Chris and I took a vacation in August and road tripped to Canada. We started off from Seattle on a foggy Sunday morning at 5:30am and drove to Anacortes where we took a Washington State Ferry to Sidney (Victoria), BC. From there we drove 271 KM north to Campbell River, BC where we checked in at Painter's Lodge fishing resort!
We spent the next couple of days fishing (I caught a 16lb King) and exploring. We had beautiful weather and truly enjoyed the Campbell River area. I highly recommend a trip there!
Painter's Lodge from the water - our room was in this main section of the lodge right above the restaurant/pub/lounge (very convenient!):
The Boston Whaler fishing boat lineup:
5am sunrise:
Me with the fish I caught and the little one that House caught:
One afternoon we took the water taxi across to Quadra Island and the Painter's Lodge sister resort April Point. There we rented scooters and explored Quadra Island. Seemed like a crazy hippie infested island and we had a great time "scooting" around it!
Chris and I on the water taxi:
Exploring Quadra Island:
My "scooting" getup:
One afternoon we drove south of Campbell River to play a round of golf at Storey Creek. We were paired up with another twosome and come to find out they were from Bellevue! Small world. They were up on their 65ft boat and had to come to port when their fridge went out. We had a nice visit with them as we played this beautiful course.
After 3 nights at Painter's Lodge we headed south, stopping in Nanaimo for lunch and then taking the BC Ferry from Mill Bay to Brentwood Bay. I had never been on a ferry quite like this one.
Chris at the Mill Bay ferry dock:
The funky ferry:
Chris and I on the ferry:
We stayed at an amazing resort in Brentwood Bay cleverly named the Brentwood Bay Resort & Spa. Another highly recommend! Our room was beautiful and I loved the bathtub (think huge, with jets, lined with candles, bath salts included) so much that I took 5 baths and we were only there 2 nights!
Brentwood Bay Resort & Spa:
Our patio, lots of cribbage was played here!
The gateway to the beautiful tub (oh and there was a stone shower with heated tile and steam sprayers that was pretty awesome also!):
Chris so excited that he couldn't hide it:
We spent one morning touring The Butchart Gardens (Chris was in heaven, I was allergic). I will admit it was quite beautiful!
Chris loves reading all the signs:
After leaving the gardens we drove up Mt Douglas and hiked to the lookout where Chris found more signs to read:
Gorgeous view of Victoria and the surrounding areas from the lookout. Again, highly recommend!
After leaving the top of Mt Douglas we visited the Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse and enjoyed tasting 9 yummy ciders while enjoying their view. Another highly recommend. We came home with many of their ciders to enjoy!
After 2 nights in Victoria we packed up once again and took the ferry from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen and drove into Vancouver for our final night. After checking in at the Marriott downtown we took to the streets to explore. We walked towards the water and encountered the strangest looking structure. After staring at it for about 5 minutes we finally realized it was the Olympic Torch from the 2010 Winter Olympics!
Nearby was Douglas Coupland Digital Orca. I'm a huge Douglas Coupland fan so I thought this was pretty cool.
Another highlight from Vancouver was stumbling upon the Steamwork's Brewing Company. Tasty beers, yummy food, and super friendly staff. We stopped in there for a pint and ended up going back later for dinner since we liked it so much.
So, needless to say, we loved our road trip to Canada and if you're in the Seattle area and looking for a beautiful, fun, enjoyable adventure, I'd highly recommend a similar road trip!
1 comment:
What great pics!! Your trip looks so pretty!! I love that you caught the bigger fish and that you took 5 baths in 2 days....that's totally something I would have done as well!
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