Do you remember, as a child, chasing fireflies right before the sun went down?  We called it dusk – and in the middle of summer we  might be able to push the time to be home all the way past 9:30! Last night, here in Prince Rupert, dusk came around 11:30pm. The sky was already lighting at 4:15am this morning (You know – it’s that early morning bathroom call). Many people said that living in a land that has so much daylight would be difficult for them.  I disagree – in BC there is so much to see and explore I fall exhausted into bed every night!

There aren’t many states or provinces that have such diversity – snow capped mountains, oceans, lakes, islands, deserts, waterfalls, plenty of wildlife and an abundance of very friendly people! We’ve enjoyed it all so much, though, I must admit I’ve never heard so much from so many avid fishermen. This morning, as I was doing the laundry at our campground, a gentleman came to get his bait out of one of the freezers. “Today, I’m going to catch some,” he said, hopefully. “Last time I was here with 3 of my buddies we filled this freezer ( 6′ x 4′) in just 4 days!”

Not only does BC have a fantastic landscape, but the residents have done well to preserve it with a fantastic park system. There are so many provincial parks that there are 2 visitor guides printed each year – one for the lower half and one for the upper half of the province!

Yesterday, I painted at Diana Lake Provincial Park about 20 minutes east of Prince Rupert where there is a gorgeous dammed lake nestled in the mountains. I stood at the center of the walkway over the top of the dam giving a pretty good composition (always a big help to a painter). In addition to the locals who wandered up to see what I was doing, a humming bird returned 3 times to check out my red paint. It would hover 6 -10″ above my paints – as if it was trying to choose the tastiest among my bits of Alizarin Chrimson, Cadmium Red Light or Rose Madder.

So, as we prepare for this afternoon’s ferry trip to Alaska, here’s a rousing Hats Off Salute to BC which we’ve found to be a great province to visit! The three weeks we’ve spent traveling north have provided us with new friends, great memories and some fun anticipation as well. We are sure our return in August to visit Stewart and see the bears fish in yet another BC Provincial Park at Fish Creek will be another thrill!