Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: Canada

This lovely, undulating fountain was quite the spectacle to watch! You can find out more about this beautiful water feature here: Ross Fountain

(+4 insets!) (Please view large for a proper look! :) (Scroll down to "Today's Pictures" for information about the insets) Trip Talk: Big Fun at Little Qualicum Falls After our fantastic adventure at Englishman River Provincial Park, we couldn't imagine finding another waterfall and hike that would equal that experience. Well, we were about to be delightfully corrected! Heading along the beautiful Alberni Highway, we drove 13.5 miles (21.9 km) northwest to the trailhead for Little Qualicum Falls. Getting to the trailhead turned out to be a bit of a challenge, however. Arriving at the Google Map location, we didn't see any signs to direct us to a parking lot. We wondered if we were actually supposed to just pull off onto the shoulder, but that couldn't be right. Driving up and down the road a couple of times, we finally spotted a tiny road leading into a very small--but nicely paved--parking lot. "How did we miss that?!" we both exclaimed…a parking lot sign titled with Little Qualicum Falls was right there--it just wasn't obvious unless you knew where to look. There was exactly one spot left and Steve maneuvered our long truck expertly into place. The trail that led from the parking lot was equally unobtrusive but we were soon wowed by the unfolding beauty before us. A glowing, vibrant forest welcomed us as we took in the beautiful environment complete with the twitters and calls of birds near and far. Soon we heard the telltale sound of rushing water and saw water racing down a boulder-strewn chasm below. What a sight! Peeking over the side of the trail as we went, we found ourselves totally blown away by the views we saw. How can nature be so beautiful?! WOW!! Working our way up the trail and across a well-constructed bridge, we eventually came to an observation lookout and found ourselves staring in awe at the gorgeous two-levels of Little Qualicum Falls…WHAT A SIGHT! The shape of the falls, the way the logs seemed to arrange themselves so perfectly around the base of the main drop…the color of water in the pools and stream…the rocks and formations…it was just jaw-dropping!! The only thing which ruined the remarkable beauty of this place was the chain-link fencing along the edge of the deep chasm. They were annoying eyesores but unfortunately this place has a history of people falling to their deaths so the fencing is necessary. It took a bit of looking around but we were able to get plenty of nice angles through various holes in the fence and over the top. When we had satisfied our exploration of the area, we found a nice place for our lunch and enjoyed the views and the sound of crashing water cascading over the falls, tumbling topsy-turvy down the streambed towards the sea. What a joy to behold such incredible beauty! How lucky we were to get the opportunity to see this lovely place! Neither of us will ever take for granted our good fortune that allows us to explore the world. At one point on the meandering hike back to the truck, I noticed movement just off the trail. Investigating closer, I was delighted to find a garter snake on the hunt for lunch. While I was slowly crept nearer, stepping carefully over branches and around trees--clicking away with my Sony camera--a kid-filled family walking past noticed me and wondered what I was looking at. I told them it was a snake and if they approached quietly they might get a glimpse too...so, one by one they copied my stealthy movement and because the garter snake was relaxed and unafraid, they were able to see it too! Everyone stood frozen, appreciating its beauty until it silently slipped away into the brush. Then we chatted about snakes for a few minutes before we all headed off on our hikes again! What a fun memory for this day! Today's Pictures My main picture shows the awesome double-levels of Little Qualicum Falls, complete with logs that got stuck on the way down! This was a sight we stared at for a long time…it was just so beautiful! My first inset is a wide panorama showing the bridge up to the Falls and starring Steve in the middle! Other insets include some of the gorgeous views as we hiked the trail up to the Falls and finally, a pictures of the darling garter snake that allowed me to take its picture. I hope you enjoy the show! :) Pam, have you ever seen a "double-decker" waterfall like this one? What a special sight! We are amazed at the beautiful shapes that waterfalls can create and this particular one almost seems man-made because it's so pretty. I like to do long-exposure shots of waterfalls but they require tripods and we didn't have one with us today. Have you ever fooled around with long-exposure? I looked in your stream but didn't find any, though you may have a trove of these which you never uploaded. :) It's a fun skill to work on if the conditions are right and you're in the mood! Anyway, I'm sending a virtual *hug* your way on this soon-to-be-rainy day! Explored on 2/24/20; highest placement #1.

