Thursday, August 20th

For the first time ever our flight out of Vancouver was delayed. We were only half an hour late taking off, so it didn't make any difference to our plans. On arrival we got the few groceries that we thought we would need and then proceeded home to unload our luggage. We came specifically for the Blackberry Festival, which was to start tonight and go throughout the weekend. Unfortunately tonight's event was either cancelled or we misunderstood where it was being held because we couldn't find it. We did rediscover a favoured Japanese restaurant - we had eaten there before and thought they had closed down, but they had just moved to a new location. We were almost too late for the sunset but made it to Willington Beach for the final moments.

Friday, August 21st

The weather was a bit iffy, but we sat outside for our coffee and breakfast. Nothing pressing to do so we didn't get a very early start. My hope for the day was to match some crewel embroidery thread for a project I'm working on. After searching WalMart and Dollar-Rama I had one choice left - the quilting store. Unfortunately I didn't find anything to match, but when we left the quilting store we found a restaurant that was new to us.

Outside the Flying Yellow Breadbowl Restaurant

We stopped by a second-hand shop in one of the historic buildings in Townsite - Pat even made a purchase.

The RodMay Hotel

Just up the street from the hotel is the Historic Bank of Montreal building. When we were looking at homes in Powell River this was one we seriously considered. I think Pat still has regrets that we didn't purchase it.

The afternoon was lazy - sitting out in the sun/sprinkles and a little nap for me. At 6 PM the crowds were streaming past the house on the way to the Street Festival (just a block from home). The whole 10 blocks of Marine were set up with vendor stalls - some wares, but mainly food and most of that with some sort of Blackberry twist (pies, shortcake, cheesecake, mousse, danishes, tarts) - I won't tell you how many I tasted, but I did leave a few to try out at next year's festival.

The Street Festival

Dancing In the Streets

We watched the sunset from the ferry terminal/marina and then headed to Willingdon Beach for the fireworks - a beautiful end to the evening.

Saturday, August 22nd

I had to keep reminding myself that this was Saturday - it really felt like a Sunday. We had a lovely day of Gallery Tours. Most were in the artist's homes so we got to see inside some houses. The artists were all very good about explaining their art. I particularly enjoyed one of the stone carvers who showed us several examples of the chunks of stone he uses.

At lunch, we tried out a new restaurant right down at the shore. As we ate lunch we watched three otters playing in the water.

We visited a couple of galleries just down the road from Powell River in Lund. We had driven out before, but never explored the town. It is quite lovely.

Pat in front of the Lund Hotel

The stairs leading up to Rare Earth Pottery

Sunday, August 23rd

Time to get down to work today. The yard needed a bit of cleaning up and after that was done we needed to do some cleaning up inside. When all the work was finished we headed out for another Blackberry Festival event in Townsite. When we arrived at 2 PM there wasn't much going on so we did a little sightseeing on our own and headed out to Gibson's Beach. What a lovely spot.

Gibson's Beach

The tide was out and we found several stranded jelly fish and a few starfish.

And we just couldn't resist those blackberries.

When we drove back into town we managed to catch a couple of entertainers as we enjoyed Blackberry Sundaes. Then it was back to reality and the flight home.