united states Archives

Hello! How are you all doing? An incredible summer season has come to an end over here. I know I’ve been a bit MIA on the blog here, but I do want to make sure I share a bit about my summer! Apart from all kinds of spread out summer activites, we had 3 big things on the calendar: two visits from back home, and one trip to the east coast of the US.

visitors and sunshine coast

Tom’s parents came to visit us in July. It was so lovely showing them around and giving them a glimpse of what it’s like here!

They explored Vancouver while we worked during the week, but we did really want to take a day off so we could spend a full long weekend with them. And what better way to do that than to get away from the city like people do here?

On Thursday evening, we took a ferry to the Sunshine Coast. We had heard such great things about it, and we loved the idea of seeing a new island in the area.

It was fantastic weather, and we hadn’t been there ourselves yet, so it was nice to explore something new all together. Part of that trip was also the Skookumchuck Narrows – a nice read there if you want to know more about it. And here’s a little reel of our time on the Sunshine Coast!

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canadian rockies

Not long after waving Tom’s parents goodbye, we had another special couple over at the end of August! We met Tom’s brother Erik and his girlfriend Aga in Calgary and spent a week road tripping through the Canadian Rockies. It was amazing slowly making our way back to Vancouver with them. We saw Banff National Park, Yoho National Park, and Jasper National Park for the first time. There’s so much to share and tell – so I put together a separate (rather lengthy and photo-filled) post about that. Go read that if you’re interested! But yeah, my oh my, what an unforgettable experience. The rockies are overwhelmingly beautiful.

happy accidents

OK, silly story. I’m an early ’90s girl that grew up listening to the Jonas Brothers. So when they announced their tour, I did my fangirl dance and looked for Vancouver on the list. Sadly, they were going to skip my city, and so I scanned the list for alternatives. Toronto? Ugh, flights are so expensive and it’s so far away! Why don’t I just find something in the US, instead? The US border is just a 1,5 hour drive away, so lots of people from Canada go to cities in the US to see shows. Washington it is. A 2 to 3 hour drive will get us there.

One morning, I was preparing for a full day of training when I was reminded about ticket sales starting at 9 AM. I sent the Verified Fan link and information over to Tom, asking him to get us 2 tickets. Any tickets. Doesn’t matter where we sit, I just want to be there.

A little while later during my break, I check in to see how it went and if we got some tickets. Yep. We did. Then Tom goes: “You do realize it’s for Washington, DC, right?”

!@#$%^&*()(*&^%$#@!

Sigh. This is such a first world problem, but yeah, we decided to see it as a nice opportunity. So 6 months later, we hopped on our flight to New York City. We spent 4 days exploring New York City for the first time, then took a train to Washington DC to continue our trip. We ticked off countless must-sees and recommendations from friends. And then, on Saturday 23 September, my brain effortlessly downloaded all the lyrics to songs by the Jonas Brothers from 2007 to today.

hello, autumn

Returning home from the US was like a baptism into the fall – rain, storm warnings, urges to buy knitwear, all of that. Or at least that’s what it felt like at first – soon after, repeated whiplash followed, as we went from cold to warm and back again several times. But yeah, by now, fall has definitely kicked in.

I’ll try to be good and keep up with posting a bit more in the fall. It will be our first fall and winter here, so it will be interesting to transition to new activities and experiencing what the colder seasons are like in Vancouver.

Thanks again for reading along, and see you next time!

When you think of the United States, which states would be on your bucket list? I’ll bet that Washington State was not part of your considerations. With Washington State being just 2 hours away from Vancouver, we ventured out to Seattle about a months ago and noticed how nice and green the drive was. For the long weekend in May, we decided to see more of it and pay a proper visit to the capital of Washington. Which, surprisingly, is not Seattle. It’s Olympia. Right. Never knew that, either.

olympia in washington

After work on Friday, we picked up a car and drove south. This time, we tried a different spot to cross the border and it was indeed smoother and faster than the last time we went into the US. With only a three-cars queue in front of us and a friendly border officer, we were able to drive into Washington quickly. We stopped in Bellingham for dinner before driving further south.

It was pitch black, total darkness, but our Airbnb just north of Olympia on a little peninsula was a lovely spot when we finally arrived late at night. It had a cute beach theme, which certainly set the tone for the rest of the weekend!

