Travelogue

Herb and the goat chowing downOn our drive back to Victoria, where we would conclude our stay on Vancouver Island, we found two interesting stops along the way.

The first was the Old Country Market in the little town of Coombs, famous for the fact that several goats graze on its roof. It has become a very popular attraction and draws crowds, as was evidenced by the difficulty of finding parking anywhere near it.

As promised there was a goat on the roof, but just one. Where were his buddies? When my son was here, he said there were a bunch of them. So, of course, we joined everyone else taking photos of this poor goat just minding his own business.

Murals of ChemainusThe Old Country Market was worth a visit, even if there was no goat. It had a bakery, a deli, an ice cream stand, island produce, and lots of nosh.

We decided to eat there and had some burgers. I especially enjoyed my photo of the goat and Herb grazing.

Next stop along the way was the town of Chemainus, a sleepy little mill town that reinvented itself in the 1980s when its antiquated sawmill was replaced with a more modern mill, resulting in many layoffs.

Murals of ChemainusNot wanting to slip into oblivion, the town hired local artists to cover the walls of the town’s commercial building with huge murals depicting the town’s history and culture.
The project was so successful, that in 1983 it won a prestigious downtown revitalization competition against towns and cities from around the world.

It was definitely worth the stop, and we spent an enjoyable hour or so wandering around the town. Even the local Subway shop served as a canvas for a depiction of the town’s sawmill history.

Now, onto Victoria. Fortunately, we wouldn’t have to deal with the Highway 4 road closure we had experienced on the way to Tofino, because they don’t close the road on weekends. As much as II would like to say that it was excellent planning on my part, it was sheer luck, as I didn’t even know about the road closures when planning the trip.