Delightfully Raw on Vancouver Island: Part II

A few days ago I began to tell you about our time on Vancouver Island. Here are some more tidbits of our adventures there... 

Raw Potluck
Pat and other raw enthusiasts meet every single Wednesday night at Zen Zero in downtown Courtenay for a raw potluck. Now, that is no small feat! We, of course, joined them while we were there. The food was absolutely delicious and a good crowd turned up.

Pat had made a whole bunch of stuff! She brought her Banana Pudding, a great big bowl of Salsa, and delicious Banana Crackers with a simple Tahini Date Spread.

Pat's Banana Crackers
Start the crackers the day before. Prepare to soak seeds for 4 hours or perhaps overnight.

1/3 Cup each of Flax, Sunflower & Sesame seeds in 3 Cups of Water

Soak a minimum of 4 hours, perhaps overnight.

4-5 Ripe Bananas, broken into pieces
1/4 Cup Agave Syrup (optional)
Vanilla - if using a VitaMix, put in one whole bean, cut into pieces - or use 2 Tbsp vanilla flavouring or 1 Tbsp vanilla powder
1/2 tsp full spectrum Salt (optional)
1 Tbsp Lemon juice

Add to soaked seed mix, stir.

1/8-1/4 Cup Flax seeds
1/8-1/4 Cup Sesame seeds

Process well & add to seed mix, stir.

1/4 Cup Sunflower seeds (optional)

Process only until fairly chunky.

Add to mix, stir. Your mix should be not too runny, not too thick.

If too runny, add a bit more ground flax &/or sesame seeds. If too thick, add enough water to make spreadable batter.

Spread onto Teflex dehydrator sheets (do not score into crackers yet). Dehydrate at 125 degrees F. for approximately 4 hours, then reduce to 105 degrees & dehydrate for approximately 8 more hours (or overnight).

Turn each cracker mix onto a cutting board & cut - pizza cutter works well - into cracker shapes. Put each cracker back onto mesh dehydrator trays & dehydrate for a further 4 hours, depending on whether you want chewy or crispy. To test, remove a cracker & let sit in open air for a few minutes - decide if that is the hardness or chewiness you desire.

Store crackers in a tightly sealed container. Will keep well for about 2-3 weeks. If kept too long, they will lose flavour.

Tahini Date Spread
Begin preparations the day before you want the jam.

Simply soaked dates - agh, about 1 cup, processed with tahini, approximately 1/3 of a cup.

Pat told me they're also very delicious served with:

Cranberry Orange Jam
2 Cups dates, soaked (see below)
1 Cup cranberries (fresh or frozen; dried cranberries are boiled in sugar)
1 Whole orange, organic, with skin, cut into pieces

Soak dates in enough water to cover for several hours to overnight (if I am making ʻjamʼ for banana crackers, I put the dates to soak at the same time I put the flax, sesame & sunflower seeds to soak; at the same time I will put the frozen cranberries in container in fridge to thaw).

Drain the dates (I save the sweet date water in fridge & use to sweeten other things or save to soak dates in next time I make ʻjamʼ).

Add dates, cranberries & orange to a food processor & process until very smooth. Done! Yum!

Lastly, like us Pat loves durian and had also brought Durian Pudding.

My Blueberry Pie was such a success at the dinner some nights before that I decided to make it again for the potluck.

Marussia, one of the owners of Zen Zero, had brought kelp noodles in a peanut style sauce. It turns out that she has been following my blog for years so it was nice to finally meet.

Zucchini noodles in a balsamic marinade topped with black olives.

During our travels I've come upon a recipe book published by another woman from BC called Rose. She actually lives in the area and was able to make it to the potluck. Yay! She is such a kind and gentle lady! It was also neat to meet another raw author; as you can imagine we had lots to talk about!

Showing each other's culinary babies. ;-)

Rose contributed a really yummy Egg Salad from her book, Uncooking With RawRose – Your Guide to Raw Foods, which she graciously accepted to share with you, my readers. Enjoy!

