After a year of pretty much no travel following the 2020 Covid outbreak, we started to normalize a bit in 2021 with some domestic travel. It forced us to look within our own backyard and provided the opportunity to see a bit of Canada from Coast to Coast with new perspective. I haven’t been motivated to blog at all (deciding its not my fortee) and I’m rarely on Facebook or social media but thought I should make an attempt to record the memories of 2021 for ourselves as I like to look back at old posts. The best souvenirs from travel are the memories.
Even though work now only provides 3 weeks of vacation over the year (so miss the flexibility we used to have) and I can only take about a week at a time, we managed to work in a few trips. Beginning of April we spent Easter in Naramata, BC looking for our dream retirement property (still a dream) and visited with our kids in Kelowna. August we flew out to the East Coast for a one week Nova Scotia visit, then in October we drove out to the opposite coast to help move our son out west to Vancouver and then the beginning of December we did our annual retreat to Emerald Lake Lodge.
Naramata, BC
We’ve been visiting Naramata now for a few years although this was the first time outside of the usual summer season. We love it here so much, with an abundance of things to do in the area its like the Tuscany of BC; the lake, over 25+ wineries in the Naramata bench, the KVR trail (100s of miles of former railroad now recreational trails) , hiking, biking, swimming, paddle boarding, great restaurants…..beautiful scenery and all in close proximity to Penticton and all a small city has to offer.
We decided to visit over the Easter long weekend to take a look at some real-estate. We were thinking we could buy now, use for our holidays, rent when we weren’t there and then someday retire to this dream local but it was all for not! We setup 8 properties to view on a Wednesday and by the time we arrived on Friday our real estate agent had said all were sold or conditionally sold. Real-estate in this area is nuts. The agent showed us some new properties she hadn’t seen but told us they were all that was available, they were all terrible and ridiculously priced. The market just wasn’t going to work for us so we’ve put it back onto the dream board. Never the less we had a fab visit. We stayed at a great Airbnb, had a memorable dinner on the outdoor heated patio at the new restaurant in the Naramata Inn, visited some wineries, did a few hikes and enjoyed our first trip out with our new dog-Sadie, she loved it. Was the RnR we needed.
From Naramata we headed back to Kelowna for a visit with the kids. We stayed at a hotel, while Meagan and Ryan came down from Kamloops and stayed with Brandon so we could all play together for a few days. We visited Brandon at his work-The Canadian Brewhouse where he was bartending, did a nice hike up in the hills, hung out together, made a nice dinner at Brandon’s and then the weekend was over!
Nova Scotia
Late August saw us off to the east coast on our first plane trip in a few years. It was for my aunts funeral following her passing that summer that brought us out this way. My parents went out the week before with my cousin, staying with family for a week and attending the service, we joined them the week after. We stayed in Halifax the first night and joined up with my cousin, her boyfriend, son and his girlfriend as they spent the last few weeks of their trip before making their way home. We had dinner, drinks and tore up the town for a fun filled exploration of the nightlife of Halifax.
The next day we planned an excursion to check off a few things on our Nova Scotia bucket list- a stop at the iconic Peggys Cove and Lobster Rolls for lunch as we made our way to my parents. Peggys Cove was definitely picturesque and provided some great photos, the iconic lighthouse however was less grand than we had imagined.
After a few hours at Peggys Cove we made our way to my Uncles house in Eureka, Pictou County. GPS had us a little lost and a few hours behind but we made it just in time for dinner and spent the night with them. Next day we headed to a rustic beach house where we enjoyed the balance of our week with the folks. We had a lovely time hanging out with mom and dad visiting family, playing tourist and exploring our seaside surroundings.
One of the highlights for us was a day road trip to Cape Breton, going as far as Inverness up the west side of the coastal Cabot Trail. Along the way we made quick pitstops at some of the seaside towns and fisheries and for a quick walk along the beach. The countryside reminded us of our time spent in Scotland with a visit to North Americas first Scotch distillery. The distillery was like a time warp back to Scotland, an almost exact replica of distilleries we had visited there including the local typography and countryside. We enjoyed a great lunch of fish and chips while listening to live Celtic music, took a guided tour of the distillery, visited the shop where I bought a bottle to take home, wandered the gardens and then headed back along the coastal trail, across the causeway and returning to our home base.
The weather was terrible for most of our trip, cool and rainy but it added to the coastal ambience and we enjoyed our East Coast sojourn. Our very last day saw some sunshine so we bolted for a few hours to Melmerby beach near Pictou.
October in Vancouver
Weeks after getting home from the East Coast we then made our way to the west coast to help move Brandon out from Kelowna. We spent a few nights in Kamloops visiting with Meagan (Ryan was away on work) and then continued on our way to Vancouver. When arriving we met Brandon at his new rental which turned out perfectly situated for school (Vancouver Film School to study Sound Design and Engineering) and blocks from our Airbnb where we were staying for the week. Within hours we had all his sole possessions moved in and he came to stay with us at the Airbnb for a bit.
