Longer hikes in the Bruce Peninsula, Ontario

The beautiful beach at Halfway Log Dump.

Indian Head Cove, near the Grotto

The Bruce Peninsula National Park is another place where you have to reserve months in advance to snatch a campsite. The campsites might only be $23 per night, but don’t be fooled, you have to pay extra for the entry fees and extra for a tow vehicle. It’s pricey for an unserviced campsite. The big plus is that you don’t need to reserve and pay for a parking spot (and be limited to 4 hour slots only) to hike to the Grotto (the most popular attraction everybody wants to see).

Indian Head Cove near the Grotto

Rocky Shore Beach. Day 1 hike (see below).

Overhanging Point (a viewpoint on Day 1 hike).

 Our goal was to hike everywhere from the campsite. Since we had wanted to visit the area for a long time, we reserved 4 nights during the week at the beginning of June and the campground was almost empty. Needless to say, the place is a zoo in the high season. Expect to see stupid behaviors and natural selection in action at the Grotto - 15-20 minutes will likely be plenty and you will desperately want to leave.

Halfway Rocky Point (at the beginning of Day 2 hike)

Unfortunately, there isn’t much info on longer hike options, so we created our own. That’s mostly why I’m sharing this post. If, like us, you don’t like to sit around much, 3 nights will be plenty.

Very badly handdrawn indications of the hikes we did, but since they do not exist, I figured it’s better than nothing. Day 1 on the left and Day 2 on the right.

Day 1: Hike to the Grotto and continue to the left along the coast on the Bruce Trail all the way to Rocky Point (Loon Lake). It’s a beautiful 10 km round-trip and we were by ourselves as soon as we left Boulder Beach. On the way back, take the Marr Lake Trail from Boulder Beach.

Day 2: Hike to the Grotto and take the other side (right) of the Bruce Trail all the way to Stormhaven backcountry campsites. On the way back, take Horse Lake trail to the campground.

Perfect lunch spot by the water at Stormhaven backcountry campground (Day 2 hike)

Day 3: Go explore Halfway Log Dump. You have to drive there from the campground (20 min) and hike less than 1 km to the beach. From there, explore the coast. We went left (upper peninsula) and found a cool bouldering area. If you want to go for a longer hike, you could go right on the Bruce Trail (lower peninsula) and hike to High Dump backcountry campsite.

Halfway Dump Beach

Day 4: get out of there before the weekend crowd gets here.

P.S.: All those hikes require walking on cobble beaches and rocky (slippery) terrain.

Assateague Island National Seashore

I know I might be a hopeless romantic, but when I hear « camping on an island where wild horses roam free », I have images of the white Camargue horses galloping free in harmony on the beach… Maybe that’s why I was surprised to see pissed off horses stealing bags of chips from campsites and being aggressive with dogs and people. They reminded me more of giant raccoons than the Camargue horses of the animal channel of my youth… 

Of course they behave like this because people feed them to take pictures with them or try to pet them. One died last year after being fed commercial dog food… Many get hit by cars because they associate vehicles with food. It’s a pretty sad reality.

Like bears, if the horses get used to humans feeding them, they will tear into the tents to get food, raid picnic tables, and even push people out of the way to get to the food sources. Unfortunately, people are not scared of horses like they are of bears, so they just leave food outside unattended even if this is a very clear rule.

Horses have been on Assateague Island for over 300 years. Though nobody knows for sure how they got there, it is certain that they were not originally wild. Domesticated horses could have swam ashore from sinking ships or could have been thrown off of ships that had run aground in an attempt to lighten and refloat the ship. Another theory is that during colonial times, residents on the mainland brought horses to graze on the island to avoid taxation on animals living on the mainland. Regardless, today the horses are wild and, for the most part, left to fend for themselves. (excerpt from here).

And it has to stay that way. But of course this is too much to ask.

So, even if the beach is beautiful and wild (and not littered! I could not find one piece of trash on it!!), we won’t be back. These horses may be corralled and no longer be able to freely roam the island if visitors continue to violate the well-posted park rules. I feel very torn about places like these. I know I don’t want to be part of this. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

If you consider coming here, make sure to reserve ahead and know that the mosquitoes are pretty bad in the summer months (July and August are the worst; there were none while we were there mid-October). Keep all your food inside your vehicles at all times unless it is in a plate or bowl in front of you. Dogs are accepted in a few loops and adjacent beaches (and please keep them on a leash at all times). Horses will come on your campsite and smell your dog, so if you have a dog that is likely to react to that, either keep him in your rig when a horse approaches or do not come to the island. Expect that people will walk into your campsite if there are horses on it. Also know that there are no campsites with ocean view since there are dunes that separate the campground from the ocean (that is not clear on the map). The campsites closest to the boardwalk that leads to the sea are NOT a good choice since people will walk on your site to get to the ocean. The campsites that are away from the beach offer a little more protection against the elements. Most campsites are sand (with a paved area for rigs). It gets pretty windy and miserable when it rains here, so plan accordingly.