Not Egg Salad
From “Uncooking With RawRose – Your Guide to Raw Foods” by Rose Vasile

Quantity:  3 1/2 cups + 4 cups greens or sprouts to serve it on

Ingredients:
- 1 cup cashews
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 1/4 teaspoons sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
- dash of cayenne
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 date
- 1 medium zucchini (grated, then chopped a bit = 2 cups)
- 2 cups green cabbage (finely grated)
- 1 stalk celery (finely diced = 1/2 cup)
- 3 tablespoons fresh parsley (to mince)
- 1 green onion (finely chopped)
- 4 cups leafy greens and/or sprouts (optional)

⇒    Put cashews, water, oregano, salt, turmeric, mustard, cayenne, vinegar and date in a blender, but don’t blend yet (so cashews can soften slightly while preparing the other ingredients).

⇒    Put zucchini, cabbage, celery, parsley and green onion in a bowl. 

⇒    Blend ingredients that have been soaking in blender, until smooth, then pour over the zucchini, etc.  Combine well.  

⇒    Nice served on leafy greens and/or sprouts because the greens/sprouts get coated with excess sauce (besides tasting good and adding nutrients).

After the meal I gave a talk highlighting our approach to successfully transitioning to and maintaining the raw diet, which I outline in detail in my Delightfully Raw book. One of our messages is to look at it from the perspective of adding more raw foods into your diet rather that trying to stop eating cooked. As you include some raw recipes on your menu then there naturally will be less and less room for the cooked stuff.

Spreading The Raw Buzz
We'd planned to give a food prep workshop a couple of days later and debated whether we should cancel it as there were so few participants. In the end we decided to go ahead anyways and I'm so glad we did; it turned out to be a fun and informal affair.

On the menu was Green Cucumber Soup, Spinach & Cream Pasta Casserole, Tuna Salad, Blueberry variation of my Strawberry Shortcake and my Fruit & Nut Chocolate Candy.

  Spinach & Cream Pasta Casserole before the Pine Nut Parmesan and going in the D.

And after about 1 hour at 110 degrees.

 Ready to munch!

At Stephen's Gardens
The day before we left Comox Pat took us to see her friend Stephen Cochrane's gardens. Stephen is the director of Raw BC Society - an organization whose mission is to promote the health benefits of an unprocessed raw food diet and to connect the resources of existing raw food advocating communities around British Columbia. Stephen has been eating raw for the last 20 years and dedicates a great deal of his energy to gardening and self-sustainability. He is also very involved with the Comox Valley Growers and Seed Savers. Stephen took some time from his busy schedule in order to give us a little tour of his family's property, share some gardening tips and exchange ideas. To my delight, he gave us several types of seeds for our own future gardening ventures. Yay!

A hothouse ingeniously rigged with a wood stove with an extra long pipe to prevent plants from freezing during the winter months.

Glorious pink rhododendrons

 

After spending a little over a week in the Comox Valley it was time to get back on the road. Pat came over to see us off and took this photo as we were getting ready to roll.

Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park
Before leaving the island we decided to spend a couple of days at Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park, just south of Parksville and about half an hour north of Nanaimo. After being in a town environment for a while we figured we could use some time in Nature, plus it would lighten up our journey back to the mainland.

The park is huge, covering some 347 hectares and the campground has over 175 sites. While it doesn't have hook ups there's access to water and several outhouses around the facility. There's also a couple of shower buildings which felt like such a luxury after all the rough camping we've been doing of late. Being on a weekday and out of season the place was virtually empty and we found a great quiet spot.

 

The park offers 5.5 km of trails through forests and along the ocean so we got to walk to our feet's content.

Back to the Mainland
The next morning we woke up early and got on the 10:40 ferry from Nanaimo to northwest Vancouver. In spite of the predicted rain the weather held off throughout the ride, offering a beautiful view of the gulf islands.

Once on the mainland we were soon met with intermittent showers. The drive was uneventful and since with the rain and all there wasn't much to see, it gave me a chance to catch up on my blogging.

