fresh air: denman island

This is the final post of photos from my island adventures over the weekend. These photos were all taken on Denman Island, another Northern Gulf Island and the island that we were staying on. Jamie invited us to stay with him at his family cabin, which was a cozy home base where we made great dinners and watched satellite tv. Our last day on the island was warm and dry and we spent a good part of the afternoon on a 9 hole golf course that's been built in a farmer's field. I've never golfed before and I took a few swings on this course only to realize that I think I swing left. I think this because swinging right felt uncomfortable and looked insane, but my first left swing felt way better and actually moved the ball in the right direction. I was mostly the animal wrangler during the golfing though.

The course was pretty unique and was completely covered in sheep crap, which Lola ate by the pound. It was totally impossible to stop her, as it really was everywhere, but I tried to prevent it as much as possible. As we left the course an island kid hit a ball in our general direction and just missed us by a few feet. What a brat! By the end of the day Lola was completely burnt out from insane outdoors adventures for two days straight, so she curled up in the cabin garden in a little hay-lined nest she built for herself. Ridiculous. Now she needs a bath possibly more than she's ever needed a bath before, and she's still tired. Jeff and I probably won't see a whole lot of her for the next day or two. She's worn out from vacation while I can't wait for the next one!

AND in Day in the Life news, next Monday's post will be by Hwasoon Kim from the amazing Morning Calm. You are not going to want to miss this one. It's going to be the perfect Monday morning post.

fresh air: hornby island part two

The second part of our day on Hornby Island involved a hike (really more like a leisurely walk) at Helliwell Provincial Park. I had to share so many photos of the later half of our day because it was amazing. The hike starts with a nice forest approach that leads to insanely beautiful sweeping ocean views. Mountains and islands, green cliffs, and miles of ocean make it impossible to avoid stopping to take a photo every two steps. The trail leads around a point on the island and into an old growth Douglas Fir forest. Look at the size of some of those beauties. Do I recommend visiting Hornby Island? How could I not! We also found a deer skull (which we brought home) and finished with a really delicious meal and pint at the local pub while we waited for the ferry back to Denman. This was such a great day, I hope you don't mind me sharing so many of my photos. By the way, can anyone ID the flower near the top of this post? One more island vacation post to come tomorrow, thanks for taking the time to look, read and comment!

fresh air: hornby island part one

lola, jeff, sarah, jamie

The first full day of our island getaway we went to Hornby Island (from Denman, which is where we were staying). These photos are taken at Tribune Bay. The beach is really all sandstone rock formations, which we explored for a long while on this gorgeous sunny day. The tide pools were full of anemones, crabs, and starfish. We all touched some of the starfish, which was sort of thrilling for this East Coast born girl. Highlights of this part of the trip were basically all based around Lola, who scared me when she fell backwards (and in slow motion) down a crack between some of the rocks. What I couldn't see from my angle is that it was totally open on one side and she just walked right out. A few minutes later she had a live crab completely in her mouth and was going to eat it whole, I guess, until it either pinched her or all of us yelling made her drop it. Wait until you see what she did the next day! Dogs are crazy travel mates. Jamie made a great call on taking us to this place. We did so much on Hornby that I'm splitting the day into two posts, the next part will be published later today.

fresh air: vancouver island

jamie and I looking for whales, coast mountains in the background

jamie and jeff

One thing that I love is getting out of the city. Visiting other cities is fun, too, and I've shared some photos with you trips to New York, Seattle, and Portland, but I really like spending time outside and in more remote places, too. In fact, every time I go away on an outdoors-y kind of vacation I remember that I probably like that kind of trip more. I like sleeping in, making delicious breakfasts, reading all day, going on hikes, and spending zero money on junk and zero time with technology. It just feels really refreshing, and that's absolutely what I needed right about now.

Luckily, Jeff and I have a very good friend who invited us to come along with him on an island adventure. These photos (and one video) are from our first part of the trip, the ferry from Horseshoe Bay in Vancouver to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. The last three photos are from the second ferry terminal and I'll share more of island number two tomorrow. It was so great getting away from the city for a few days that I know I'll be trying to do so again really soon. Please excuse all of my sunset photos, it was just so freakin' beautiful. For real, it really felt like a summer night on that ferry...windy though it was.

Do you have any camping trips or hikes planned this summer? Where do you go to get away from it all?