Life is a Walk in the Park ... or at least it was on Friday.

Friday, May 15 - payday is the reason we headed to Steveston, and Steveston was the reason we walked around Gary Point Park. What a beautiful day, and after the hassle of trying to find a parking spot in the village so I could run into the store and then the bank, it was so nice to drive a few minutes farther west and choose one parking spot out of many at the park.

There were a few people around, but not many. Everyone seemed to be at the village itself, or at least, their cars were. Parking is a huge big deal at Steveston - people drive around forever waiting for a space. Most of the previous free parking has been turned into pay lots, and that deters some visitors. 

However, the park is, as always, the perfect spot. Believe it or not, Howard saw a big big ship way off in the distance here ... and we noticed the Pilot Boat scooting out with a pilot aboard, so this unseen (to me) big ship would get a well-practiced ride up the river.

Here comes the ship - according to the Man Who Knows, it's a  car carrier, which is equipped to carry 500 cars, and is heading to Annacis Island. How he knows all this, I'll never figure out, but I won't argue as he's almost usually right.

 We walked by the Japanese garden ...

 

... and came across a Raven (?) on a bench. Now, I would have thought it was a big crow, but He said it was a raven. I don't believe we have many ravens in the Lower Mainland, but I was pretty sure I had seen one several years ago while I was riding bike to work. That one looked like a crow on steroids. This one didn't seem so big. However, if I could have thought I had seen one years ago, I'll give Howard the benefit of the doubt, and call this one a raven, too.

One thing about this fellow, he was not shy at all. I did not have this shot zoomed it - I got this close, and he still didn't budge. I wouldn't try and get closer in case he decided he didn't like me.

We soon came to the second beach, which is edged with a whack of driftwood. The tides were low, and there was lots of sand and lots of rocks, but since I was wearing sandals, I didn't want to walk on the sand and get all these little sand grains stuck between my toes.

And here comes the ship ....

At this point, it seemed to be the only thing on Howard's mind ....... so I went to visit the lupins in the field. Love lupins - they remind me of 'back home', where they grow wild during the summer.

As we walked up to the farthest point on the beach, we came across this huge trunk - I have no idea why it has all these tags nailed on.

 And the boat gets closer!  How exciting!

 Zoom in a little bit ....

My attention span is short. What boat? Here's some pigeons on a big rock ... there were actually three of them, but one was camera shy.

 If I had been attacked by killer pigeons and ravens, he never would have noticed, I'm sure.

I picked up these two pieces of dried up wood - so dry they felt like cork - and I was going to take them home, but realized they were full of carpenter bugs and God knows what other entities. So I posed them for a photo shoot instead. We have enough pets at home. I almost always find at least one bug or spider in the downstairs bathroom every time I go there. It's panic time when I'm already in the shower and realize I haven't done a spider scan.

All the excitement wore off after the boat ... I mean ship ... passed by, so we headed back to the park entrance. Howard did notice another ship in the distance, and we saw the pilot boat heading out again, but I just kept on walking. One ship a day is enough.

Aha. Pajo's. The best Fish'n'Chip place in Steveston, for sure, so we decided to celebrate the season with a picnic.

We shared a 2 piece cod and fries (which was actually 3 pieces of cod), coleslaw, onion rings, and water. And I'm pretty sure we didn't even eat half of it .... neither one of us is used to eating a lot at lunch time, and I'm trying to watch my waistline. At least I would be watching it, if I could find it.

 Burp.