We had planned to stop for the night a few miles passed Princeton but we were getting concerned that we might have to keep going as the rain was falling pretty fiercely; definitely not good camping weather. Thankfully by the time we made it to Stemwinder Provincial Park the sky had cleared up. Phfew!

 The campground is right by highway 3 but we found a site along the Similkameen River which was running so strongly that we could barely hear the nearby traffic.

There she is in the last rays of sunshine.

The boys chilling out after the long day's drive. Notice Puss next to the coolers?

 

She was just then getting ready to explore our surroundings in earnest.

The Last Leg of Our Journey
We repacked the van the following morning and continued our travels towards the interior. To my great delight the further we went the more the sky cleared up, offering a stunning spectacle of the most amazing cloud formations. The province is referred to as 'Beautiful British Columbia' and that it truly is. It had been a while since we'd traveled this road and thoroughly enjoyed it.

We drove through the Okanagan, the area that supplies the bulk of the fruit that is grown in Canada. We encountered many fields, orchards and vineyards, testifying to the abundance of the region.

Shortly before we reached Osoyoos we passed by Spotted Lake. I learned some fascinating stuff about this unique phenomenon on Wikipedia. The "lake is very highly concentrated with numerous different minerals. It contains some of the highest quantities (in the world) of magnesium sulfate, calcium and sodium sulphates. It also contains extremely high concentrations of 8 other minerals as well as some small doses of four others such as silver and titanium."

"Most of the water in the lake evaporates over the summer, leaving behind all the minerals. Large “spots” on the lake appear and depending on the mineral composition at the time, the spots will be different colors. The spots are made mainly of magnesium sulfate, which crystallizes in the summer. In the summer only the minerals in the lake remain, and they harden to form natural “walkways” around and between the spots."

A view of Osoyoos Lake which is located in the heart of town.

As highway 3 leaves Osoyoos towards the east it quickly climbs steeply up with a number of hairpin turns, offering a stunning overview of the town and its surroundings.

More beautiful cloud formations as we continued eastward.

The Poo Saga
When doing research about border crossing I learned that while Miss daPuss (aka Puss, Miss daPu or just Pu for short) didn't need papers to cross into the US, Canada does require her to have a rabbies shot. As a general rule we like to stay way clear of hospitals and conventional medicine, but it seemed like we didn't have much choice. We found an animal hospital in Anacortes that had raving reviews online and the fee was ridiculously cheap so we took her in one afternoon. The lady vet was super friendly and even looked her over without any additional charge. Yay! She confirmed that our furry friend was in perfect health and was surprised to learn that Puss had been on the road for several months and showed no sign of stress or anxiety. (I mean, beside not being too happy to be at the doctor's! lol Who wouldn't, eh?)

So far so good, right? It wasn't long before it became clear, however, that we had unwittingly initiated a veritable poo/Pu drama...

The next evening Don pointed out that she had pooped three times during the day - an unusual occurrence for sure - but neither of us thought anything of it at first. I also noticed that she was drinking a lot more water than usual. But what really set off the alarm was when I heard Pu cry in pain and later discovered that her stools were unformed and contained mucus and blood. Eeek! She was otherwise looking fine so I only really delved into the matter once back in Canada.

While researching online I discovered that others had noticed similar side effects in their cats after vaccination. In fact in a few cases it had turned into an horror story; their beloved furries becoming unexplainably sick and even some dying within a short time! One woman took her dead kitten to the vet to be autopsied and the cause was determined to be panleukopenia; a feline type of leukemia. Somehow the rabbies vaccine had infected the cat with this extremely rare but very serious condition that attacks the pet's white blood cells. I read that with a deficiency of those defensive blood cells and an ulcerated intestinal lining, diarrhea, intestinal bleeding, dehydration and susceptibility to bacterial infections are the end results. Puss seemed to be suffering from some of these symptoms so I became increasingly concerned and braced myself for the worst.