We spent a great week getting to know the city. We wandered a good part of downtown from the west end up Robson Street to Gastown and Yale Town. A day out to Granville Island for lunch and a flight of beers at the Granville Brewery.
Another fab day was spent at Stanley Park for a visit to the Aquarium, walking the park and a lovely dinner on the waterfront.
My niece just started the Veterinarian program at UBC so we went to see her for a visit and tour of their beautiful campus, then took her out to Granville for a memorable dinner at The Sandbar Restaurant. Another day was spent on Grouse Mountain after a ride up the over priced gondola for an overpriced lunch up top.
After spending the day on Grouse we headed back home for a change of clothes and ended the evening with an amazing dinner at The Italian Canadian Club just a short walk from our Airbnb. Over a nice bottle of vino we reminisced about the week gone by, punctuating the end of a great trip! The next morning we drove Brandon back to his apartment, made our tearful goodbyes and drove back to Kamloops for another night with Meagan while breaking up the drive back to Calgary.
Decembers Annual retreat to Emerald Lake Lodge
This has been our third year out to Emerald Lake and we so look forward to continuing our annual retreat the beginning of each December. Its an amazing time of year to visit as the lake starts to freeze and winter takes hold with lots of snow but not too cold. The Lodge is all decked for the season and its relatively quiet to enjoy the surroundings and all the Lodge has to offer. Even the drive up from Calgary is so scenic making the journey as lovely as the destination.
We took Sadie with us, staying in a pet friendly room that had views out back on the pond. Usually we get a lakeview room but were surprisingly pleased with the view we got. The rooms are pretty much all the same, rustic with no TV, Radio or internet, a total disconnect from civilization which is much of the cache. Best part are the wood burning fireplaces that provide the warmth, crackle and ambience of a roaring fire while sipping a glass of wine and looking at the amazing scenery outside of our balcony. Just gazing into the fire is hypnotic and melts away all the stress we left back home.
We brought with us an array of charcuterie from the Italian Store in Calgary (also tradition) to enjoy our first night for dinner. We sat by the fire enjoying our eats and vino over a competitive game of crib while glancing at the snow falling outside.
Day 2 we started the day with Chocolate Croissants (also from the Italian Store) and left over charcuterie with coffees for breakfast. All fueled up we decided to go for a winter hike with the dog. Janet wanted to try a trail that started from the public parking lot and went across the bridge and around the pond. We viewed it from our balcony and since we had done the lake loop a few times before we decided to give it a try. We thought it would be a short hike and knew where it came out but it turned into more than we had bargained for. After about 45 min of trekking the path began to disappear in deeper snow and steeper terrain that called for snow shoes we didn’t have. Sadie loved it at first, bounding through the snow like a rabbit but she was starting to slow down too. We were determined to continue rather than hike back the way we came, certain we were closer to the opening. Now up to our waist in snow, going hard and swearing all the way about our decision we had to take a break. Luckily I packed a backpack with lunch and a bottle of Baileys that went down so good in the deep snow that surrounded us like a bear hug. We laughed about the potential headline, ‘Tourists found lost and frozen, just a few feet from the lodge’. Maybe it was our exhaustion or the altitude but we got a little corked on the Baileys and were laughing hysterically about our situation. While sitting there we spotted one of the cabins through the trees realizing we were maybe only ten yards from the resort, land was so close. Channeling the scene from Titanic when Rose is on the raft, frozen, almost at the end, realizing help was so close, using her last breath and barley audible I called out…. ‘help, send help’. Cracked myself up and we were laughing so hard we were crying. Although so close it took us what felt like forever to wade through all that snow, all absurdly up a steep incline in dense forest to civilization while breaking a few more times. We wondered if anyone looking out their balconies would have thought what the hell were those crazy people doing out back! Crawling on our hands and knees we returned to the resort with something to laugh about later.
We went back to the cabin where I changed and headed for a much needed relax and thaw in the hottub while Janet stayed and read her book with the dog. I met a nice couple in the tub and we had a great chat over an hour soak, when they left I put on some tunes and had some Zen time while finishing my cocktail. After returning from my tub we went to the Lodge for some nosh, played a game of ‘Sticks’ and took the dog for a walk before heading home to change for dinner.
Later a short walk to the Lodge, all lit up and cozy with the best of holiday decorating we settled in for a fabulous evening of fine dining. The Lodge is owned by the Canadian Resorts of the Rockies who own their own farm where they raise much of the game featured in their restaurants, the food is top notch. I’m a little picky as I like to cook and am often disappointed when eating out but never here. Even the breakfast we had the next morning in the Lodge was top notch.
Emerald Lake delivered the much needed escape we were craving and left us refreshed and ready to slide into Christmas holiday mode.
Funny how travel puts home into perspective. When travelling now we always look through the lens of would we like to retire here someday and still haven’t found that spot, or one we could afford anyways. Nova Scotia felt too sleepy and sparse, Vancouver was the opposite; too busy, too rainy, too expensive….but both gave me a renewed appreciation of Calgary.
2021 was much better than the shit show of 2020 and hoping 2022 will bring more of a return to normal!
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