(+5 insets!) (even prettier full size!) :D Trip Talk: Two Breathtaking Waterfalls in One Day! Our jaw-dropping evening at Parksville gave us a pretty good indication that our adventures here would be fantastic--that sure turned out to be true! :) Our first morning after we set up at Parksville, we decided to check out a couple of waterfalls that everyone raved about--Englishman River Falls and Little Qualicum Falls. They both included beautiful hikes and both of us were really excited as we ate breakfast and prepared our lunch of various cheeses, sausages and other tasty treats. Walking through the Forest to Englishman River Falls This lovely provincial park was located mere moments from our campsite and its close proximity to the nearby towns of Qualicum Beach, Coombs and Parksville meant it was a popular destination for the locals too. It also has an very popular campground but sadly for us, the many campsites are small and have no electrical or sewer hookups. (These "old-style" campgrounds without amenities are standard for the many provincial parks on Vancouver Island. The restrictions of these "primitive" sites also meant we couldn't include them in our reservations.) The most popular features of Englishman River Falls Provincial Park are the wonderful rock-slab beaches along the river. Perfect for relaxing with the family on this lovely, warm Sunday, Steve and I felt a pang of regret that we didn't pack swimsuits, but kept this in mind for the future. As we headed out of the parking lot to begin our hike, we were amused to see little kids squealing in excitement as they ran circles around their parents. They carried all-important, brightly-colored buckets and shovels in their tiny hands, but not a stitch on their adorable little bodies! Once we were on the main trail we found ourselves alone in blissful solitude and Steve and I enjoyed a beautiful hike through dappled forest on well-cared-for trails. The path lead along the picturesque fast-moving river to some lovely view-points to see the Falls, which included a pair of handsome bridges that we crossed to get up to the Falls themselves. Steve and I had a very wonderful, relaxing walk accented with plenty of photos! Today's Pictures My main picture shows the Englishman River Falls and I think you'll agree that the sight is a breathtaking one! Steve and I stood for a long while, marveling at the strong-flowing water cascading into the chasm below. Due to its location, there wasn't any way to photograph the entire waterfall but I was really happy with this view! Insets include an abstract of the rushing water and some of the beautiful forest scenery we encountered along the way. Pam, I looked through your pictures because I was sure I'd see waterfalls but WOW! There aren't any! I did see though, that there are some really beautiful waterfalls not that far from where you live. ( Waterfalls near you ). I'm going to bet you've visited some of them! Steve and I are crazy about these water features so whenever we have the chance we will go to see them! How is the weather treating you these days? For us, freezing mornings and gorgeous sunny days lately! It won't last forever but we're enjoying the sunshine and lovely, warm afternoons while they are here! Sending *hugssssss* your way! Explored on 2/20/20; highest placement #2.

(+4 insets) (bigger is better!) I've done some thinking about how I should approach my trip pictures and posts here on ipernity. I have so many things to talk about and countless pictures to go through that I'm going to have two parts of each post: Trip Talk and Today's Pictures . This way, if you only want to know about the pictures, you can scroll down to that part. And this way it won't matter if the main subject has absolutely nothing to do with the pictures…such as today! Now is the time to go get a cup of coffee or perhaps a bottle of wine? Let's get this party started!! :) Trip Talk Traveling to Vancouver Island and spending five weeks there was an amazing experience. Neither of us had been on such a long trip before and even the planning took many weeks. We had our share of problems, as can be expected. Pumpkin Couldn’t Go On Our Trip!!! One of the worst surprises was when—just a few days before we were set to leave—we discovered that we wouldn’t be able to bring our parrot with us. We were so upset that our first thought was to cancel the entire trip. However, at that point we couldn't afford NOT to go, as so many of our accommodations had been paid for already. The good news was that the vet where we board her would be able to accommodate her while we were gone. Also, the fact is that Pumpkin has such a good time staying there that we refer to her boarding place as “Camp Chicken”. We worried if she’d be able to forgive us for leaving her for six weeks but we had nothing to fear. As we hoped, our weekly calls revealed that Pumpkin was having a blast and was loved by the staff as well. Steve and I had the hard part, which was managing our feelings. Pumpkin is like our child—can you imagine being separated from your little one with basically no warning—and for six WEEKS? It was really, really hard to deal