While Kylo is very close to Don, Miss DaPu is my special companion. We are super bonded energetically and she usually ends up on my lap or curled up against me at night. She has been doing so marvelously well during this trip and has been getting sweeter and closer to me than ever. If it turned out that I had in effect unknowingly signed her death warrant! ;-(

I immediately contacted the vet in Anacortes to explain the situation and he said that he'd never seen such a reaction in his 40 some years of practice. He would have gladly had a look at her but that wasn't an option since we had already left the country. And so we booked an appointment at a local animal hospital for the following morning. According to my internet findings the prognosis wasn't encouraging as very little could be done to neutralize the panleukopenia virus other than to have the animal hospitalized in an attempt to fight off the dehydration stage of the sickness. In other words: mega bucks which we weren't sure we could afford.

The next morning, though, Puss had stopped drinking excessively and her condition didn't look like it had worsened, so we thought best to hold off on seeing the vet. Instead we decided to monitor her as closely as we could and take her in if other symptoms appeared. Over the following days she continued to have lots of energy and seemed otherwise back to normal. I was keeping my fingers crossed that she was on the other side of whatever it was that she had. Since we were camping and she spent a lot of time exploring our surroundings, it took a whole week before she finally pooped in her litter box again. Upon examination her stools didn't show any sign of her bowels being irritated so I thought we were out of the woods...  until I found more loose stools and a small amount of blood a few days later. ;-(

By that time it had been 3 weeks since the infamous shot, and I thought that panleukopenia could be safely ruled out as it usually manifests very quickly. Yet more research revealed that she might be suffering from irritated bowels as an allergic reaction to the nasty chemicals her body had been invaded with. That sounded right to me. At best it was just a minor condition that can be easily treated by giving the digestive tract a little rest. At worst it could have been that she had Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) which would mean changing and closely monitoring her diet for the rest of her life. In any case from what I read I felt that a short 24 hour fast followed by a few days of a bland diet was a good place to start.

Feasting on durian

Being the food lover that she is, Puss of course loudly protested during the fast, pestering us through the night, but we firmly held our ground. While she is normally quite fussy about what she eats she adjusted surprisingly well to her new fare consisting of white rice, boiled chicken and pureed butternut squash (to help absorb extra moisture in her gut and solidify her stools). I also blended in a slippery elm mixture (1 tbs slippery elm powder whisked with 12 oz hot water) - an old herbal remedy for digestive issues that coats and soothes the intestines.

On the fourth day I began to introduce 'regular' food again (more about that later). I was anxiously awaiting her bowel movements to see how her body was responding to the fast and change of diet. Every time I checked her litter box, however, I saw that she hadn't pooped yet. As the days went by I became more and more concerned. Ironically she had gone from having diarrhea to constipation! Don's approach was to wait it off and let her body heal itself. I thought I'd do what I could to assist the process and tried a number of holistic remedies: adding more fiber (chia seeds and squash), olive oil and yet more slippery elm. But after 5 days of that and without result I called a vet.

He assured me that there was no cause for alarm just yet as she was still eating and keeping the food in. Things would take a different turn once she would start vomiting it back, an indicator that her colons were completely full. As a last resort I had thought of giving her feline laxative and he confirmed that it was a good idea. Thankfully, Pu actually really loved the stuff which made matters a great deal simpler than having to sneak it in her food or force her to lick it off herself.

In the meantime it also occurred to me that Pu had been cooped up in the van for over a week, as Arabella's house is located on a busy road which made it a little tricky to let her out. I felt that some exercise would no doubt do her a world of good and perhaps help to get her intestines going. On the down side it meant that I wouldn't be able to monitor her bowel movements. Still, I thought it was worth the chance so I took her in my arms and relocated her in the back yard, which she happily explored for a few hours. When we left Comox the following afternoon we also let her wander around our site for the two days that we spent at Rathtrevor Beach.

