This is the final instalment of our crazy awesome West Coast Adventure. This last stop was unplanned, but a great idea. Hayden had been bothering us the whole trip to find a hotel with a pool and water slide, or a water park in general. So we surprised him by booking a night near the West Edmonton Mall and spending the day in the water park instead of going back to Calgary right away.
It was a little different of a day for us as we headed in different directions in the morning. Dan was heading out with my cousin Todd and a friend to go mountain biking, something he has been looking forward to doing since forever. That meant Hayden and I would hang out with my cousin, Sonia and their two girls.
Morning Adventures
There is a local hike in the area called Hole in the Wall, so after breakfast we headed out the highway with my uncle and cousins for a walk. The trailhead was on the side of the highway which meant parking was hard to come by, but we managed to find a spot.
This little trail lead down toward a river where we eventually found the hole in the wall. Although it is a neat feature, it isn’t natural. The hole was created years ago for a huge pipe to supply water to the town below. However, with modern access to water there is no need for the old pipe so it was removed, leaving this hole which is now is a bit of a tourist attraction.
All along the river bed are numerous Inukshuks made from the smooth rocks that can be found in the river, so we decided to create a few of our own.
The hole
Smile
Boy doing his thing
Cousins at play
After hiking my family brought us to a local gift store where they sell ice cream. It was all the kids were talking about on the way back as they were looking forward to having a treat. What made it even better was that they had a display of ten, yes TEN different ice creams made with either coconut milk or fruit water. I WAS SOOOOOOOO HAPPY!!! After trying almost every flavour I picked mint Oreo and coconut vanilla.
Fun in the Sand
For the afternoon, Hayden and I drove to Parkside to check out the sand sculpture competition and to meet up with another my cousins Michael and Esther, who I haven’t seen in a very long time.
The theme for the competition was “Myths and Legends”, and the sculptures were simply amazing. I had always wondered how sand sculptures stayed together for so long, and I finally have my answer thanks to a Q and A display that explained that the sand was mixed with white glue. There you go, question answered (who needs Google)!
As we meandered around we were given a token to vote for our favorite piece. Below Hayden is standing next to his favorite. Once we voted we all hung out in the park giving Hayden time to play and burn off some energy.
I voted for this one
Look at the details!
Hayden’s Vote
Evening
By now, Dan had returned from mountain biking on the Island, but he had forgotten to take any pictures, so there was talk of having to return another time to get some actual footage!
After supper with the family, we headed to a local provincial park to go kayaking and canoeing. My cousin had a click-together kayak system where we could have a 3 person kayak and a single kayak, or 2 doubles, etc. It was a pretty neat system and we just had to give it a go. My uncle took his canoe so that we all could be out on the water enjoying the evening. We paddled around checking out the pictographs and joked about how lovely an evening it was and how we should have brought our swimming gear.
Surprise
Well, with the water so warm, and the sun shining on a perfect little beach, we all decided to stop and spontaneously go swimming. No swim gear required! It was undies for all LOL. We had a great time splashing around and commented on how all the cousins were having fun together.
As the sun began to set, it was time to go home. We had a full day of fun, adventures and laughs. The Island was pulling hard on my heart as I really didn’t want to leave.
Stay tuned for another day of island adventures next week and thanks for reading.
It was time to hit the big city on the west coast and see what it had to offer us. We left off on our last part spending the night in Merritt. As we predicted, the party and preparation for their music festival went well into the night. Not sure when or if the music stopped but I was happy when daylight came and we were on our way to Vancouver.
Everyone has their own reasons why they love a long weekend, for us long weekends mean we get and extra day for outdoor adventure fun! You might think we head straight for the campground for the first long weekend of summer, but the crowds, traffic and general craziness usually keeps us closer to home – this year was no exception. On Saturday we headed to Northumberland Forest to go mountain biking. Dan is an avid mountain biker, as in he goes out at least 1 or 2 times a week all year. Yes even in winter he bikes with his fat bike. Hayden joins him on some of the easier trails in the area and is becoming quite the biker as well. I ride my road bike regularly, however it has been over 10 years since I have been on the trails and I wasn’t sure if I was excited or nervous about heading back into the woods. To make sure things went smoothly Dan did a great of job tuning up my mountain bike – which has been sitting in our garage for a very long time – and getting it ready to roll like new. He even upgraded my old rim brakes to disc – which he assures me is much better!
