Day 49 - Duncan, Vancouver Island

Duncan, Vancouver Island, 56 miles total and 20.8 mpg. Totals for the trip, 7609 miles, 27.6* mpg. Those are the stats.



This morning the sky was a mixture of blue and some clouds. It looked like rain might be possible some time during the day, but not right now. After the big dinner last night we both got just a light breakfast, then off in search of the local Information Center for – well – information. And information we got. We discovered there is actually an enclosed dog park in Duncan! The boys haven’t had a ‘free’ run for a long time – this is great news! We (I use the royal ‘we’, Sally-Heath actually did it all) got a lot of other good info from Ian at the visitor center, but this was just great. So of course that was the first thing on our list, and we drove straight to it. Jake and Woody had a ball. It is a small park, and Jake can’t really get up to speed, but they ran and made friends and had a good old time. So did we (have a good old time).


After the dog park, we headed for Quw’utsun’ Cultural Center (land warmed by the sun) to check out the Art Fair associated with the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) that are being held in Duncan this weekend, and to check out the food offered at the Cultural Center.

The food was very good – we both had Salmon Burgers w/fries. We ate in a large room with huge log beams. There were round tables for eight, and seating was however you want – family style. There was very nice flute music playing, and it was a comfortable setting. After eating we split up. Sally-Heath went to the art exhibit building, and I roamed the grounds taking pictures of totems and other things of interest. The totems are great – Duncan is ‘the city of totems’ – there are more than 60 totems in Duncan, I guess that includes the ones here at the Cultural Center. City Center is full of totems also.


There was a music venue set up, and a series of performers – unfortunately I didn’t get to spend much time with that. I heard bits of two acts, a solo violin and a three piece folk group. What I heard was good. There were two aisles of vendors, a la arts and crafts fairs, and I made a quick pass through those. I almost escaped without buying anything, but I got snagged by a poster, which lead to a T-shirt. The picture is 4 Native Americans armed with rifles. The caption is, across the top, “Fighting Terrorism”, and across the bottom, “Since 1492”. I just couldn’t resist – I walked past, but had to turn and go back. Got a shirt for Doug too – hope he likes it! (The picture below is the poster, not the T-shirt.)


After a brief stop by the room, we headed into Duncan to check out the totems there. The clouds were building, and rain seemed eminent, and for sure, it was. We didn’t get much time, but we did see a few things and took some pictures. We’ll finish that up before we leave. And since it was raining, what better time to do the laundry! Which we just happened to have in the car with us. While Sally-Heath slaved in the Laundromat I was in the car with the boys, with my mp3 player at good volume (earphones), and snoozing. It kept raining, but I hardly knew it. { S-H:”Mr. I don’t do flowers” came in as I was finishing folding the last of the laundry with a bunch of red roses!:-) }

Laundry done and dropped off at room, we went for a short drive. The rain was letting up, there was some blue and some sunlight, and we really hadn’t seen much of the area except really close to Duncan. Basically we drove around Quamichan Lake – from our room it was north on route 1, east on Herd Rd to Maple Bay, then back west on Maple Bay Rd, to route 1, and north on route 1 to our room. Nice loop, not very long at all, but it got us out of the city. This was the best little drive! Great forests, lots of horse country, clouds and sky and rainbows and sunlit treetops and fog. When we got to Maple Bay we extended the drive a bit. First we drove north around Maple Bay, in a very ritzy residential neighborhood. Returned the same way, and continued south, this time going quite a bit further, to Birds Eye Cove on Genoa Bay. It was all beautiful, and most of it was not possible to photograph – it was just too big, and I could never capture it on film.


What was nice, though, about taking this drive, is that it got us away from the bustle for the first time on the Island. Highway 1 is a zoo. Duncan is an incredibly busy place, with lots of traffic and people. But just off the main drag (and there is only one, highway 1 up the east side of the island) there is beauty, peace, tranquility. It was nice, and I’m thinking there will be more of it. And more of the dog park.

Back at the Best Western, we had a light snack, and headed back to the room to crash, which is where we are now, and what I’m getting ready to do. Goodnight!