The next morning, we walked to a little harbour in search of breakfast. We didn’t really find it at Boston Harbor Marina, but kept the place in mind for later that day. We got the car and drove into Olympia to try again there.

Our intro to Olympia was the Olympia Farmers Market – a lovely spot to start! After getting some food, we walked further into Olympia in search of the Washington State Capitol.

paddle boarding with sea creatures

The weather was fantastic, so we were excited to head back for our afternoon activity. Our new paddle boards were waiting for us to try them for the first time! We pumped them up (or, rather, the fantastic electrical pump did) and paddled around the Budd Inlet and Dover Point.

Enjoying the mountain views in the distance, I focused to keep my weird water fear under control. Just look at the surface and don’t try to see what’s under you… We had gone out quite some distance, and started to turn around to make our way back. No rush though – the weather was still nice and warm, and though the water was a bit wilder here, it was still manageable and enjoyable to paddle.

Suddenly, we noticed that a curious seal was following us from a short distance. Popping up repeatedly at about 10 meters away from us, we just floated about, slowly paddling on, and looked around to see where the seal would turn up next. There he is again! Staying quiet and curious, the three of us just kind of looked at each other, and out of nowhere Tom loses his balance and falls in the water. The splash startled the seal, and I watched it dive under.

Tom’s fall had obviously sent waves in all directions, including mine. Trying not to lose my sh—, I tried to keep my balance and not join Tom and the seal into the ice cold pacific waters. And not to think about how a sea creature is literally 5 meters away from Tom trying to swim up and get back on his paddle board… Pushing away the visual of a seal eating at Tom’s toes, I called out to ask if he was okay.

Other than swearing at how freezing cold the water was, and it taking him two tries to get back on, he was alright. We paddled back toward the beach where we had started, and didn’t see the seal again.

olympic national park in washington

The next day it was time for a road trip. We were right by Olympic National Park, so we wanted to drive around there and see what nature was like over here. The weather forecast didn’t look so good, and we didn’t mind a bit of a drive, so we looked for an interesting area to drive out to. Exploring the map, we found Forks – you know, that dreary little town Bella Swan moves to and where she meets a bunch of vampires and a handsome werewolf. (I make it sound as if I find it lame but I have read the books and seen the movies at least five times. Teenage fan girl, nice to meet you.)

Forks was indeed as dreary and boring as described, and as most of the filming locations were actually in Oregon, there was nothing familiar there to see. We continued on to the Quileute reserve and the beaches we wanted to see. The reviews suggested it was stunning – some called it one of the most magical places they ever visited in their lives.

la push

So, were they right? Back to Twilight for a second – remember that scene where her new friends take her to a beach on the reserve to go surfing? “La Push, baby!” Clumsy as she is, she doesn’t go for the waves, and instead strolls on the beach with Jacob as he tells her about the Quileute legend about the ‘cold ones’ and the werewolves.

That beach is called La Push. In the movie, you actually see a beach in Oregon. But here, on the shores of the Pacific, you can visit the actual beach referred to in the story. When we drove up and caught the first glimpse of the beach, we were both super stunned. Wow. What a sight. We checked out three beaches and it was ab-so-lu-tely gorgeous. It’s hard to explain, so just see for yourself below.

lake crescent

After taking in all that beauty, it was time to start our drive back to our Airbnb. What shall we do – same southern route, or back the other way, over the northern route, with Vancouver Island in the distance? We were in no rush and we’d drive through Port Angeles – why not do dinner there?

On the way, we found ourselves driving along a GORGEOUS lake. The sun had finally started to show itself, making it an even more beautiful sight to see. We found a great place to eat right by what apparently is called Lake Crescent and skipped Port Angeles altogether.

mount rainier

On our last day, we planned to go for a hike in Mount Rainier National Park before making the long drive home. We had some trouble finding a trail that we could reach without damaging our rental car though! We found that a lot is still either covered in snow or is hard to reach due to terrible roads where ice has melted. Nonetheless, we found and enjoyed an 8 km ridge trail right by Longmire. Unfortunately, no clear skies, but a nice workout.

thank you, washington state

I haven’t seen much of the US yet, but from how I never hear anyone about Washington State (beyond the occasional “oh, yes I’ve been to Seattle”), I would say it’s underrated. It’s called the Evergreen State for a reason. Mountains, by the sea, and beautifully green – if those are ingredients you’re into, give Washington a chance.

united states

The summer trilogy