I stopped giving Puss the laxative after 3 days; if she wasn't pooping within the next 24 to 48 hours we'd have to go to the vet in order for her to get enemas; a procedure she would hardly enjoy. We were leaving the island and started the trip towards the interior. As usually happens when we're on the move, Puss spent several hours in her pet taxi - she feels safer that way than if we'd let her roam around freely. Once we reached our destination I suggested to Don that we keep her inside the van until the next morning to assess the situation. To my HUGE relief, a half hour or so after our arrival the deed had finally been done! Woo hoo! Her stool was also back to normal which was more fantastic news. It's not uncommon that bowel movements are associated with relief, but man, I can assure you that this one sure brought joy; I was literally jumping up and down and dancing around our site! ;-) "Pu finally lived up to her name," Don remarked. hehe

Puss Goes Raw
Over the past several years Puss' diet has consisted mainly of dry kibbles. The only bit of raw that she's been getting is an egg yolk when she's in the mood - like I said she tends to be a fussy eater. Don and I decided to take this opportunity to switch her to a mostly raw meat diet which is what cats are really designed to eat anyways.

Not up to handling raw flesh (ewww!) we went instead with Prowl, a dehydrated human-grade whole foods preparation that we found at a specialty pet store. I started off by mixing it with a high quality grain-free canned food, crossing my fingers that she would like it. She was a little hesitant at first but remarkably soon chowed the whole thing down. Yay! A few days ago I've switched her to fully raw, giving her Prowl along with a mixture made by Pets Go Raw (comes frozen).

Pu also took to our new routine of my feeding her every 5 or 6 hours instead of her having access to food whenever she wants. The only downside is that she's been waking me up in the wee hours of the morning demanding her breakfast. lol  This new approach should take care of the emotional eating that we'd notice her doing from time to time. And who knows, perhaps she'll even shed a few pounds which she could definitely afford!

While the whole vaccine incident was a good reminder that Puss isn't immortal and that one day she will leave us, I am grateful that that time hasn't come just yet. On the positive side it has turned out to be an indirect trigger to improving the quality of the food that we feed her, which she is bound to reap health benefits from.

That's it, folks! This post concludes this latest phase of our adventures on the road. We don't have any major projects lying ahead of us, so we're hoping to be able to take it easy for the coming summer months. I yearn to languorously relax in the sun, play in the garden and being creative in the kitchen again! Yippee! Naturally, I'll be keeping you posted on my latest culinary experiments. ;-)

Raw Restaurant Review: Cafe Bliss in Victoria, British Columbia

To our delight we learned that a raw restaurant, Cafe Bliss, opened its doors two years ago right in downtown Victoria. Yay! The cafe is small and charming and was totally packed; I could not believe how many people kept buzzing in and out of the place! So nice to see in these times when so many little niche businesses are struggling. The server could hardly catch his breath but seemed otherwise to be having a good time, literally hopping from one end of the counter to the other.

They had a specials board which I thought was a smart move, as we find that fixed menus can quickly get boring, especially when it features a small amount of items. At Cafe Bliss they keep changing their soups, pizzas and what they call the 'Hearty Bliss' entree in order to feature seasonal ingredients. In fact, I was told that starting the following week their entire menu would be seasonal. Sounds promising!

We started off with a daily special drink: a Lucuma Creamcicle. It was made with orange, lucuma, banana, vanilla and almond milk. I thought it sounded like an interesting mix but found it a little bland and under-sweetened to my taste.

Next came a Cream of Cauliflower with Mango, Cashews and Curry served with Bliss Crackers and 'Butter'. The soup was warm which was a pleasant surprise, the consistency was nice and creamy and the cauliflower flavor not overwhelming. We were particularly impressed with the butter which was super tasty. We were told is made with olive oil, garlic and sundried tomatoes. Hum, sounds simple enough; I should try recreating it at home sometime!

We then went with the Hearty Bliss Burrito: Pumpkin Seed Refried Beans, Fresh Salsa, Avocado, Sprouts and Cashew Sour Cream served in a cabbage leaf with a Yam Cracker.

The Burrito was to live for! It was super flavorful and the spicing was just right. Yum! Too bad it was so small, I would have gladly devoured two of those babies! The Yam Cracker was slightly sweet and very crunchy. Double yum!

We would have liked to try their Burger but sadly they were out, so we opted for the daily pizza made with Fresh Herb Pesto, Spinach, Green Olives, Red Pear and Red Onion topped with Smoked Black Pepper Sauce.

