Post-WOA Tofino Trip with mom and Sandy!

I slept for most of the ride up to Tofino .... there really is something nice about traveling in a camper!  It was a long drive ... super strange sensation being on full throttle for so long and boom! suddenly, no more need for the throttle ... you are tied to a bench for 4 hours to think about and mull over the biggest weekend of your year ... so that was interesting.

We arrived at a very nice campground ... mom and sandy got busy setting up the beds, and food and I crawled into the back bed and pretty much stayed there all night.  They would throw food at me once in awhile, and it was lovely ... I love the way 60 year olds eat....high quality meats, cheeses, pesto ... crackers and wine .... nothing better really. 

In the morning, we were all excited for the day!  It was HOT SPRING DAY!!!  I have wanted to see these hotsprings for 20 years!!  My sister and I came to Tofino long long time ago and we couldn't afford the trip out to the hotsprings ... she ended up going with the Coast Guard but I had never gone ... until now!!

We start getting the RV ready to drive and the pull outs are not pulling back in!  It was so strange!  We finally flagged down the campground maintenance guys and they gave us a hand ....

The boat ride was in a covered, heated boat, with 2 seater benches ... this was a pic of our ride back, but it was a long ride .... glad for my nice seat partner ... it was also nice not to get sick from the waves ... the boat had a deep hull, so we didn't even really feel the movements!


Beautiful boardwalks ... once off the boat we pretty much RAN to the hotsprings to be the first ones in!  So glad that we did that because we had a good solid 15-20 minutes there on our own before these tiny hot pools became human soup! Super gross ... plus there was  a young couple who thought this was the backdrop to a lovescene in their own personal movie ...so gross.  The best part was mom was like 'I need to get pass them!' ... and I have no idea where she stepped because the pools were so little and the two of them were laying on top of eachother in the middle of them, hahaha .... even laughing now ... mom wants what she wants .... not even a couple of skinny lovers in bathing suits are going to stop her.


Thank you mom for snapping this shot!  Most joy ever!!  I am in HOT WATER!!  in NATURE!!  It was the very best ever!  I will now be seeking hot springs where ever I go in this world and I will think of my mom whenever I find them!!  (My next big goal for Mission: Hot Springs, is Iceland!!)

WOA 2018

There are really never any words for this weekend that can describe the depth.  Glad these two were here for it. Xoxo

4x4 obstacle course ... Chris saves yet another WOA Workshop!

So Rachel Ridge arrived on Wednesday!  A few days early for WOA!  I can't remember the last time we broke bread with the Zalinkos.... Paul had gone on a fishing charter the day before and puked the entire time, so the guide caught him a halibut he went home with.  Here we are all enjoying it!  You could say Rachel Ridge's appearance was a bit of a bridge between the 2 families .... it was like old times.

The woman running the 4x4 class was a real let down and long story short, Chris went out into the back 40 and created an amazing 4x4 obstacle course in about an hour with the little digger!


Here is Paul taking the boys and I through it ... it was very fun!

Pallet clock prototype!

Needing to make 8 more of the clock faces this week for the workshop!  Pretty sweet hey??  Love mine

Overlooking the camp on the mountain....

My sweet husband 18 years ago - scouting and climbing with Jon. 

Isabelle Loves Isaac

Outdoor Movies and Marty turns 12!!

Elliot and Dylan skipping out at the end of Marty's birthday party ..... cool shades hey?  Those were the party favors ... Dylan is in Elliots class.

Paul and Rachel cutting the cake for the birthday boy and the staff ....

First fire and outdoor movie of the season .....

Here is Paul bringing the cake to Marty to blow out the candles ....

Here is Marty offering everyone some of his birthday skittles .... such a sweet kid ....known him since he was 5!!

The Greatest Showman!!  What a great movie!!

This was the facebook memory from last year when we did an outdoor movie on this night for Marty's 11th birthday ....so I thought it was pretty cute we did it again tonight ....

Pineapple Beach and dinner with friends!

It was a long weekend ... not affectionally known for the past 17 years for us, as the "May Long Work Weekend" ..... typically known for starting many many projects and leaving the majority of the cleanup and finishing, to my sweet husband.  However, this year went quite well, and Chris was happy about all the new people and the projects that did get completed!  So, after a good nap after lunch, he took the rest of Sunday off and we took the Rentons for a boat ride!! 

First stop was Pineapple Beach .... some explored, some sat on the beach, some built a fire ....


Some took pictures .....

And then others took pictures from different angles ....

And then from another angle ....

Nothing makes kids flock like a fire ....



Then it was time to head towards Jakes for dinner and we had to go through the locks that joins the river to Cowichan Lake ....

This picture was actually from the ride home, where we picked up Daniel and brought him back after dinner ... the first trip through the locks had the majority of the adults soothing Bennett who was really upset over this new experience ... it was pretty scary for him...

Heading up the dock to the restaurant ....

The restaurant had a long wait, so some went to Subway and some went to A&W .... way better eating in the sunshine with eachother ... Daniel, Marika and Natasha met us for dinner ....

Had the nicest time with this gal ... it's been a lot of years since she was up as our videographer, but she has become such a world travel ... so she's a wonderful one to dream about travel with ....

These clowns on the way home ....