Prince Rupert

What to say about Prince Rupert? It isn't what I expected. I'm not sure what I was expecting. Something along the lines of Friday Harbor in the San Juans I suppose. Instead, Prince Rupert is more a cross between Anacortes and Harbor Island in Seattle. Actually, that is a pretty good description now that I think about it. It's small scale industrial, with railroads and container ships, and, the feel of a working community like Anacortes, complete with a ferry terminal. The town is surrounded by this unbelievable scenery, both sea and mountains. When your in town though, you don't get to see much of it. I suppose after arriving here by sea or highway, you probably don't need to see more scenery. Just getting here is sensory overload! And there are very few tourist type shops. Surprising, since the BC Ferries, Alaska State Ferries and cruise ships stop here.

There is a nice museum in town, which really helps to make the trip worthwhile. Interestingly, I took several pictures in the museum and none of the town.

On one of our sailboat trips along the BC coast a few years ago we saw a couple of these on a remote beach inside a bay opposite Vancouver Island.

This is a fun mask. You can't really see it but the mouth and ears are hinged to they can move.

This is a chief's headdress made from mountain goat antlers.

Another chief's headdress

And a chief's rattle

Campgrounds:

On a side note, almost all of the provincial campgrounds are closed. Most open for the season next weekend or the following weekend, what they refer to as their “Long Weekend”. So far this hasn't been much of a problem as there are few tourists here now, and there are areas here and there where one can camp. And of course, most of the commercial campgrounds are open. I was told by a forest service receptionist that the RCMP doesn't pay much attention to campers this time of year unless you happen to camp in someone's backyard. She even said rest areas are fair game now. I've your ever asked to move, just tell the cop you've had a few drinks. They can't force you to move if you have been drinking.

Gas Prices:

OK, we have it much better in the states than we like to believe sometimes. Gas here runs right around $5 per US Gallon. So don't complain about our price reaching $4 per gallon.

By the Way:

One of my favorite Canadian words is “hooped”. It means something is messed up or broken. Like a couple of days ago, the forest service lady I mentioned before said if I go up this certain road I might get “hooped”, meaning stuck in the snow. The first time I heard it was years ago while sailing. We wanted to take a ferry to another island, but couldn't because the ferry was “hooped”. Karen, your Mom's from Nova Scotia, do they say “hooped” over there?