A standard Ogopogo picture is needed.
Ferry ride to the Island
Our oldest enjoying Little Qualicum Falls.
Our first foray onto the beach
Kids having fun, extreme insanity building....
All living s*** opens up and our oldest fella regresses 50,000 years!
Now we didn`t forget to post about our day yesterday, we just wish we could forget about it.
We headed out of Kelowna early and hit the road for Vancouver. It was a long drive for the kids, which made it a long drive for us!
We checked into our hotel in North Vancouver. It was a bit of a dive (so we al together left it off the hotel ratings for this summer), but supposively close to all of the attractions and close to the Ferry. We dropped off our stuff and took off for the 5 minute drive to the Aquarium.
But after 40 minutes of waiting to drive the 3 blocks onto the bridge that would take us close to the Aquarium we decided it was best to go back to the hotel. I guess everyone in Vancouver also wanted to take the bridge to Stanley Park. The 1 km drive back took another 35 minutes. We learned our lesson, driving in Vancouver is not the same as driving at home. The kids loved the pool though and didn`t want to get out, even for supper.
So we learned another lesson, book the ferry earlier than a day in advance. When we went to book the Ferry over to Nanaimo our only options left were 6:20 a.m. and 9:30 p.m.
6:20 a.m. it was!
We packed up the night before and set the alarm for 4:15 a.m. The kids loved the Ferry though. Mom and Dad wanted to stay out on the outer deck, but the kids were more comfy in the big chairs on the inside of the boat. We had brought breakfast with us, which was smart.
And they served delicious hot coffee.....so hot and delicious.
We got off of the Ferry at 8 a.m. and saw that Tofino was only 200 + km away so we made the silly decision to head to Tofino. It took 4 hours to drive!!!
We are still glad we went though.
The road to Tofino can be summed up by the warning signs of: Caution: Narrow Winding Road. Twisting and turning through the most beautiful forest ever! The trees were huge and we even saw 2 black bears. We made a couple of stops on the trip, one to Little Qualicum Falls which was a super great little hike (lots of stairs, but easy terrain) and the goats on the roof in Coombs. What a cool gimmick the goats are.
The store is super neat and has lots of stuff and really reasonable rates. The kids found wooden pop guns...you can imagine how long they lasted in the van before we had to threaten to take them away. The bakery was also super neat and they had lots of food and garden stuff. Dad ended up buying salmon jerky, home made granola bars, and a spinach brioche, so damn yummy!!!
Very fun stop! Worth it for sure for a few groceries or a lunch stop.
After we finally reached Tofino, but not before someone couldn`t hold his pre-lunch down going around all the little twists and turns in the road, the drive seemed worth it.
Even with the sweet stick of barf mostly aired out of the van we stopped at the Tacofino stand for lunch, someone told us it was their choice for best fish tacos.
Ding Ding!!!
We ordered 1 fish taco, 1 bean taco, 3 cheese gringas (quesadillas), 1 mango-coconut smoothie, 1 mint-lime freshie, and 1 lemon-ginger freshie. It was amazing! The fish taco was hands down the best thing we have had in the fresh locally made food category. The little Tacofino truck pumped out a lot of tacos but they were lined up down the parking lot. We waited 30 minutes for our order, and they were moving to get everything out!
After lunch our little prairie children went nuts in the ocean. Our youngest spent the entire time running out to the waters edge and then running away as the waves came. He did this for a long time until he tripped and a wave caught up to him. He had sand everywhere. After that he yelled `bad water`and threw sand at the waves. The other 2 ran and screamed and giggled. They loved everything about it, the waves, the sand, the shells. The were filthy and loving it!
It was great to see them experience something new and so different to what they have even done. There is something magical about waves and surf.
The drive back was long...but we did it! We made it back to Nanaimo and went to a friends place to stay. The graciously let us stay in their new house before they even move in. It is on the side of a mountain overlooking the harbour! It is insanely cool. Tonight from the hot tub on their deck we saw a baby deer and a racoon.
Today was long but amazing!!!!
