Day Four of Vacation 2011: Salt Spring Island

                           August 3

   This morning I got my first close-up look at Canadian water.  I woke early to watch the milking of the buffalo.  Dad, Ginny, and I bottle-fed baby buffalo (Ginny's buffalo, Vincent, was four days old and kept getting milk all over his nose), and then we proceeded up to the milking room.  It was strangely industrial (part of me was expecting to see a maiden on a stool milking into a pail), but still fascinating.  I really like all the people who work here -- they're very kind and happy to answer our questions, of which there are many.
   We had a lovely breakfast then drove to the ferry-building for our boat ride to Salt Spring Island.  We were very early, so we ended up climbing down onto the beach, where there was a tiny crab under every shell and rock (the beach was composed entirely of shell and rock :) We poked around, watching a flock of swallows sweep over the water, reflected in the surface.  The water was so clear!
   Most of our time on Salt Spring was spent driving, but there were a lot of lovely views so that was okay.  Ginny was searching for fresh fruit or vegetable stands, but there was a surprising lack of them.  Toward the end of our stay on the island we stopped on a sandy beach; there were lots of people and kids swimming, and a beautiful house overlooking the water from a cliff.  I want to live there.

We had a picnic lunch at a park on Salt Spring Island.  Aunt Caity decided to be goofy for the picture :)

   We waded for a bit at the beach; I found Ginny a rusty spoon.  She uses that kind of thing for her art.  The ride back on the ferry was lovely.