

starry flounder

killdeer

not a bad wildlife list for a day paddle in the Puget Sound!

check out Kaj's photo blog for some fun images.

Fearless Adventurers:

Nils

Mikaela

Terese

Maylon

Kaj

Lisa

Ted 

Human powered vehicles:

two Sea Clipper canoes and Lisa's Arluk 1.8 sea kayak

Spring Paddle to the Spit

Paddled out to the Spit on the Nisqually Delta one day over spring break.  We had Great company (thanks Kris!) and saw eagles, seals, giant limpets, gulls, and sunshine.  We'll definitely return when the mercury rises a little and the arctic terns start to migrate.  Great day for a sneak peak of spring in the Pacific Northwest.

Use it or lose it. Guess that applies to remembering how to post a blog. 

It has been a month or more since our last post primarily because our Nekst Projekt (s) were either so big (and still ongoing) or complete surprises (not the fun kind).  Fortunately we've had good friends and family help and humor us through the various debacles. 

It all comes down to being the owned by a house with "character". In this case, character took the multi-headed form of a complete refitting of the house electrical systems, doubling the usable square footage of the house by exposing a hidden stair case, and digging up the septic system for kicks! 

In this last few months we have been reminded that every house projekt will handsomely exceed even the most carefully planned budget and timeline. Budgets and timelines are for fooling yourself into a projekt and believing that it will be complete before the next pumpkin is carved.