A Visit to Victoria with Trails and Totem Poles

Hullo! I went to Victoria!! It was a bit of a last-minute trip so don't ask me where the hotel photos are. Apparently the humans forgot to take pics! Seriously... Anyhow... 

It still got my Starbucks hot chocolate so this little bear is happy!

We went for a walk at Beacon Hill Park...

Look at all the moss and lichen on these tree branches.

They look beary cool.

The ocean shore here is pretty cool too. Do you see way in the background...

Yep... them... they went swimming in the ocean!!! Brrrrrrrrr....

Somewhere out there is Washington State and the Olympic Peninusla. That is on my bucket list...

A beach walk is in order too...

Someone built a nifty bench out of driftwood... so we can just sit here and admire the view.

And then we have these stairs up to the walkway on topo of the bluffs.

The history of these concrete turret stairs is a bit mysterious...

The salmon mosaics are cool though!

Are these turrets from the war? Maybe... not sure!

And yes... I found some spring flowers!!!

Our next stop is this totem pole in Beacon Hill Park...

It's beary pretty...

And beary, beary tall... We need to back up a bit more...

There we go!!!

Am I in the picture still? Excellent!

It is the world's tallest (free-standing totem pole at 127 feet and 7 inches). It was dedicated on 2 July 1956... that's a beary long time ago!

There aren't actually any bears on this totem... but there is a seal, sea lion, whale, killer whale, sea otter, beaver, and several first men.

There are actually several "world's tallest totem poles" but it's a beary contentious title, apparently. There's one in Alert Bay (near top of northern Vancouver Island) that is 173 feet tall but it is built from two sections of wood (163 ft and 10 ft) and seems to be held by cable wires... plus the top 10 feet got knocked off by a storm a few year's ago. There's also one in Kalama WA that is 140 feet tall but it wasn't carved by Indigenous artists... so it gets knocked off the list too... It's complex!

We then poked around the waterfront a bit and went for a beary long walk.

And found The Great Trail (aka... the Trans Canada Trail). It starts here in Victoria and a section follows the Galloping Goose Regional Trail (which follows an old rail line).

There is a LOT of traffic on this trail - lots of commuting cyclists and joggers and people with strollers.

The sun is going down and we are at the Selkirk Trestle which crosses one of the inlets here...

It's beary pretty... and the trail goes across the trestle which is kind of cool!

Sigh... I love sunsets!

It was nice to get away for a few days!

Sandy offers a Tour of the Bearbnb's Main Bedroom

Hullo! I thought I'd give you a little tour of the main bedroom in my Bearbnb...

You might have seen in my earlier posts that I have mastered the art of towel rolling.

Still working on my towel animals but... we do provide chocolates!

The main bedroom also has a snazzy sit/stand desk with a keyboard and mouse! 

This is so your human can do their blogging in comfort and not have any excuses that they don't have anywhere to work. That excuse does not WORK here... heh-heh... Oh, and that's our Bearbnb Guest Book in the background... this little bear LOVES to get complimented on how cute he is...

We also provide tissues... not that stuffies need tissues...

But if your human leaves you behind... a great expression of disgust is to take a tissue and shred it and sprinkle it around. Gramma's dog did that all the time and it worked wonders for not being left home.

There is also a full-size closet (with a luggage rack and laundry baskets) and a dresser! So you have plenty of room for your stuffie wardrobe.

And one drawer even has some office supplies... and we've added a hand-held luggage scale and an internal plug converter!

Oh, and there's some fast food coupons too... in case you get peckish and want some fast food...

This little bear is always trying to think of ways in which the humans can increase the comfort of this Bearbnb! Did we miss something?

R.I.P. Miss Minnie Princess Pretty Paws

I have some beary sad news today.

Our little cat, Minnie, has not been doing well since last August.

She was diagnosed with Stage 3 kidney failure and the humans had to inject her with subcutaneous saline every few days. Then in February, she got a urinary tract infection and stopped eating and started losing weight.

She got beary skinny and the humans tried everything...

But on April 5, the vet agreed... it was time to let her go.

Minnie was sleeping all the time, burrowed under blankets.

She would still purr but... you could tell she wasn't happy anymore.

Little Minnie minoo...

So the humans took her to the vet on April 10 and said good-bye to her.

As a little bear, I can't shed any tears... but I can issue tissues...

Lots and lots of tissues....

Need a new box of tissues...

The humans are beary sad. And miss Minnie terribly.

Little Miss Minnie Princess Pretty Paws... Rest in Peace little one.