There are miles of dedicated (road) bike trails along the island and there are a handful of places within the park to trap your own crabs or forage your own mussels (trapping supplied cost about $20 and can be found at any of the local tackle shops). Both AT&T and Verizon signal was spotty. This is dry camping, but the shower buildings are amazing. However, some people will run their generators all day (allowed from 7 am to 10 pm), so it can be pretty annoying in such a peaceful place.

While you are there, make sure you check out the cute little town of Berlin, 20 minutes away (skip Ocean City!) and go have delicious craft beer at the Burley Oak Brewery.

Border crossing: from Canada to the US

After a tough border crossing, we had to zoom down to pick up packages in the New York area before they got shipped back (we left Quebec 3 weeks later than planned because of some mechanical issues that needed to be taken care of). There are a few reasons why we don’t do the East Coast (or even the East part of the States). First, there is no Public Land and free camping, and with a big RV, this mostly means sleeping in parking lot (the ones that allow it)… We like to take chances and check out trailheads and more remote spots on maps, but more often than not it ends up being extremely frustrating in this part of the country. We had an epic night of driving up steep hills and narrow roads (man the roads are narrow and the turns tight in New England: another reason we don’t come often!) to scout out a few spots to find them all with No overnight signs… So we stuck to Cracker Barrels and Walmart parking lots and paid for campsites in a few places that were worth it. One that was worth it in our opinion was Turkey Swamp County Park in New Jersey. It’s still $40 a night, which is a big expense for us, but very reasonable for the area and it includes a parking pass to the beautiful Seven President Oceanfront Park (35 minutes drive from the campground). Also, if you are in the area, do not miss Antoinette Boulangerie (a great stop after the beach) for amazing croissants and pâtisserie (get their raspberry chocolate mousse).

Also know that there are Parkway regulations in NY and NJ that prevent RVs to travel on some sections. We got stopped by a police officer who told us we could not be on that specific Parkway (even if this is a touristy area, there were no signs to that regard). We asked if we could take the next exit 2 miles further and he said he would have to give us a ticket if we did that… So we had to drive in reverse to take the exit!

The roads are narrow, the corners are sharp and the bridges and tunnels are low. This all makes for some stress driving.

So about the border crossing… As I posted on Instagram and Facebook, it was our toughest border crossing in 7 years. I can't tell you if it's truly because they are starting to be stricter or because we got a zealous border agent. What I can tell you, is that during the hour we all sat inside the building and the agent literally yelled at JF, I was already making plans for a winter in Canada.
Everything started as usual with the agent at the window. The usual questions; we made sure not to have any food that was problematic (no tropical fruits, especially). He then asked us to park and come inside. Nothing unusual there, we’re used to being searched at customs. However, when we stepped inside, JF was called by an older and much sterner officer who started drilling him with questions, not letting him finish a sentence and not taking our story for an answer.

He kept asking JF why we truly were coming into the States and JF kept saying : to visit, to mountain bike and to enjoy the outdoors, but the agent kept cutting him, saying: “You’re not being forthcoming with me! This is ridiculous!” And he was laughing in JF’s face…

JF went to grab his computer, showed him that we truly had jobs in Canada that we were doing online and that our girls were really studying online with a Yukon program. He searched their schooling website, JF’s job and mine and after a long while came back and told us that we were all set…
The main red flag in our case is that we don’t own a property in Canada. If we hadn’t had the girls registered in school and a job that we could both prove, they would very likely not have let us in this time.
So if you sell everything and go, make sure you have something to prove that you still have ties to Canada because it is possible that you will not be allowed in the US. Have the address of a campground where you will spend the first few nights (they don't like hearing that you don’t really know where you’ll sleep tonight...) and don’t forget that our lifestyle seems totally farfetched for many people. “You’ve been living in this thing for more than 5 years with teenagers?! That’s too funny…” is not what you want the border agent to tell you…

Something else that seems to trigger agents is when you try to give context to your answers. Simply answer by “yes” or “no” if no details are asked for, stay calm, even when the agent is trying to make you lose your cool (I’m so thankful JF is so naturally calm and not easily intimidated) and be patient and in no rush.

