Grounded!
What’s a travel writer to write about when a global pandemic has grounded her? How about a few adventures from the past, and there have been plenty. Mesa Verde on a Broken Motorcycle The year is 1986, married but still kid-less, footloose, foolish and poor. The bike is a 1982 Yamaha 550 Vision. We’re heading […]
Point? No Point
Ever have the yearning to escape, to a cabin in the woods on the ocean? To sit naked in a hot tub drinking wine? To play cards around a cozy wood stove? Except for the ocean part this used to be our life in Pinawa. I think we were a little homesick for it. I […]
Cortes Island
“Visit Cortes,” said the fellow in the dog park. “It’s amazing what happens once you’re more than one ferry removed from civilization.” Cortes Island is accessible by ferry via Quadra Island. I might have forgotten the strangers advice if not for our camp spot at Heriot Bay on Quadra. As we drank wine at the […]
Quadra Island
A road trip after a road trip seems like an unlikely choice, but I feel like we’ve just come off the summer that never was. We decided to take advantage of a window of great weather to explore the northern part of Vancouver Island. The only itinerary is north, no planned stops, only weather deciding […]
Flying During Covid – Air Canada
There’s a lot to worry about these days, but getting on an airplane is up there on the stress-0-metre. A Facebook group, Air Passenger Rights (Canada) has dedicated itself to helping people deal with air travel problems during Covid. Here, for the record is my own personal experience. The night before flying I checked into […]
It’s Official
It’s time; to pack 28 years of memories into just a few boxes that might fit into our much smaller future lifestyle. Our home in Pinawa is officially sold. We already had an offer on a regular home in Pinawa when we found this diamond in the rough. We’ve always felt bad using a loophole […]
Get your Airfare Refund!
Are you sitting on airline credits because of interrupted travel from Covid-19? I just got mine refunded. Want to know how? There is nothing more frustrating than having a flight (or two) canceled while traveling. Oh wait, there is, when the airline refuses to refund your fare. We had a mild amount of fun getting […]
Essential travel only
Help stop the spread of Covid-19 – essential travel only, read signs everywhere along the Trans Canada Highway. I think coming home is essential, but I’m not completely sure. Weeks before leaving Victoria, my anxiety level surrounding this road trip increased the closer we got to the date. We delayed a week, but that didn’t […]
Vancouver is opening for business
Our first stop on our Covid-19 road trip home to Pinawa is the beautiful Sylvia Hotel in Vancouver. This heritage hotel is located right on English Bay, on the edge of Stanley Park. My very pregnant (but you wouldn’t know it) and beautiful niece Chelsea, her partner Louie and Foxie their husky met us on […]
Coronavirus
Coronavirus Did we get the coronavirus? It was a joke among the four of us, Ken Louise, Ray and myself. Maybe it wasn’t that funny. When we left on our south-east Asia trip on January 21, the coronavirus outbreak was just hitting the news. It had been around for a couple of months, but no […]
Sorting through a life
It looked like junk just piled up in the garage. If we’d been in a hurry there might just have been a few dump runs. But we’re not in a hurry. We have been given the entire summer to sort through four decades of our life together. Almost every dusty box reveals treasures, memories … […]