A Mystery Trip

 Hullo! We are down in Langford on the outskirts of Victoria. Mama says we are having a surprise adventure... uh-huh... I wonder what that could be...

Right now... we are going for a little hike along Langford Lake... where there are these mats of weeds and in them...

You can see ginormous tadpoles! They are going to grow into American Bullfrogs which are highly invasive and gobble up everything around them...

There is a company that is trying to stay on top of them but... it's a challenge...

This is a nice little hike... with the floating gangway on the lake and then a bit of forest...

It's a pretty lake but it doesn't have much in the way of beaches...

Although people go out on this floating dock to chill and soak up the sun... interesting.

Right... where to next?

Mama says we are going to go and watch a sporting event...

Um? Is this it? Little league soccer?

No? We aren't watching a bunch of kids run around the field tripping over their own feet??

Nope... apparently this was just a decoy to through me off the trail... we are going this way... following crowds of people...

Down to... Starlight Stadium where...

The BC Lions are playing a pre-season game against the Edmonton Elks!!!

O.M.G.!! I've never been to a football game... this is going to be cool! There were all sorts of food truks and stuff...

And here's the stadium... you can practically reach out and touch the players!

Ahem... Sandy Bear, sports reporter for the Stuffie Daily News... 

This is where the lions will come out onto the field...

And this is where our seats are... not the best seats in the house by any means...

But we will be behind the Lions bench and have a good view of the midfield area...

But we are early so let's poke around a bit... the players are out doing warmups and stuff.

We sat in the endzone stands for a bit...

While the kickers practiced field goals from various distances...

Incoming!!!! Cause there was no net and some people in the stands had to duck when these kicks landed among the spectators!

Alright... we have our water bottle... and we are ready!! Play Ball (whoops... that's baseball...)...

And it is hot out... and we are in the full sun... hmmm... definitely not the best seats! But Mama says these were the only ones available... hmph!

Ooooh... here come the Lions!

Go Lions!!!

And we're off!!!

One thing this little bear noticed was... some of the running backs looked tiny compared to the other players and then we'd look them up online and find out that the running back was 6' tall and... wow... some of these defensive guys are massive!

It was beary exciting although... sigh... the Lions did lose... But it was cool to be able to watch them at such a small stadium where you are pretty much sitting in their laps!

 The Lions are having to play some of their early season games in Kelowna because Fifa has commandeered BC Place stadium, where the Lions normally play...  Go Lions! 

A Haven for Injured Animals

Today we are visiting the North Island Wildlife Recovery centre... We honestly thought this was actually in the North Island area (like north of Campbell River), but no... it is near Parksville!

That is a beary toothy smiley... Can you see me??

This is a happening place!! With schoolbus loads of kids and lots of visitors!

And yes, bears feature pretty large here...

Which is as it should be... 

I feel really at home here and this guy...

Is my type of bear!!! Hullo fellow stuffie!

Majestic creatures, aren't they?

And the cougars aren't bad either...

They have a tonne of birds that, for one reason or another, were nursed back to health but can't be released into the wild. This is an albino raven who needs protection from the sun.

This is Casey, he was found as a baby on the ground, with no nest nearby. He had a severely dislocated wing and would never be able to fly... 

So now he lives here and is an educational consultant!

WE found a map and... OMG... there is a LOT to see here!!

They had webcams in the bear rehabilitation habitat...

There are several bears in there right now, getting ready to be released into the wild at some point.

They had lots of owls... This gray owl was hit by a car in the Interior and had irreparable wing damage, so he lives here...

The place is really set up to appeal to kids and there was this clump of boulders where you could go through... like in a cave system...

Mmmm... we saw some rats scurrying around earlier and... well...

... I'm going to pass on going through there... mice are one thing... rats are a completely other thing1

They had a wildlife garden...

With all kinds of cool, native plants.

And there was even a fairy garden!!

That's the Mad-hatter from Alice in Wonderland!

A lot to see...

Of course fairies can live in treehouses too!

And apparently some live in RVs too...

And have little campfires...

This was pretty cool!!