Day 12: Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Crossing the Canadian Border was daunting. Having heard horror stories of people who were clothes-lined at customs for prior DUI charges, trace amounts of drugs and minor weapons, I figured I had a 50/50 shot at getting into our neighbor to the north. We were packing an assassination knife with 14” blade and a Flea Market taser. Katie was probably solid, but I regret to admit a DUI arrest from 2005. We considered smuggling me in via the trunk of the car but thought the consequences for human trafficking may be more detrimental than simply missing out on the opportunity to tramp around with the Canucks for a couple weeks.
We built it up to be a big deal. But there was no line and the customs agent was only concerned about why our tags were from California after telling him we were both from Florida. He also interrogated us about firearms and pepper spray (yet tasers and massive knifes are OK apparently). It only took a few blurry moments and we were through!
The second we crossed the border we were in another world. No cell service – didn’t think that one through. We were without a map and had no radio, no Pandora, no idea where we were going and the speed limit was in kilometers!?
Day 13 – 15: Wednesday – Friday, June 17 – 19, 2015
As luck would have it, JJ (our friend from San Francisco who hosted us almost 2 weeks prior) was in Vancouver on business and kind enough to let us crash her hotel room for 4 nights. We stayed at the Sheraton in the heart of downtown and did a whole lot of nothing.
We did go on a long drive with JJ and a couple of her kickass coworkers up past Whistler and into the mountains one day to breathtakingly beautiful hike up and around Joffre Lakes where I got my first real experience of glaciers. (Katie scribed more about this day and I edited the Joffre Lakes Hike video which we prematurely posted weeks go – we are clearly now weeks behind in blogging.)
Aside from that we literally spent 3 days at the hotel being lazy, soaking up the free amenities including pool, hot tub, sauna, a private temperature controlled room with plush bedding, endless hot showers and unlimited WIFI – Whaaaaat!?
We did go out one night, met a few cool people, drank a ton of Canadian beers, ate some bomb ass street meat… you know, the usual.
We also had a night of robes and facemasks and another involving a mid-night run to find ice cream after being disappointed with the room service selection of desserts (#firstworldproblems). It was much needed. Don’t judge…
Day 16: Saturday, June 20, 2015
We had anticipated heading to Banff that morning but had read the night prior (amidst our ice cream eating binge) about the forecast for downpours and thunder storms there in the coming days. We were also concerned about bears and didn’t feel properly equipt for that type of extreme wet, freezing and ferocious camping. So we made a rash and impromptu decision to hop the 2-hour ferry over to Vancouver Island and head all the way out to a quaint little surf town called Tofino, B.C.
Turned out to be one of the best decisions we’ve made thus far. Not only did we find an awesome couch surfing host but we also had a moment of realization that Tofino, British Columbia must indeed be THE CAPITOL FOR SEXIEST MEN IN THE WORLD! In an effort to be stealth about pointing out and talking about hot guys, we dubbed them a code word: Squirrel.
Our CS host, Mike, took us salmon fishing as soon as we got in. All I caught was a kelp forest, which took me the better part of the evening to retrieve the lure, but the view and the sunset were spectacular!
That night we went to Rick’s for some cold local Tofino IPAs and danced to the live band. We also ran into Ben and the Hasta Alaska Crew (We follow them at youtube.com/kombilife) which was way random to have met them, small world!?
The following day was Fathers Day and also the 6 year anniversary of my sister, Tanya’s death. I couldn’t imagine a more suitable spot to reflect and remember her than this magical little surf town of Tofino. All I could think about was how much she would have LOVED it here. We spent most of the day relaxing on the beach, watching the surfers and soaking up the wifi at a perfect little spot for squirrel hunting called The Shelter where we snacked on Salmon Burgers and sweet potato fries. The town is known mostly for surfing (even in the frigid water), salmon fishing, whale watching and seaplane tours. Everybody is happy, friendly, hospitable, welcoming and helpful. We made it an early night as we cant get too far off schedule if we want to make it all the way back to LA!