Staycation 2014

After a recess from writing, I thought it best to get back on the proverbial horse and reactivate our travel blog. You might think that we are jetting off on an exiting getaway, but we are now just past the half-way mark of my staycation,

Seaking the shade on Ambleside Beach 

I say my because Steve is still working about 2 days a week, while I'm off until at least September 2 and that could be the subject of another blog. After Christmas in New York and then a Spring Break in Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon in the near past, and Christmas in Florida in the near future, it seemed like a good idea to stay close to home for the summer. Even a  short return visit to the Sunshine Coast that we enjoyed last summer fell through, so we thought it must be in our tea leaves that the backyard was the place for us this summer. We are planning to make up for this staycation next summer, as we have already put down a deposit on a house in Bellac, France for the two months. More about those plans later. New patio furniture and excellent weather has turned our back deck into our new living room, and our even newer barbeque has turned it into our second kitchen. Since there is no place like home, Steve thought his mum would enjoy a visit out west from her home in Waterloo, Ontario, and she has been our guest since early July. We have had day trips to Belcarra, White Rock, the Vancouver beaches, and West Vancouver to enjoy the sunshine, scenery and the mother-son bonding. At home the two of them, well mainly Jean, has been painting up a storm. 

In her West Coast Studio

So the summer has past with the sounds of Martini In the Morning on the stereo, some gardening, a few trashy summer reads as well as some more substantial literature such as Romeo and Juliet. It seemed like a good plan to teach it to our grade 8s in the fall back in June, but it could be very interesting....  The peace and serenity of our own little Giverny is about to be invaded by even more family. A family tree might be helpful, but 4 generations of the Michalek family will be landing this Saturday. Two of Jean's daughters, Donna and Victoria, two of Jean's grand kids, Paul and Evie along with their spouses and 3 great-grand children will turn our little garden oasis into 3 ring circus. It is fortunate that Evelyn, Jean's youngest daughter, lives just through the forest and across the creek from us, as wel,l her partner Kevin, has an apartment in the building right next door to our complex. He will vacate his apartment and bunk in with Evelyn and our cat Puffin, who is on her own summer camp adventure, Jean is allergic to cats. This frees up two bedrooms and a den for our out of towners. A week of sunshine is in the forecast and the beach, parks, pool, picnics are on the agenda. 

Viva Las Vegas.....

Well Spring Break is here again. After our last year's trip to Palm Springs, we are now making this an annual escape to somewhere warm and sunny. This year we are off to Las Vegas for 3 days and then driving up to the Grand Canyon for a couple more days. Our flight leaves on Sunday afternoon from Bellingham. Our neighbours, Elke and Paul are joining us on this year's adventure. We have taken Steve's sister's advice on our hotel. The Plaza Hotel on Main and Freemont will be our Las Vegas home. With a little luck the pool will be nice for an afternoon dip. The forecast is sunny and almost hot for the next few days in Vegas, which is better than our rain and 10 degrees forecast for the next few days here. Well off to pack and run the last few errands. Looking forward to discovering Las Vegas with our Las Vegas virgin neighbours.

Viva Las Vegas....

Q.B. = Qualicum Beach

Sunshine Coast 2013

the gang

For the past few years, we have spent the Labour Day weekend with 2 other couples (Evie and Kevin, and Elke and Paul), at a townhouse in Whistler. Evie, Steve's sister, thought it would be nice to change locations this year, and to move the dates to avoid the long weekend traffic. Well we set off to discover a new long weekend retreat. From the Gulf Islands, to Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast were all in the running. The property didn't need to have much, just: waterfront, sleeps 6, indoor plumbing and a bar-b-que, not a difficult task for our rental finding guru, Steve. Once again he came through with our new favourite beach front getaway. 

Our little secret.

The cottage is on the waterfront, just a few minutes north of Sechelt, on the Sunshine Coast. Allowing extra time for the ferry line up, it took 3 hours to get from home to heaven. While the property was a rustic cottage, it had everything we needed. It wasn't long after our arrival that we made our way down the beach stone path to the edge of our Mecca, the water. The purchase of water shoes from Walmart for $7.00 was the best money we have ever spent. The beach was a combination of small pebbles, to larger smooth rocks, but with the water shoes, and $3.00 air mattresses from Target, we were in our element. The water was cool, but by the end of our stay, it began to feel like bath water. Upon arriving home, we realized we have no pictures of any of us frolicking in the surf. 

Evenings were spent collecting drift wood for our fire. Here we watched the sun set, the stars come out, the cruise ships slide by and the shooting stars shower us. The fire was also our dessert, as we perfected the smore. We started with the classic and progressed through some new variations using brownies. It was all a sweet treat. Now just what to do with the left over marshmallows.  

Friday we went north on the peninsula to discover the Skookumchuk Narrows Provincial Park.

This park was established in 1957. Skookumchuck Narrows Provincial Park provides trails and viewing areas for visitors who wish to experience the awesome power of incredibly turbulent tidal rapids. On a 3 metre tide, 200 billion gallons of water flow through the narrows connecting Sechelt and Jervis Inlet.

