Vancouver Island, BC
For Adam's birthday this year, I surprised him with a weekend getaway to Canada. He's a mountain biker, so I did a little bit of research and found some trails in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island that looked pretty cool. Apparently that whole area is well known for mountain biking, so I figured we couldn't go wrong exploring up there for a few days. We took off work on a Friday and made our way across the border mid-afternoon.
The trip was about six hours one way, but our ferry ride out of Vancouver was almost three hours, so it cut out a lot of driving time. The Canadian ferries are so nice and much fancier than the Washington ferries!
I realized after we left that I didn't take any photos of the cute cabin we stayed in! It was an adorable wood cabin tucked back behind a house owned by two kite surfers and their adorable 6 month old daughter. Have I mentioned how much I love Airbnb? You get to meet so many interesting people!
In the morning, we had breakfast at Atlas Cafe, stopped at a bike shop to find out a bit more information about the trails, and then we were on our way to ride. Before we left for Canada, my brother told me I'd get eaten by a bear if we went mountain biking in the woods (what a guy!) because he knows I have a very real fear of bears. That being said, I tried to play it cool when Adam told me the name of the trail we'd be riding was called, "Bears Bait Trail."
After riding for a while and then spending some time basking in the sun in a park nearby, Adam drove me to a coffee shop in town so I could work on homework. In the meantime, he headed back out to ride some of the more experienced trails on his own.
Later on, we had dinner at Tita's where I accidentally ate avocado slices (I'm allergic) and spent the rest of the night with a crummy stomach ache. Luckily, we had Netflix at the cabin so the night wasn't a total loss! Before I started to feel sick, we hiked down to Seal Bay and watched the sunset. We also got to see a few of the Snowbirds fly overhead!
In the morning, we took our time exploring the sights in Courtenay and stumbled upon an abandoned ski hill. It was super eerie, but really pretty, too.
On our way back home, we stopped for dinner at the Modern Cafe in Nanaimo. It was delicious! I think the veggie burger I ate there was one of the best I've ever had. Yummmm. Adam really enjoyed his mac & cheese, too. After we ate, we picked up a few books at a used bookstore to read on the ferry ride home. We got back to Seattle pretty late, but it was worth it.
I can't wait for the weather to start warming up; we have so many fun trips planned this summer!