Alouette Lake: Finding Franklin
When is summer officially over? Is it at the end of August? Is it after Labour Day, when the kids go back to school? Is it on September 21st, when autumn officially begins? Or is it on the last weekend when you can still happily wear shorts, go on a weekend bike tour, and swim in a beautiful lake? This…
Blanca Lake: Before the Smoke Rolled In
Blanca Lake has been at the back of my mind for some years now. A remote area “near Squamish”, accessible via a short hike, beautiful lakes, surrounded by glaciers, off the beaten track? Sign me up! There was just one thing I didn’t quite realize. Although the hike is short, the drive is long… We did leave the highway near…
- Cycling & Cycle Touring, Gulf Islands and Sunshine Coast, Trip Reports, Trips with Kids, Vancouver Island
Discovery Islands Loop: Minimum Planning For the Win
Trust that things will work out, and they will. I’m an insatiable optimist, and that’s really my belief, but Maya and I sometimes disagree on this… Surely, COVID changes things? or does it? Could we still head out on an 11 day cycling trip with our two kids, without knowing where we would stay every night? Would Warm Showers hosts…
Cathedral Park: The Fairy Tale Lives On
If there was one trip I knew for sure I wanted us to do this summer, it was going to Cathedral Park. I remembered it being a magical experience with fairy tale landscapes when we were there four years ago. I also remember that we didn’t end up doing all the hikes we wanted to do and that there was…
Salmon Arm: Tipi Getaway with a Rainbow
When we booked a tipi on a farm near Salmon Arm we didn’t really know what would be involved. The Airbnb posting had limited information and photos, but the description sounded nice enough and the price was reasonable. In addition, it was the only place available – of course, we only checked a week before we wanted to go away,…
Juan de Fuca Trail: The Mystical Trail
My backpack was VERY heavy. So heavy that lifting it required an orchestrated series of moves, which ended with an impossible to suppress grunt. So heavy that I chose not to weigh it so I wouldn’t know how heavy it was. Such is life for a family of four on a five (or six) day hiking trip along the Juan…
Viewpoint Beach: The Perfect Early Season Hike
We hadn’t left the city in three months and as much as we had started to get used to our new very local lifestyle we were also starting to get some cabin fever. COVID-19 restrictions were starting to slowly lift and BC Parks and campgrounds had reopened. We refused to take part in the BC Parks crazy camping extravaganza reservation…
COVID-19 Days, Not So Bad, After All?!
Biking through old growth forest in absolute silence, not a car in sight. Stopping to pick salmonberries, arranged like gems in my hand, bright orange, yellow, red. Young kids and seniors (and the rest of us) biking right on the road, no worries of being run over by a car. Grinding up to Prospect Point to an awesome view of…
Taiwan: The Sun Can’t Shine Every Day (Video)
Taiwan was surprising. It was a mix of everything. Urban, rural, busy roads, quiet roads, tropical beaches & fruit, heat and rain. Even if it took us a bit of time to warm up to Taiwan we loved almost every minute of our time there, which now seems very far away. It’s home to some of the loveliest and friendliest…
Japan: It’s All a Dream to Me Now (Video)
In the Fall of 2019 we spent six weeks cycling in Japan with our two children, aged 4.5 and 1 (followed by six weeks in Taiwan). One of the lines in the song I chose for this video goes “it’s all a dream to me now.” Since this trip the world changed completely due to COVID-19. Everything that seemed doable…