The pizza however was a disappointment. The buckwheat crust, contrary to what the menu said, was not thin at all but nearly 1/2" thick and hard to the point of being difficult to eat. It was actually so thick that, as can easily happen with buckwheat, it tasted slightly fermented. As a result it was challenging to appreciate the toppings' flavors which were already quite subtle. I must admit that it was a bit of a strange combo, though.

By that point we were quite full but they had such a beautiful and appealing sweet display that we just HAD to somehow make space in our tummies. We took one glance at that Chocolate Cake with Cashew Vanilla Cream and simply couldn't resist a piece!

It was everything a raw cake should be; light, not too sweet and the almond pulp gave the cake layer a perfect texture. It was decorated with cacao nibs which not only made it pleasing to the eye but also gave the dessert a nice crunch. 

We found the food at Cafe Bliss rather pricey considering the size of the servings, but all and all it was a very positive experience. We would gladly eat here again!

Delightfully Raw on Vancouver Island: Part I

Sorry guys if I haven't been too talkative lately... We were hanging on Vancouver Island and I was waiting for this phase of our travels to be over before telling you all about it.

Returning to Victoria
We left Anacortes, weaving our way through the gulf islands, (you can peruse pictures of our journey here) and got off the ferry in Sidney, British Columbia about 3 hours later. We then proceeded to what turned out to be our smoothest border crossing yet.

I'd tried to determine what fresh produce we could bring with us on the official Canadian Food Inspection Agency website but they sure don't make it very clear. In the end we decided to play it safe and hardly took anything with us. Having said that I did push the envelope a wee bit and marinated a huge container full of veggies the night before, figuring that if they were ever to check they'd think they were cooked. ;-) We also transformed the last of our avos into guacamole and tomatoes into salsa. As it turned out the border guy was super friendly and didn't give us any trouble whatsoever.

And so we headed south on highway 17 towards Victoria where Don and I used to live. It's actually where we met when I first relocated from Quebec to British Columbia in 2000. We drove right by Elk/Beaver Lake park just across the road from where we shared a house. To our surprise, Kylo started scratching at the van's door, obviously recognizing the place. You see, we used to walk there with him pretty much every day. We decided that some fresh air indeed sounded like a mighty good idea so we stopped for a stroll.

It was strange to return after over 10 years. I couldn't help but think of the person I was back in those days; so excited at the prospect of a new life opening to me. It's also during that period that I first started dabbling into raw. While I was doing a master cleanse the people next door had a yard sale. Browsing through their books I found one about raw foods. I've forgotten the name of it now but it was a small thing. About half of it was devoted to explaining the premise behind the raw lifestyle and the other was some simple recipes. Anyhoo it totally spoke to me and I took it home. A few months later I was beginning my raw journey in earnest.

Our next stop was a health food store called Lifestyle where we used to shop. I was rather dismayed at the price of their organics and how sad these looked, especially after the wonderful farmers markets we visited in California. While browsing around I noticed that they had a book section so on the spur of the moment I thought I'd talk to somebody to see if they'd be willing to carry my Delightfully Raw. The man that I approached happened to be the one in charge of that kind of stuff and was immediately interested. In fact he bought 9 books right on the spot! Woo hoo! What a positive note to begin our Canadian travels on, I thought!

One of the main incentives for us to come to the island was to spend time with Don's daughter, Amber. She lives in Victoria and we hadn't seen her since 2008 so we arranged to drop by before going camping. As we usually do, we had no fixed idea of how long we'd be staying, waiting to see how things would unfold. I must admit that neither of us had foreseen, though, that our time with Am would turn out to be so short! She's going to a private massage therapy school that is demanding virtually all of her focus and energy and, as a result, she wasn't feeling up to entertaining guests. At least we got to hang out with her and her roommate Lindsay the next day. We'd lived with both of them for several months prior to moving to the Slocan Valley. We hadn't seen Linds since 2002, yet we picked things up right where we had left off, as if it was only yesterday!

