Wild West Christmas

This year we did something completely different and travelled to Pacific Rim National Park on the west coast of Vancouver Island.  We have been to this beautiful place many times over the past 40+ years.  The first time I went there was in 1969.  I went with a group of young people, riding in the back of an open flat-bed truck over gravel roads to the most spectacular beach (Long Beach) I had ever seen.  In those days you could drive right on to the beach and camp wherever you wanted.  Hubby and I went there together for the first time in 1974, camping in our VW van. Now the roads are all paved and the park is heavily regulated with pay parking lots and absolutely no driving on the beach - definitely changes that were needed as once the area was "discovered" it became a very popular tourist attraction and summertime in the area is pretty crazy.  It has also become a popular place for surfers, even in the middle of winter.

P.S. - we don't camp any more, preferring life's mod-cons, we stay on MacKenzie Beach at Tin Wis.