Is That Trail Runner Enough? And Tofino Sun!

Wow. THAT is an Elite Trail Runner Beard.

So I'm really getting into this West Coast hippie thing. Looking like a real trail runner! My soon to be sister-in-law says I look like I'm from Bowser Bay, which I'm pretty sure is a compliment. Anyhoo, Portage doesn't like it much.

Me: "But all the top trail runners look like this" I explain. "Krupicka, Tim Olsen, Joe Grant."
Her: "Look how thin they are."
Me:"Look how hairy they are. I'm looking like a real contender now"
Her: "You could lose some weight. Or go for an actual trail run."
Me: "But my toe hurts."
Her: What about the guy on the cover of your "Trail Runner" magazine? He doesn't have a beard.
Me: That guy is only 20 years old. He can't grow a beard. Same as Dakota Jones.
Her: "There's a good barber in Parksville. "
Oh well, I guess that's why they say Men are from Venus, Women are from Mars.

A friend of ours made us an offer we couldn't refuse, and lent us her condo just outside of Tofino for a couple of days. It was raining when we arrived Monday night, but we awoke to a beautiful, sunny day on Tuesday.

The Weather Gods were with us. We had the only sunny, warm(60˚F) day of the week. Can you see the surfers?

Sweet Oceanside single track.

 We had a really great couple of days on the wild side of the Island with The Girl. She is home from University for reading week.

This restaurant was featured on 5 star chef Lynn Crawford's T.V. show "Pitchin' In". Portage was excited.

  So we visited Gary's Kitchen in Tofino specifically for the Cantonese Crab. Unfortunately, the fishermen hadn't brought the crab in yet, and you have to give them 2 hours notice if you want to order it. DOH. So I had a burger. 'Tage had the wings, The Girl had Ginger Chicken. You can read about my awful burger experience by clicking here.

The Girls

  Tofino is on the "Wet Coast" of Vancouver Island, but we had a perfect day of warm sunshine. There is a marathon/half-marathon here that we might run in June. The route includes beach, trail and road running. It's point to point, from Tofino to Ucluelet. (you-clue-let). It's called the Edge to Edge Marathon.

We had lunch at The Black Rock Resort. Excellent food and ocean view.

  We had a tough time finding a restaurant that was open for the season, but finally located the amazing "Black Rock Resort" in Ucluelet, owned by former Beverly Hills 90210 star Jason Priestly, who happens to be from Vancouver. His father runs the place.
   We had a fantastic lunch, I put my excellent chicken burger up on the 50 Burger Challenge web site, but had to disqualify it later because it's not red meat.You can read that food review here.

Nice view, but I am lost.

 Here are some artsy fartsy beach photos from Portage

This is Long Beach. Can you see another surfer? Many of them are from Australia, and come here to work in the coffee shops,restaurants and bars. They surf when they aren't working.

Bull kelp. 'Cause it's shaped like a bull whip.

That's mist from the huge waves.

Winter Waves. People come here to see this.

The marathon goes down this beach.

Past here......

And here. This isn't even low tide

Tide's coming in, made us scramble!

The girls. Someone had randomly written "Tie Domi" in the sand. Weird.

Surfin' Bird

Oooooooohhhhhh.....

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.....

Mussles. A fellow was filling up grocery bags with them. Great eating,and free.

I Call This Pitcher "Shoulda Been Lunch at Gary's".

Kennedy Lake on the way home. My 2nd favourite photo.

         My Favourite Photo, again, Kennedy Lake, on the way home from Tofino/Ucluelet.

OK, I couldn't choose between this one......

And This One.

Well, as you can see, we are really missing the snow in Ontario. Apparently, they are having a really bad winter! Well, gotta go fill up the hummingbird feeders.