Ukee Day

Yesterday Shawn had a day off, and we decided to go to Ukee together. I'd long wanted to go to the art store there to (hopefully) buy better-quality supplies than I can get in the Tofino Pharmacy. And we wanted to pack a snack and go walk the light house trail, which I haven't been to in years.

Well, some parts were disappointing. For example, the Crow's Nest, which I'd always heard advertised as an art/gift shop...was 7/8ths gift store, with one puny section of one shelf dedicated to painting supplies. There was WAY more selection, higher quality too, at the pharmacy in Tofino...Sigh. So much for that. But they had a large selection of delectable notebooks and journals, something that always pulls me, and since I needed a notebook for some of my chakra exercises and affirmations and what-not, I bought one. It was tough choosing, and I waffled for some time in between a hardcover covered in a green peacock-feather print, with enticing gold-edged paper, and a large bendy one with a lovely painting depicting a man and woman embracing. It's hard to explain, but that's the one I chose, even though the peacock one was much prettier. Price was a factor.

Afterwards, we decided to go to Salmon Beach instead of the light house trail, because I'd never been there, and Shawn was excited to show it to me. It is reached by a network of gravelled, pot-holed back roads. Very confusing, and in some places the alders were quickly regaining control of the road. After driving around for about an hour, Shawn admitted defeat, and we rumbled and bounced our way back to the highway. Just as we reached the highway, which took a good 20 minutes, Shawn received a text from his friend, telling him exact directions to Salmon Beach, but there was no way we were at that point going to go back into that pot-holed labyrinth. For one thing, the truck was running low on gas.

We decided to go to Grice Bay. Shawn took me there my first summer, and we lay in the back of his truck companionably with music playing from the open truck windows. And then I sketched views of the Bay. Anyway, that was the plan, but we got so absorbed in conversation on the road, that both of us forgot to pay attention, and before we knew it we were back in town. By this time, it was a few hours 'till sunset. Shawn parked the truck at our apartment, and we set off for Tonquin. It had been a while since we'd been. The entrance just up the road from our place, which used to be full of unwieldy large rocks and had been unpleasant to scramble across, had been transformed into a smooth, gravelled path.
As soon as we started down it, and entered the forest, I was glad our bumblings had taken us there. The sun's light was particularly warm on the trunks of the cedars, dappling them in a dazzling golden-red. The deep green cedar fronds were edged with light where the sun rays drifted down. The atmosphere was blissfully and exquisitely peaceful and content, just like a lazy summer afternoon. I don't know how Tofino manages to convey that in the middle of winter - but it DOES! constantly I have marveled at it.
The Beach, as we caught glimpses of it here and there through the trees, was glorious. The tide was out, so the little lagoon glittered and rippled next to the tall chunk of tree-covered rock that becomes an island with the rising of the tide. I was so happy to be outside, my footsteps falling in a companionable rhythm with Shawn's. I'd seen the trail before many times, but I still felt adventurous. I was seeing everything NOW, experiencing it as it was right then, which made it all new. We made our way to the large double-layered platform on the cliffs, from which you can see a lighthouse and Felicia Island and Tonquin Beach curving away back through the trees. We stayed and watched the sun set. I never want to leave, but soon it started to get dark, so we made our way back home.

Where I made a pot of tea and scalloped potatoes. It was my first attempt at scalloped potatoes, and it was SO DELICIOUS. Super easy, too! Even slicing the potatoes thinly by hand didn't take much time at-ALL, but when you only need to cook for two, that tends to be the case. All I did was make a rue, let it sit for a minute, added some cold milk and dried dill, and then cooked it on low until smooth, thick, and bubbling. (smelt divine). Then I added a bunch of graded cheddar, layered some potato and minced onion in our 8X8,  poured the sauce over top, and repeat. Popped it in the oven uncovered for an hour at 350, and it came out perfect. Golden-browned and bubbly. Not the most healthy of dinners, but certainly tasty!