This one person has your plans for the upcoming years in their hands. It's not a good feeling, but to keep stating the same  facts while being courteous and honest is the best thing you can do.

Faria Beach, Solvang and the Firestone Walker Brewery

The view from beautiful site 7 at Faria Beach County Park.

The moon is setting as the sun is rising. A truly magical moment to wake up to (seen from bed and photo taken without even exiting the bus).

Faria Beach

When the locals walk the beach in their puffy coats and surf in their 6 mm wetsuit, Yukon kids be like:

This big guy made it to the beach! What no celebratory burger for me?

Cheers!

Watching the sun set over the ocean from home.

There are many places to camp along the Pacific Coast Highway. Most are overpriced, crowded and noisy. This one is no exception, but if you are lucky enough to reserve site 7, you have a little slice of paradise to yourself (for $36, no services). Be advised that it requires some maneuvering to back into the site (to have your door facing the ocean), especially if the nearby sites are occupied, but it is well worth it. Dogs are allowed to be off leash on the beach.

I expected Solvang, the self-proclaimed Danish capital of the USA, to be pretty kitsch, but honestly, old-world Danish architecture and Danish pastries (try the folded crêpe at Mortensen’s) make up for the cheap looking souvenir boutiques and 3 (yes, 3!) windmills.

We were there on a Tuesday and were impressed by their small but good and affordable Farmer's market. It made this cute little town even more likeable. Our favorite store was the old bookshop where they have the Hans Christian Anderson Museum.

After an afternoon touring Solvang, go have dinner and beer in the next town over, Buellton, home to the famous Firestone Walker Brewery. They specialize in sour beers and have delicious food on offer (the fig and pig pizza with an arugula extra, and their fried chicken sandwich with sriracha aioli and jalapeno slaw + homemade fries were truly amazing).

As for beer, I really loved their Capt Franc, a beer-wine hybrid at 9.8% produced with Cabernet Franc grapes from the area and aged for 12 months in French Oak with 12 different atypical yeasts. Plenty of barnyard funk with a gueze-like quality. I also really wanted to try their Krieky Bones, but they were out.

Page, Lake Powell and the Wahweap Hoodos

We camped two nights at Lone Rock Beach by Lake Powell. It a beautiful camping spot, but it can get pretty windy. There is a beautiful beach, but it was way to cold to swim in March. We saw lots of people kayaking on the lake and exploring a cave inside Lone Rock.

The beginning of the Wahweap Hoodoos hike. 

The rickety fence I mention in the directions below.

The fact that it a longish hike (14 km/8-9 miles) and that most of the hike is in a wash and has nothing exciting to offer (at least by Utah standards) makes it much less trafficked that the rest of the sights in the area. . A great plus: dogs are welcomed and can be off-leash!

Here we took a wrong animal path that led us close to the hoodoos, but we had to turn around because we could not keep going. Stick to the wash until you see the brush (description below)

Exploring the first set of hoodoos.

The Towers of Silence, the most stunning formatio. and truly a wonder of the geological world.

The soft entrada sandstone is pure white in color and forms hoodoos that are often topped either by dark sandstone blocks or unusual boulders of purple conglomerate, composed of small pebbles bonded together. 

Left: eroded slope. Right: fluted bedrock.

There are also tons of beautiful rocks in the wash, so that kept us busy!

Page is not known for its mountain biking, indeed there is only one 16 km loop around town. But we had seen pictures from that trail and wanted to check it out. It's like if Sedona trails and Moab trails had a baby trail along the Colorado River. The views are jaw-dropping and the trail is fun and flowy, with some exposure to keep it exciting. 

While the Antelope Canyon parking lot was packed and there was a line of people looking like ants to get to Horseshoe Bend, we only saw one guy jogging the Rimview trail with his dogs and only 5 parties on the hike to the Wahweep hoodoos ON A SATURDAY! Definitely, two of Page area best kept secrets!

There used to be two ways to reach the Wahweap Hoodoos. Now the only way is to hike 9.2-miles roundtrip from Big Water, Utah, which is located about 20 min from Page, AZ (the trailhead is marked on Google Map as Wahweap Hoodoos trailhead). It used to be possible to access them from the southern end of Cottonwood Canyon Road (located near Churchwells, Utah) for a mere 2-mile roundtrip trek, but the BLM closed it because people abused it. It says it is closed to vehicular traffic, but it might be accessible by bike, which would be a great way to shorten the approach to the hoodoos. Here is the info if you want to check it on bike (but it would be even better to check with the Big Water Visitor Center): The non-vehicular approach to the Wahweap Hoodoos is along an undesignated track, rough in places, that forks northeast 1.5 miles from the south end of Cottonwood Canyon Road, which joins US 89 between mileposts 17 and 18. This bends eastwards after a few miles, past several junctions and ends after 10.5 miles right beside Wahweap Creek, from where the hoodoos are a short walk south.

