While the parents and other adults milled around in the back and laughed and joked and renewed friendships, the children screamed and shouted, babies cried, and everyone enjoyed a very warm and loving evening.
I found the people of Tofino generally friendly and polite, although some of the warmth seemed a bit artificial, and perhaps associated with my being a tourist having money to spend. There is some residual hostility to tourists and other outsiders who have "invaded" this small community. Some of the old-timers, who used to prosper through fishing or logging but are now un- and under-employed, look down on the many minimum wage jobs associated with the hospitality industry which booms during the summer, and languishes during the rest of the year. I believe some of the old-timers blame the tourists for the demise of fishing and logging.
I arrived with no agenda, other than to experience the rain. I watched it, I listened to it, I hiked in it, and in every way except getting wet tried to know it fully; I liked it, and plan to return to Tofino, or some other place with daily rain. The temperatures were generally in the 50s and 60s, so no special cold weather clothing was needed. I was prepared with waterproof clothing for my long hikes in the woods and on the beach in the rain. One day it hailed for perhaps 30 minutes as I walked along a path, so the temperature must have been in the 30s; the hail melted soon after hitting the ground.
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PLUS, HAULING LOGS IN THE SNOWY SYSKIYOUS, ETC.
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While on Vancouver Island I did visit one logging/railway museum, and the yards of the only railway that currently operates on the island. Although the museum was closed for the winter, through the courtesy of a fellow railfan I had met on the Internet I was allowed onto the grounds, and into the shops where a crew of four was restoring and repairing steam engines. I had planned to visit another railroad at the north end of the island, but it was closed because of the downturn in Canadian timber harvesting, and it is unclear if that railroad will ever run again.
Both on my way from Los Angeles to Vancouver Island, and on my way back, I had the good fortune to spend a long day in the cabs of locomotives pulling trains on a small railroad in Oregon. The principal freight items hauled on this line are logs, and the associated lumber, plywood, particleboard, and wood chips derived from the logs after they have been processed at the mills. The first day on the trains, on my way north to Tofino, was through relatively flat countryside, often paralleling the highway. The second day, on my way back to Los Angeles, I rode some of the steepest railroad grades in the country, up, through, and over the Syskiyou mountains along the Oregon-California border. Much of this segment is away from roads, and is through some very beautiful countryside. It was snowing for part of the trip. It was a first- time experience for me to ride in the cab of a locomotive as it traveled through a few inches of snow on the track. US Interstate route 5, through the same mountain range and just a few miles away, was closed to traffic in both directions because of the snow, but the train was not slowed at all. Both of these trips were, for me, out-and-back. I left my car at one station about 7 am, and took one train to its destination, and then either returned with it, or on another train, to my starting point about 14 hours later.
Another nice segment (the "etc." portion) of this trip involved meeting my son and his family in Sacramento as I returned to Los Angeles. His wife was attending a conference there, and he and I, with my two grandchildren, were free to spend time together. We visited the Railroad Museum, a park, and the Capitol, as well as just relaxing together.
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The approximate costs involved were as follows:
Category Amount
Gasoline $170
Ferry 60
Lodging 1,100
Food 500
Guest meals 70
Miscellaneous 100
TOTAL $2,000
C. W. Lee, April 20, 1998
cwlee@post.harvard.edu Rec.Travel Library
The World
North America
Canada
British Columbia
Also by C.W. Lee:
New Zealand 1994
Papua New Guinea 1995
Australia, Tasmania 1996
Foaming Nova Scotia 1997
Fadging Around the Rock (Newfoundland) 1998
Hogging Logs on Vancouver Island 1998
Panama 1999
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