The difference in water levels between one side of the rapids and the other sometimes exceeds 2 metres in height. Current speeds can exceed 30km/hr. The rapids are famous for their spectacular whirlpools and whitewater.

Skookumchuck Narrows

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/skook_narrows/

It is an hour north of Sechelt and then once in Egmont, and then it is a 4 km hike to the narrows. When looking at the rushing ebbing tide, it is hard to remember that it is not a river flowing in front of you, but the tide going out from the Sechelt Inlet. Our next trip would be to see the flood tide flowing in; it is an early morning or late evening event. 

Our Beach Walk

By the evening fire

So back at the cottage, we spent our time on the variety of beach chairs, in and out of the water, walking along the shore, and enjoying great food and company. It turned out to be the best of our weekends away, and we are already planning to come back. You can, with any luck, view the pictures at the following link:
http://flickr.com/gp/vernandsteve/5d6wvQ/

Okanagan Getaway

Bridal Falls

This past Victoria Day weekend, we passed on the ferry and border line ups and headed up to the Okanagan. We took the slow way with stops in Bridal Falls (a short hike up to the falls), Manning Park Lodge for a quick break and a snack, shopping in Hedley, gas in Keremeos, lunch in Penticton, and finally our B&B. The Eagles Nest is located in Carrs Landing, about 20 minutes north of Kelowna. The B & B was wonderful, with a fantastic view down the hill to Lake Okanagan.  We settled in and tested out the hot tub, which was great after the 6 hour drive. Our hosts had recommended many restaurants in the area, and we settled for the local pub which was right on Wood Lake. The food was ok, but it was a great location, and close to our B&B. 

The next morning, after a big breakfast of eggs benedict, we headed up to the top of a hill. From the view point, we could see Lake Okanagan, Wood Lake and Elison Lake. It was well worth the effort. We were lucky as we misread a trail sign and were about to head back, but along came another hiker, who pointed out our mistake. 

The afternoon took us to 3 wineries: 50th Parallel, Gray Monk and Intrigue. Our lunch was at the small OK Patio Cafe. It is part of the Lake Country Museum. The lakeside location made for a great lunch before we tackled the Gray Monk winery. 

View of Lake Country

At all three wineries, we were met by very accommodating staff who showed off their wines and further educated us. We discovered Pinot Grigio, as well as Gamy Noir as well as an expensive bottle of Pinot Noir, which we are saving for a special occasion.

After our winery tours, we stopped in to buy some cheese and crackers, and headed back to the B&B to enjoy the first bottle of our cache. Our dinner later that evening was in a Greek restaurant and then a stroll along Wood Lake.

Enjoying our wine

Sunday took us into Kelowna for a wander through the Mission District and then on to downtown. The waterfront was alive with weekenders and the weather was perfect. We picked up Subway sandwiches for a roadside picnice, but there were no pull offs along the Okanagan Connector, so we found our own just outside of Merrit. From there it was downhill home after a great weekend away.

  

Dinner Club in Whistler

Dinner in Whistler

This past weekend, our dinner club ventured up to Whistler for Karl's turn to host the dinner. We lucked into a great weather weekend which made the drive up the Sea to Ski Highway a ooh and ah affair. No matter how many times we have seen the views, they are still stunning and make us grateful that we live here. The plan was to drive up, check in and then meet up with the group at Karl's condo for appies and drinks before dinner. We stayed at the Tatulus Lodge in a 2 bedroom room. The hotel is located at the south end of the village, but there is only a 10 minute walk separating the hotel from the Village Square. Lunch was in Citta Pub on the patio in the Village Square. Good food and some cold beer on a hot Saturday afternoon got the weekend off in grand style.

Later that same day, we enjoyed the company of our dinner group at Karl's condo to savour pre-dinner snacks and drinks. We were informed that dinner would be at Le Gros, a French Alsace restaurant that where Karl knows the chef. They had planned a 3 course meal to tempt our taste buds. The schnitzel was to die for as it melted in our mouths. The dinner ended with a game of petanque (boules) outside in the garden.

The evening ended with a nightcap back at Karl's and the back to the hotel for a well deserved good night sleep. The eating continued for breakfast on Sunday morning with Karl's famous scrambled eggs with barbeque salmon. In the history of our dinner club, never has there been a feast that has continued so long and was so tastey too.

Our adventure continued as we headed back to the city. We took a detour up to the Olympic Park which hosted the ski jumping and cross-country events. Here we saw the ski jumps and the shooting arena for the biathlon. Kevin and Evie took their turn at shooting with both of them getting all four targets. This saved them from doing the penalty laps if they had missed. The trip up to the park also gave us two sightings of bears, both greedily eating grass by the side of the road.

To top off the weekend, we got off the highway to take a side trip through Brackendale, the home of the eagles. While it is not the season to view the eagles, we stopped to wander along the dikes by the river. Here we discovered a restaurant that had been recommended to us by the rest of our dinner group, the Watershed Grill. We had lunch on the deck taking in the sun and the mountain views. The food took a little long to arrive, but on eating, we realized that it was worth waiting for. The final meal set us up for the final leg of the drive back to the city.

This quick dinner getaway will put the pressure on the next host of our dinner club.