Off to the Boondocks
Before getting out of Victoria we drove to Chinatown to buy some seaweed and to eat at Cafe Bliss, a raw restaurant that opened its doors a couple of years ago. (More about our experience there in this post!) We then headed out of the city and kept following the coast in the hope of finding a quiet spot to bushwhack for a few days. After about an hour or so we were almost ready to turn back and settle for an official campground when I noticed an old RV emerging from a small gravel road. Of course it could have been that they were coming out of their own driveway but we had nothing to loose by checking it out. Sure enough, we soon noticed a few other campers along what turned out to be a service road. We found a space to park further down and away from the others. Wow, were we being guided or what!?! I mean if it wasn't for that camper coming out at the exact moment that we passed by we would have no doubt missed it altogether!

As soon as we got out of the van we were welcomed by the sound of hummingbirds zooming around; a good omen in our books. Unfortunately we soon found out that the next road over led to an active gravel pit and could hear the trucks working on weekdays, but at least we were in Nature and the price was right.

Shortly before leaving the US we invested in an inverter and a deep cell battery that would allow us to use our appliances wherever we go. We could have thought of it earlier and it would have certainly been handy on this trip, but what can you do? It only makes us appreciate it the more! We put our new system to the test for the first time and it worked like a charm! Woo hoo! It feels like such a luxury to be able to enjoy fresh fruit and veggie juices, smoothies and other blended yummies while being surrounded by, well, nothing but trees and birds! ;-)

Puss had a wonderful time exploring the area. She was out and about during most of the day, then would snuggle in with us at night. I love this shot of her; I think it really captures the wild nature that awakens in her whenever she's in the woods.

As we often do when we find ourselves surrounded by wilderness we completely slowed down our pace, spending our waking hours doing exercises, walking, meditating, resting and reading. We had a couple of really miserable rainy days while we were there, forcing us to stay cooped up in the van. It gave us no choice but to chill out which is actually a very good thing. In spite of how much more laid back this trip has been, I felt some accumulated tiredness catch up with me and was glad for the excuse to not do much.

French Beach Provincial Park
After about a week or so we decided to change location and move a little closer to civilization as we had to get online every 3 or 4 days. And so we set up camp at French Beach Provincial Park, about a 20 minute drive west of Sooke. It was one of the better campgrounds we've been to; it offers only water and pit toilets but has nice, mostly private sites among lots of trees. As a bonus we discovered that at this time of year seniors only pay half price. Yippee!

There were various paths leading from the campsites to the beach. I love the rain forest; everything is always soooooo lush and vibrant!

Our site was only a short walk away from the ocean. In fact we were so close that we could hear the soothing sound of the waves crashing rhythmically against the shore. The forecast had been predicting rain but to our surprise (and delight!) Mr. Sun joined us instead! Woo hoo!

Kyky at the beach

There was a great big fallen tree right behind our site and it quickly became Puss' most favorite place to explore and hang out.

Bamberton Provincial Park

We'd planned to go back to Victoria to spend a couple of days, but that wasn't meant to be so instead we just picked up the stuff we'd left at Amber's and headed further up island. The Victoria Day long weekend was coming and we had no intention of being anywhere near campgrounds as these would undoubtedly be totally packed and buzzing with activity. We figured we could still get away with spending the Thursday night at Bamberton Park before the long weekend craziness hit.

We had a quiet spot right next to a trail that led to the lake shore.

On the Move Again
When we left the next morning, the campground was full by 10am!!! Eeek! We were sure glad that we were out of there! We continued north, pausing briefly in Duncan to buy some groceries. Later in the afternoon we made a little detour through Qualicum Beach as we wanted to go to Rawthentic Eatery (review coming up!) Don was turning 63 years young that day, so it proved to be the perfect birthday treat since I couldn't whip him up some wicked raw dessert.

The drive to the Comox Valley was absolutely beautiful! We saw glimpses of the Pacific and the Gulf Islands, brand new ultra bright green leaves and snowy mountaintops.