with that, but what else could we do? Both of us missed her so deeply that we had to just shut down those thoughts. We purposely didn’t talk about her, though she was so often on our minds. The only thing that made our painful longing bearable was knowing that she was doing great and having full days of fun entertainment with lots of attention. To tell you how much we wanted to see her, we TRIED to change our plans so we could get back sooner, but nothing was possible. The last five days of our trip revolved around Labor Day weekend and the non-existence of camping spots anywhere except for totally overpriced spots we couldn’t—wouldn’t—afford. As it was, Steve made reservations for those last five days months ago and even then, finding anything was next to impossible. We were good and truly stuck with our full itinerary, so we did our best to not think about her.Wretched. We DID make one alteration to our plans though. Since the trailer is so big, we planned to drive home, drop off the trailer and then return to pick up Pumpkin. This would surely threaten to kill us as we’d be literally driving right past the town where she was staying…and the added time would be nearly two hours. UGH!! However, before we started driving that morning, I showed Steve how we could drive the truck and trailer around the block where there would be room for our rig while we picked up Biscuit (Pumpkin). At first he didn’t think it would be wise, but when we were nearly there, Steve changed his mind and we pulled off the freeway to pick up Pumpkin! It turned out to be an easy situation and there was even a place for us to parallel park just out front! PERFECT!! When we stepped inside the office, not a minute had passed before we heard Pumpkin’s sweet whistling melodies from where she was housed. It was all we could do to keep from running into the back to get her! “CHICKEN!!!” I squealed in anticipation, bouncing up and down and beaming back at Steve. A few minutes later her cage was carried out to us and Steve and I were just coo-coo at the sight of her. She not only remembered us, the sight of us made her equally excited and as Steve took her out of her cage and held her up to his face for a kiss, Pumpkin’s dear vocalizations were so sweet and full of undeniable joy and longing too. What an amazing reunion for all three of us. Stepping onto my offered finger, I held Pumpkin up to my face for a kiss and cooed at her while she made wonderful purring chirps and whistles that were so full of love…all three of us were just so happy to be a family again. All was well. Our family was once again complete. And, I’m so pleased to report that Pumpkin never punished us with bad behavior to let us know how angry she’d been that we were gone for so long. You may be aware that companion animals will sometimes act up to let you know they were upset at a long parting. I certainly wouldn’t have blamed Pumpkin for lashing out at us but she never did. How blessed we are to have this angel of a bird in our lives! Today's Pictures My main picture is a pair of islands that Steve and I saw while on the ferry ride from Anacortes, Washington to Sidney, Vancouver Island. The ferry was HUGE! I mean…REALLY HUGE!!! There were many RVs and trucks loaded on as well as dozens of cars. Everyone drove onto the ferry in designated aisles demarcated by lines and workers directed each vehicle into position. It was just amazing to me that we drove our rig--nearly 60 feet long--onto a BOAT, which would carry us to an island in Canada! CRAZY! The ride took over an hour and we were free to stay in our truck or walk around the ferry if we liked. We met a man with an adorable Boxer and spent time chatting with him while we showered the dog with affection…we sure do miss our Boxer, Zoey, and the lovely fawn-colored beauty was fun to see! Inset 1 : This was a view from Anacortes while we were waiting for the ferry. Inset 2 : After two days of driving, pulling into the ferry terminal was incredibly exciting for us! Inset 3 : Here's a view from the truck on the ferry! Inset 4 : I am including a picture of what the ferries look like as well as a map showing our route from Anacortes to Sidney. We were both really worried about going through customs because we had so much food with us. However, I'd done my homework and even though many websites written by travelers to Canada have said you can't bring ANY food, I figured out that you merely have to let the agent know what you have when they ask. I did forget to toss the apples--fruit is a no-no--so Steve popped into the RV to retrieve them. Another agent peeked inside our trailer, using a stick to push the bedroom curtain aside, just to see that everything was normal looking. Steve offered to let him come in but the man declined and soon we were off and starting our adventure on Vancouver Island!! Pam, would you agree that going through Customs is one of the worst hells on the planet?! Heh…it gets worse every time I go through, although our experience with land-based customs was nothing at all! I hope all is well with you, I'm sending my *BIG HUGS* your way!! Explored on September 7, 2019. Highest placement, #3.