taking five

Jeff, Lola, and I spent the Thanksgiving weekend in Powell River at the cabin. The cabin is actually our friend Grady's house, which he shares with his awesome daughter Clancy and their cat, Mittens. We spent the weekend in a town of 20,000 without a whole lot to do. So we drank a lot of coffee, we made some delicious food (including a Tofurkey and cranberry sauce, which I love), and hung out with a lot of horses, dogs, and even a cat or two. It was pretty much heaven. Above you can see a picture of me with my giant dog friends, Honey and Bear (a.k.a. Chunkstar and Leo). You can also see our black and white dog, Lola, taking five. We took a lot of fives, too. Have you seen Fubar? You really should. Most of it was filmed in the city Jeff and I used to live in. It's kind of a must-see movie, whether you're Canadian or not. This trailer is definitely not suitable for work:

I'm going to Montreal this weekend to visit with friends and to spend some time in a fun city that I haven't been to in over nine years. It's a long overdue visit and I can't wait to hang out with Jeff, Jesse, Marigold, and Camilla all week long. I'll be back when I can with pictures and stories!

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?