We'd made arrangements to meet our host Pat at Zen Zero - a vegan cafe in Courtenay that offers some raw options. From there we followed her to the nearby community of Comox where she lives. The town is right on the water and offers a lovely view of yet more snowy mountaintops.

When we first talked about the possibility of our visiting the area Pat had offered us to stay at her mother in law's house, as Margaret is now living in a retirement home. Once again, Life seemed to have another idea as at the last possible minute something came up and the space was no longer available. For a while we thought that we wouldn't have a roof over our heads but Pat was determined to find a solution. She invited us to stay at her house which she shares with her hubby, Doug, and her two beloved doggies, Skeena and Maggi-May. The place is real teeny and has no spare bedroom, but since we were prepared to sleep in the van that wasn't an insurmountable obstacle. After emptying the van we had a late dinner of a simple salad and Pat's famous Banana Pudding, a staple of hers. It's super easy to prepare, is full of goodness and oh-so-colorful!

Pat's Banana Chia Pudding

A few hours or overnight I soak 1 Tablespoon each of chia, flax, sesame & sunflower seeds in 1/2 cup of water.

In a food processor I pulse chop the following ingredients, one at a time, & put each into a mixing bowl (each ingredient is optional - do any or all):

blueberries
raspberries
apple
mango
bananas (for a single portion use 1 or 2 bananas - more to make a larger pudding)

Sometimes all I do is the banana with apple & perhaps one other fruit - raspberries or blueberries - whatever! & that still tastes fabulous - has a bit of texture.

A House to Ourselves

When we got up the next morning we learned that another possible accommodation had turned up. Her friend Arabella has a house for sale that is empty at the moment and she graciously offered us to stay there. The only hick up was that our animals wouldn't be welcome inside. It was an offer that we couldn't refuse, though, and we quickly found an answer to the furry situation. Kylo stayed on the patio and Puss in the van during the day, then in the evening we all hung out and slept together in the van. And so we had this great big house all to ourselves for an entire week! Woo hoo! What a blessing!

Walkies

Pat is such a sweet heart! She came over every day, bringing us bottles of delicious green smoothie and treats for Kylo and Puss. We'd then drive to one of her two favorite parks in order to walk with our four legged friends.

We mostly went to what Pat calls the 'Mack&Mac' - officially the Mack Laign Park that joins with MacDonald Wood - in Comox. It's a lovely lovely park by the water with lots of trails among the lush green forest. Kylo and Maggi-May (poor Skeena the great Dane had to stay home as her back end has gone) just adored their walks there!

Pat caught me taking the above pics. 

More rain forest lushness.

Posing in front of an old growth. Don pointed out that these look like teenagers compared to the Giant Sequoias that we saw in California.

Meet Pat!

We also went to the horse trail in Courtenay a couple of times, which meanders through the woods...

 

... then takes us along a river.

Kyky, who's no big water lover, even went for a little dip!

Raw Feasting at Arabella's
One evening the owners of the house where we stayed, Arabella and Fraser, came over for dinner. They have attended retreats at Tree of Life in Arizona and have experienced the health benefits of including more raw in their diet. We started off the meal with a Smokey Tomato Soup that turned out to have a little more of a bite that I would have liked. (I guess not all chipotle peppers are equal, eh?) I thought I'd remedy to the situation by adding more tomato and zucchini, but Arabella likes spicy and wanted to try the original version. She loved it! It was still quite hot even after I doctored it but it was still a hit. Phfew! *wiping her brow*

Pat had thoughtfully brought Don the perfect birthday gift: an absolutely gorgeous wooden bowl that she found at the thrift store. We truly couldn't think of a better pick as Don has been eating out of wood plates and bowls for over 30 years.

Next we had a Mexican style entree. Pat brought dehydrated crackers, guacamole, salsa and cashew sour cream and I contributed Not 'Refried' Beans and Corn Chips.

At last I was able to make a special birthday sweet treat for Don: a slight variation of my Blueberry Dream Pie with fresh blueberries and raspberries folded in. Yummy!

I think I'll stop here for now or this will turn out to be waaaaaaay too long of a post. Part 2 of our adventures on Vancouver Island coming right up!