1. Drinking in the lake water while swimming naked at midnight
2. Driving straight into a severe lightning- and hailstorm, doing a U-turn on the highway to outpace the hail while having a thunderbolt crash into a light pole right beside us, sending sparks flying in all directions.
3. Hanging out with old friends Sherry and Dale, Laurie and Dan, Brad, Nando, Dave and Florence
4. Hanging out with the whole family on a camping trip during a record-breaking heat wave
5. Climbing the third peak of the Chief with the little red-haired girl
6. Hiking to the Elfin Lakes and swimming midst a backdrop of an extinct volcano, glaciers and mountain heather
7. Seeing my mother again and how well she and her grand-daughter got along
8. Exploring all alone – just the three of us – at the base of Shannon Falls early the first morning getting over jet lag
9. Taking the stunning, new Peak-to-Peak lift between Whistler and Blackcomb
10. Paying 18 bucks for a salad on Blackcomb.
11. Falling hopelessly in love at first sight with the sport of kiteboarding. If I were 30 years younger, I’d be in serious danger of becoming a kiteboarding bum.
12. Teaching the little red-haired girl how to dive
13. Diving into the churning waters of a rushing river
14. Walking with my two brothers along part of the old Kettle Valley Railway through the four Othello tunnels near Hope, BC
15. Getting a taste of BC’s most famous herbal remedy for the first time in 15 years
16. Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a steep and winding dirt road while an old friend regales us with a shared tale of UBC Rowing team initiation rites
17. Getting away with K just the two of us for a holiday-within-the-holiday
18. Getting over my fear of long distances by swimming out to an island in the middle of a lake and back – the longest swim I’ve ever done in my life
19. Mountain biking at Sun Peaks, near Kamloops
20. Groggy from a day of mountain biking and not thinking straight, walking through a screen door and utterly destroying it
21. Eating wild raspberries creekside near McLure, BC in the middle of one of the province’s largest forest fire burn sites
22. Driving the new Sea-to-Sky highway
23. Two perfect meals at the Pink Pearl, a Vancouver restaurant that brings us straight back to our days in Hong Kong
24. Aside from the thunderstorm, sunny and warm weather every day except the last
25. Realising you can come home again, if only for a while
The banner photograph shows the town of Britannia Beach, BC, Canada, where I grew up. It's home. But I don't live there anymore.
what an idyllic vacation you had.
all we did last night was watch two episodes of SCTV.
Hey, stop making me homesick! But really, it sounds like it couldn’t have been any better – I’m really happy you could get back with the whole family. And LOL at #15.
“Getting a taste of BC’s most famous herbal remedy…”
Gin?
Sounds like a perfect holiday. I’m homesick for that landscape and I’m not Canadian.
What a wonderful vacation! Thanks for sharing it.
Beautiful, beautiful photos! I’m glad you had such a wonderful time!
That is an amazing post. You know, I live in Vancouver and I have never seen any of the things you listed! Does that make me lazy and ignorant of BC? I think so. I’ll have to work on that. Thanks for ideas for my next weekend trip and I’m glad that has such a great vacation here.
The last photo here and the one resembling it in the prior post are superb. If you did post-processing, it’s perfect. If you didn’t, the landscape is perfect. The photos have the richness and depth of paintings – they made me feel like they were drawing me into the land itself.
Curious about that herbal remedy myself. It couldn’t be any better for what ailed you than the trip as a whole!
@Kate – all of this, except the Sun Peaks mountain biking, is within a two hour drive of Vancouver toward Whistler. It’s the best part of BC, except for all the rest.
@headbang – no, no – Gin is every other day or so.
@shoreacres – I crop, but never process photos. It’s the landscape that’s perfect.
Oh, I want to be there. Right now. Glad you had such a lovely holiday!
Wow, sounds fantastic! Hope you don’t miss too much of it here in Europe!
Great pics!
re:# 1…..you drank the lake water!?! Oh Ian!
re:# 3…..Wow…we made a “top ten” list!
re:# 11….I want to try kiteboarding too! Looks like tons of fun!
re:# 15….good for you…B.C.’s top export…’bout time hey!
re:# 17….so in this shot, was the water “K” safe?
re:# 19….no shot of your injury? Ouch…hope it’s healed!
re:# 20….so so sorry for laughing!:) The screen is okay now hope you are too!
re:# 21….mmmmmmmmmmmmm, they were delish…nothing beats “wild” fruit!
I’m glad you all had such a wonderful holiday…remember in 4 years we expect to see you in CR!
Well Sherry, I didn’t say which lake! One of them near Pender Harbour was so clean, I didn’t mind it at all.
And of course you’d make the list – our trip to your place was so memorable.
… wow, looks like a great trip … and brought back many happy memories of my own ‘sojourning’ around dem parts … Particularly liked going on to Pemberton (I think I spelt that right-?) beyond Whistler. The DRIVES thru those mountains is breathtaking … I remember a lake, ‘Gun Lake’ – ? filled with glacial waters that just beckoned you in for a skinny … Blissful days.
B.C. rocks.
Thanks for SHARING ….
Hi canadada,
You’ve spelled Pemberton correctly. It used to be this sleepy little village up until about 15 years ago. Went up for a drive and could not believe it. Fancy eatin’ places, steel ‘n’ glass condos, fast food… I do miss the good ol’ days before Whistler tried to be another Aspen / Vail.
Sounds like you had a wonderful time!
Oh my god, You are hilarious and I loved the photos of your trip. If you write a book I want
to buy it!
Thanks! – but for that, you’ll have to come out from behind Anonymous and at least leave an email or link.
What a fantastic trip. It’s obvious you love and miss BC – I can hear the ache in your voice. Being in Washington, I think I’ll have to find some of these places. The pictures are remarkable. Your daughter is lucky to have such active and adventurous parents.
fabulous photos….. mmmmm…. fresh raspberries…. with cream?
Nope – fresh-picked from the bush.