Kent's Beach at Saltery Bay to Parksville
August 27 - Wednesday - Lots of clouds but see that blue spot to the west..............a hopeful sign of things to come. At the campground last night we were told about a really big hill just north of Kent' s Beach RV Park. We decided to get an early start so we had a Clif Bar for breakfast and headed out.
That is a smile of relief. The hill was indeed long and hard. We were really glad we didn't do it last night in the rain!!! We stopped for a "real" breakfast on the other side. 
Seems like toilet "art" is universal.
This is the entrance to the Powell River Salmon Society's Lang Creek spawning channel and counting and sorting facility. It was pretty early in the day yet so no one was around. The signs on the outside of the facility said that pink, coho, chinook, and chum salmon all spawn in this river sytem. 
It was a nice place to take a break.
One thing we discovered yesterday going down one of the hills was how worn the brakes were on Doug's bike. Powell River was the next available bike shop, so we dropped off his bike and walked around town. We still hoped to make the noon ferry over to Vancouver Island.
We didn't get far as this very pleasant organic grocery/deli/coffee shop was right next door.
It was the perfect place to enjoy the sunshine, a cup of coffee and a cup of chai tea. We also picked up a bag of locally dried apples that were quite tasty. 
Mural based on some historic photographs from the local museum.
We barely made it on the ferry. We were that last ones on board and had to wind our way amongst the vehicles to get to the bike parking spots at the front of the ferry. Turns out that Pascal, Cathy and Zoe were only about 10 minutes ahead of us. We would have had to wait 4 hours for the next ferry. Whew! So the sound of the day was the ferry horn. 
This is the Powell River paper mill. According to tourist brochures it is the largest one in the world. It is just a few miles north of town. About 13 miles north of Powell River is the town of Lund which is the very northern extent of Highway 101.
There were a bunch of us two wheel types on this ferry. The usual protocol is they let us off first so you want to be ready. Turns out that this will be the last time we see Pascal, Cathy and Zoe so a bit of a sad departure. We wish them well with their journey along with our phone numbers and email in case they need any help on their way through Oregon. Zoe gave us a big hug which needed no translation.
We decided to make it a short day (30 miles) and stay in Comox which is a very nice little town a few miles from the ferry terminal. While looking at our guidebook next to a Tim Horton's bagel place, a petite, elderly woman approached to ask if we needed directions. She said she used to be a cyclist too and really missed it. It was a delightful chat.
Filberg Park was full of these tiny deer, none of whom seemed to care that humans were wandering all over the place. The park is the estate of one of the founding families of the area.
A rather unique use of drift wood.
A more traditional use of wood just across the lawn.
This is the main house on the estate. Alas.......we got there just as they were closing up so didn't get to see much of the inside. We did make it the Comox Museum and their very new library as well. We went down to the marina after dinner but it started to rain so we went back to the motel, watched the Weather Network and tried to figure out if we were still going to make it to Port Angeles by Saturday given our slow progress so far.....130 cumulative bike miles.
August 28 - Thursday - O happy surprise....no rain on the horizon as we started the day. Today we truly start heading south on the Pacific Coast Route. We passed this tribal center in between Comox and Courtenay on our way to breakfast.
These are the "Circle Routes" set up to help tourists explore British Columbia. They are really geared towards people traveling by car on day or weekend trips but we are actually following most of the Coastal route so the information was helpful to us as well.
We stopped in Union Bay to check out the historic Post Office.
While picking up some Powerade in the store just down the street, Doug talked to the owner of this bike. Turns out that he had built it himself and added the little electric motor "to help with the hills". Unfortunately he went into the store before we thought to get his picture.
The road so far has been gently rolling with good shoulders most of the time, a nice change from yesterday's ride. It is still cool but we have only had about 10 drops of rain though a little bit of a headwind. Nothing like Wyoming though!
It was low tide all morning so we saw lots of activity in the many oyster beds as well as many people digging clams.
The brown llama was quite the character, making sure we knew that he was the head honcho in that corral.
The headwind was replaced by a long gradual hill but we made it here in time for a leisurely lunch at Deez Pub and Grill. The floral display beneath this sign was quite modest given the recognitions listed above.
Parksville was our resting place for the night. There are lots of campgrounds and RV parks along this section of Highway 19A but a bed and a warm room sounded really good after all day sweating away in the cool breeze.
This was at the entrance to the town...a much more fitting floral display. After really long, hot showers we took off on foot to explore a little. It started to rain not long into our walk, so dinner at a convenient Italian restaurant seemed in order. It was still a little wet as we made our way to the Community Park to take in the annual sand castle contest.
It was well worth the effort. These were truly works of art.
This is one of our favorites..........the monsters in the bedroom.
The teams are given 20 tons of sand and need to use all of it in their creation while staying in 30 square feet. Soloists get 10 tons of sand.
The sculptures are on display for several weeks.
They are held together by being sprayed with a dilute mixture of white glue and water....... just in case you are wondering how they have survived all the rain this past week.
Another favorite. Visitors get to vote for their favorites by putting a ballot in nearby boxes.
This very elaborate minature golf course was right across the street from our motel. It also had an ice cream shop so it was essential that we wander though the place.
Now he can't get into any trouble! Not that golf is his game anyway!
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