Well, this summer is flying by! We’re starting August with a sneak preview of autumn, expecting somewhere between 100-150mm of rain Thursday through Friday. By the time this piece is posted, the front will have blown through and gentle sunshine will reappear, enough to warm things up and kick start Fogust. It’s always meteorologically interesting on the west coast!
August/Fogust
Last weekend saw the Ukee Days celebration, a fun acknowledgement of life at the end of the road. Saturday started with a parade – every vehicle with a siren seemed to participate, much to the delight of the children lining the route. There were some amusing sights to go with the sound. 
The parade went down Seaplane Base Road to the fairground and a field of tempting deep fried foods and a beer garden. As you know, I’m quite an avid gardener and did peruse the beer garden. The Tofino Blonde was thriving…
After an afternoon of logger sports – axe throwing – and a talent show, Saturday night ended with a more musical noise, four local-to-the-island bands entertaining the crowd. There were more kids and families and less marijuana than last year, and call me an old fuddyduddy, but this seemed better. Maybe it was too many visits to the beer garden, but for the life of me I couldn’t understand or hear the words being sung by Illvis Freshly – Back It Up – but they were energetic in their delivery.
We recovered from Saturday by taking a long beach hike and our dinner out to Wick Beach late afternoon/early evening, enjoying the long stretch of sand and all the quiet. Moderate Pacific waves rolling in at the turn of the tide, with sandpipers scurrying and bald eagles swooping and gliding. Best of all, an osprey dropped into the surf and came up with a fishy prize. As it turned back to shore, it had to evade a bald eagle intent on a share – or all – of the treasure. The osprey got away.
It’s not been all beach walks and loud music music the past week. We’ve also maintained our commitment to propping up the local coffee economy with fairly frequent stops at either the Gray Whale (maybe the best coffee in Ucluelet, so let’s keep that our little secret) or The Foggy Bean (possibly the best named coffee in Ucluelet or even the universe, but it’s ok to disagree!) I particularly enjoy going to The Foggy Bean because they are located in the renovated church that is also going to house the new Ucluelet Brewing Company. Opening Summer 2018! Nope, opening Summer 2019! Nope, opening October 2019. We’ll see. I like to press my nose up against the window pane to check on the progress inside. I can say they are currently a staircase short of a riser or two. No, really. October seems optimistic, but here’s hoping.
Coffee stop – four coffee shops two minutes or less from here (but keep that quiet)
I’ll leave it here for this week. As I look out of the window, I can see the “atmospheric river” (thank you, Weather Network) is currently flowing over Ucluelet, and there’s a very pleasant drumming of raindrops on the roof. I can’t make out the words, but the rhythm is great.
Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful weekend!
OldPlaidCamper 
This looks like a wonderful little place. Thanks for sharing. I wasn’t sure where Ucluelet was, but now I know!
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Thanks, Jeff! Ucluelet is a splendid small town, and we feel lucky to live here. It’s worth visiting any time of year, with only two seasons – rainy and summer (with rain!)
I hope your week is off to a good start.
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August already? My sentiments exactly. Ucluelet looks like a town with a lot of life. Still looking for the coffee shops in the photos-are they there?
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Thanks, Jane! Ucluelet is a lively little town, full of life and in a lovely location.
The coffee shops are all behind where we were sitting for that photo!
I hope you’re having a pleasant long weekend.
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Really enjoyed this visit to Ucluelet, pc, thanks. The parade looks especially sweet, and the beaches and boats look positively delightful. I laughed really hard at this line: “As you know, I’m quite an avid gardener and did peruse the beer garden.” I started reading it and thought, “hmm, I didn’t know pc liked to garden.” And then you snagged me into a big belly laugh. Wonderful summer moments, my friend, thanks for sharing them.
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Thanks, Jet! If I had a garden, I’d grow hops… We hope you’re having a good summer, with pleasant temperatures and maybe a drop or two of rain.
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I was surprised to see the Cult at the end of the post – though I shouldn’t be – we seem to share a similar taste in music, at least as the 80s/90s era goes.
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Seems we both have excellent taste in music! Mrs PC might not agree with that…
Saw The Cult supporting Big Country back in 1983 or 84 and thought they were a gloomy bunch at that time – they might still have been called Sudden Death Cult – then they released the Love album, followed by Electric, and Sonic Temple and I was hooked.
I hope your week is off to a good start, aside from the awful events in the past few days.
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A smile and sense of happy communities was needed today and you provided that with the Ukee Days Celebration and picturing you as an avid hops gardener with your nose pressed up against the Brewing Company windows! The coffee shop tours and scenery sound and look fantastic and wonderful to see Scout maintaining the beach. Enjoyed the music and hope you guys are out enjoying the sunshine!
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We feel very fortunate to be living where we do, big picture and closer to home, and the dreadful events of the weekend reinforced that…
I think I might have to try growing hops on our balcony, just for fun – Cascade, Willamette and Citra hops are all local to the PNW. I feel sure the new microbrewery would want my produce (clearly I have no idea how many hops are needed to make a beer!)
Here’s hoping you have a good week ahead!
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Caffeine, hops & ospreys, Ucluelet grows ’em right! Happy gardening, my friend.
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Thanks, Walt! Yup, Ucluelet is a good place to be, on so many levels – we feel fortunate.
I hope your trip is going well up in Maine. You’ve picked a good time to be away from the madness, so enjoy it out there.
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