C'mon shake your body, baby / Do the Conga...

Gloria Estevan knows what it's all about..

Clowning around with the local artwork in Deadwood...

Coombs market

Locals and tourists alike at Coombs market...

Whenever we are up island at our Parksville condo, we always take in the market at nearby Coombs. It's famous for its goats on the roof -- a favourite subject for camera phones.

The interior though is photo worthy too though with its colourful hangings, and the various nooks and crannies crammed with food offerings from around the world.

Doubtful

Uhm... I'm gonna say no...

In Deadwood we saw this t-shirt in a lot of the local tourist shops. We weren't sure if it was meant to be ironic or not. We've learned to keep our political opinions to ourselves when south of the border.

Cosmic

Composite photo showing the lunar eclipse...

Earlier this week we witnessed a rare event in Victoria... a trifecta of cosmic conditions came together to create a super blood wolf moon total lunar eclipse.

A supermoon occurs when the moon is at its closet point to earth so that it appears larger than it normally does.

A wolf moon refers to the first full moon of the year.

A blood moon occurs during a lunar eclipse when the sun's light, coming from the far side of the earth, passes through our atmosphere and takes on a reddish hue as it indirectly bathes the moon.

In Victoria, conditions were perfect... it was a cool but clear crisp night. The event lasted about fifty minutes and the moon looked eerie... almost like a giant Hollywood special effect from a sci-fi movie.

Spearfish Canyon Part II

Early morning sun on the waterfalls...

I mentioned our early morning drive through Spearfish Canyon of South Dakota in a post last week. A highlight of the tour was the many waterfalls that visitors can contemplate and admire along the way.

Bridal veil falls in Spearfish Canyon SD...

Cold Day at Sidney

Grey skies don't stop the crowds from coming...

A couple of weeks ago on New Years Day, I went up to nearby Sidney BC to watch the Polar Bear Swim. It takes place in the ocean... which IS pretty cold but not as much as you might think.

Ocean temperatures here typically range in the 5 to 6 degree C mark. You don't have to break through ice the way you do for Polar Bear Swims in the lakes and rivers of eastern Canada.

That still didn't stop the crowds in Sidney from squealing like little girls and running out of the water as fast as they could after their short sprint into the water.

Spearfish Canyon

The walls of the canyon...

During our summer 2018 trip we stayed at a campground just outside Spearfish SD. On the advice of our camp host we did an early morning drive through the adjacent Spearfish Canyon.

In the early morning light, the scenery and serenity was a thing of beauty. The canyon walls had interesting textures of trees and rock. The rocks that peeked out of the trees were shades of pink and pale yellow.

Distant rock formations peak out from the forests...

Marina

Victoria's newest marina is all shiny glass and metal...

The city of Victoria's new marina faced years of resistance from environmentally-minded locals and was scaled down in response.

With its curves and gleaming metal surfaces, I have to admit that it looks appealing. I'm guessing the owners of the waterfront condos immediately behind it have a different opinion since they lost their views of the inner harbour.

The marina was built to accommodate high-end luxury yachts up to 175 feet in length. As of early-2019 they are accepting reservations for spots if you're looking for a local place to park your boat.

Two (not quite super) yachts in residence at the new marina...

Rushmore

The four Presidents of Mt. Rushmore gaze over crowds of tourists...

South Dakotah is famous for its four Presidents carved into Mt Rushmore. As impressive as the sculptures are, they could all fit into just the forehead of nearby Crazy Horse Memorial.

Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski worked on both projects. In fact, it was his work on Mt Rushmore that resulted in his invitation to create Crazy Horse Memorial.

According to Wikipedia, each president was originally to be depicted from head to waist, but the project ran out of money before they could be completed.

An old green truck

weathered green truck

faces inevitable rust

soon a memory

Idiot on display

Presenting history from the other side...

While visiting the Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota, my wife and I took in an entertaining and informative show about the history of the Lakota Indians. The show was a combination of dance, music, narrative and even comedy put on by a Lakota family. (Unfortunately, I didn't catch their name.)

We were sitting at the very back of the venue. Whenever I take photos I try to be mindful of blocking the view of other visitors. Not this douchebag idiot, who saw fit to video record most of the event with his camera up in the air blocking the view of the people immediately behind him.

A complete jerk films the show for himself and blocks others...

Rich Rico

All that remains of Fan-Ta-Sea Isle after a big blow...

Following on from my last post, by coincidence, my wife and I walked the West Bay walkway from Esquimalt to Victoria a few days after I composed that post.

It was a fine and sunny warm day when we came across the remains of Fan-Ta-Sea Isle, the name of the driftwood sculpture featured several times on this blog.

And, in another bit of serendipity we came across Rich Rico, the artist who first put together the sculpture way back when, and that has amused and entertained pedestrians over the years.

Artist Rich Rico... soon to embark on a new mission

At 77, he exudes energy and charisma. He has ambitious plans to re-build the art installation and make it part of a larger children's park. I'm looking forward to seeing it take shape...

It's art, beaches...

Colourful, organic beach art...

2018 Dec update:
Sadly, this art installation is gone. It did not survive last week's intense wind storm that reduced it to driftwood.
---
2018 Jan 10:

If you take a stroll along Victoria to Esquimalt along the pleasant Westsong Walkway, you can enjoy the scenery of Victoria's inner and outer harbours. You'll be treated to views of birds (seals and sea otters too, if you're lucky), as well as ferries on the water, aircraft landing and leaving, upscale float homes, kayaks and dragon boats... It's a great way to soothe the soul while enjoying sun, fresh air and awesome vistas.

Along the way, you'll also encounter this piece of driftwood sculpture.

In one form or another, it has been here for years. It "evolves" over time as people (one person?) add more pieces to the art installation and freshen up the paint job.