Yesterday afternoon, we arrived at Porteau Cove Provincial Park on Highway 99, between Squamish and Vancouver.  Apparently, this is the second most popular park in the BC system.  I wonder what the most popular park is because this one is spectacular!  The park was full last night since it was a Sunday.  I booked a site a few months ago, knowing how popular this park is.  However, I couldn’t book an oceanside site.  When we arrived, we asked if any had become available.   What luck — someone had cancelled.  We were upgraded to site 31 on the ocean.  It is a very private site.  Unfortunately, the many trees on the site block much of the view, but when we are at the picnic table or fire pit, we have a clear view.  Today (Monday) most of the sites have opened up, but we are too lazy to move.  

   
 Gregory, our good friend, came to visit last night and he said that the BC provincial park system operates very differently than the Saskatchewan provincial parks. In SK, there is a panic on the day that reservations open because they will book parks 100%.  In BC, they allow for people travelling through, so there are many “first come, first served” sites.  

It rained most of Monday.  The good aspect of having many trees is they sheltered us from the rain.  The rain gave us a chance to go into Burnaby for fish & chips.  Friends introduced us to Cockney Kings.  They do fish & chips right.  We had hoped to spend the day on the ocean with the Hobie, but it was a little cool and rainy.

When we came back to our site, the rain had subsided.  We walked a short trail that climbed up above the campground.

   
Our campsite is somewhere down there.  

This is an arbutus tree.  They are finicky to grow because they don’t take well to being transplanted.  They have to be oriented exactly as they were growing.  This is Canada’s only broad-leafed evergreen.
Daisy enjoyed the walk from her pouch:
  
Summary of Porteau Cove

This park is a must for anyone visiting the west coast.  Although most campers are in vans or tents, many sites can accommodate larger trailers, but not big 5th-wheels or motorhomes.  A 30 foot Airstream would fit fine in our site, but the tow vehicle would have to be unhitched.  We have enough room for our truck and trailer hitched (43 feet).  There are many oceanside sites, and there are really no bad sites.  In the main loop, it is a bit noisier, but you only hear people’s voices and laughter.  This park doesn’t seem to attract the rowdies.  We prefer sites 22, 31-37 because they are very quiet.  

On the negative side, the trains going north run right alongside.  Fortunately, they don’t operate all day long, so we have only heard them 2-3 times.

Tomorrow, we catch our ferry to Nanaimo.  We will be staying at Rathtrevor Beach P.P.