JonesBernard5

It was a bit of a better day today for weather but still no sun! We started off with a great hike down Cheakamus River to an old train wreck. The river is beautiful with lots of twists and bends and small falls along the way. The kids loved the train wreck and climbing on the old cars, which have been set up for mountain bikers to do some cool tricks. On the way back along the train tracks we saw a mother black bear and her tow cubs. She watched us for a bit and then took the cubs into the woods to go around us. Pretty amazing! In the afternoon we went back to Whistler villiage and the kids went on some fun "rides" including a trampoline and luge type slide down part of ... read more

Spent our last day in Victoria doing some sightseeing and then swimming at the Saanich Commonwealth pool. It is a great facility and only $13 for the family! Lots of fun except for the big double flip off the high board by Graysen which ended in a face plant and broken goggles! Yikes! Packed up and headed up to Departure Bay for our ferry to Horseshoe Bay. The ferry ride was really nice with spectacular views of Vancouver and the mountains on the way in. We then headed up the Sea to Sky highway which is much improved sicne our last trek over 10 years ago! Stopped at Brandywine Park to take a break from the car and have a little hike and were rewarded with an amazing waterfall. Arrived in Whistler for dinner at a ... read more

Earlier this year, knowing we were coming out West for a trip this summer, we bid on a day trip to Salt Spring through the Bishop's Gaiters fundraiser auction and won! Today we went on our trip with our hosts Roy and Ethne Cullen. Mr. Cullen is a former MP and he and his wife have a 30' Boston Whaler. They took us on a wonderful cruise to Ganges on Salt Spring Island where we had brunch. Ganges is a quaint village with independantly owned stores (no chains), some great galleries and an amazing book store. On the way back, Roy introduced Graysen to trolling using a down rigger. They had thought the pink salmon may be running but no luck-but it was still a great experience. Another glorious day in BC!... read more

Left Ucluelet yesterday. Spent our last full day hiking the Wild Pacific Trail which was beautiful. Every lookout is amazing and the surf was huge. This is called the Pacific Graveyard because of all the shipwrecks. We did a little shopping, got some Island Farms ice creme at Ukee Scoops. They had a stuffed Eagle that had been killed by a salmon! Dinner was fish and chips from Riggers. The drive to Langford was long because we stopped at streams and lakes. They were still cold but the kids attempted to swim...in and out! The lakes are crystal clear and are surrounded by huge mountains. The view is amazing. Went to Coombs again back to see the goats on the roof. The kids were crazy in the car but then got busy with their sketch pads ... read more

Tomorrow we leave for our 19 day family trip to BC. We are all really excited and now just scrambling to get packed and organized! Flight leaves at 11am and we arrive in Vancouver at 1pm. Heading to Yaletown for our hotel and to see Marianne and Chris!... read more