There is a 2 WD parking lot and a 4 WD parking lot 0.8 mile further after the sometimes muddy creekbed. When you arrive at the wash, look for a sign along a rickety fence that reads Wilderness Study Area. After 3 miles of hiking in Wahweap wash (a normally dry, hot and shadeless trek: be prepared with adequate water, sunscreen, and protective clothing), you see the first sets of hoodoos. Make sure to stay in the wash the whole time (sticking to hard mud patches to make your hike less strenuous) and not take the side animal trails or you will have to retrace your steps (even if they seem to lead closer to the hoodoos).

You will come to a big patch of high brush and see the hoodoos behind that. Just make your way through the brush. You have arrived to the first set of hoodoos. Make sure you keep going just around the corner to see the Towers of Silence, rising like white ghosts, which are the most stunning (look for the White Ghost on Google Map, make sure you have your phone with you to locate the formations, it was really helpful). GPS Coordinates for the Towers of Silence 37°09’45” 111°42’45”

We believe that big sections of the wash could be done on a fat bike or even on a mountain bike with wide tires, which would shorten that less interesting part. Of course, the wash structure will change according to the rain, so check before going! There are several very short slot canyon tributaries, on the east side (check topo map).

San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico

That beach was so nice and clean. The only downside were the stray dogs. Traveling to Mexico with an non-neutered dog might not have been our best move... a tad bit stressful.

We loved seeing our girls navigate a new culture and be so open and so eager to discover new things.

That place was great, and by that I mean that (one of) the shower had good pressure and hot water (without any risk of getting an electric shock from naked wires), there is TP in the (clean) bathroom, our palapa's second floor is solid enough to hold the 5 of us. If you've never camped outside the US or Canada, you might find this place pretty run down and trashy. Hey, we have water and electricity on our beachfront site for 25 USD per night and are walking distance from town. That is 5 stars in my Mexican camping book!

Full moon rising over the Sea of Cortez. 5 million stars!

Cooking under our palapa.

Sunrise over the Sea of Cortez.

We went to visit the Valle de Los Gigantes, where the world’s biggest cactuses live. These cactuses are called the Mexican Giant Cardon. Some of these live more than 2000 years and measure over 20 meters! It was a pretty special experience to walk among these true giants. If you ever go, make sure to stop for a chat with Miguel who will warm your heart with his stories and his big Mexican smile.  

After visiting the Valle de Los Gigantes, we drove another hour south to the little village of Puertecitos where a friend told us about some hot springs. The village entrance was a pretty sad sight of slums and old trailers. The place was empty. I guess that most people living there are fishermen who were gone during the day. When we finally found someone to ask about the hot springs, we found out it was only accessible at low tide, 4-5 hours later, which would have meant driving the hour and a half back to our campsite in the dark, so we turned around. 

Some areas are as sad as the road side faded shrines in some of the steep curves along ruta 5. 2008 hit hard here. There are so many abandoned  buildings in different states of construction, big colourful gates announcing resorts that only existed in the minds of overly enthusiastic builders. So many makeshift shelters and a few expat gated communities sprinkled here and there for good measure. 

San Felipe was pretty much what we expected (minus the crazy wind that blew pretty much all day long for 4 days straight and forced is to wear all the clothes we had brought one on top of each other). It's laid back and perfect for a week off. However, there's just so much sitting on the beach, reading in a hammock, playing cards and eating tacos I can do before going crazy (well, maybe not the taco part). 

For a bunch of antsy pants like us, there isn't much to do. No trails to hike or bike (a campground neighbor went for a run and got bitten by stray dogs), no waves to surf, no wall to climb. We walked to town a few times a day, but ended up stuck in the Westy because of the wind for many hours a day. 

My head is full of the pictures I didn't take. The harsh living realities of so many people, the trash everywhere, the striking contrasts between the expat houses and the locals’. It's always disturbing, and I hope I never become insensitive to it. As soon as we crossed into Mexicali, we were in a different world. The honking, the smells, the poverty, people selling stuff at every intersection, from tortillas and neon cotton candy to airplane models and cheap copycat go-pro cameras, Mexicans sellers got you covered. You need an alternator? Ramon is selling some from the back of his pick-up. Dreaming of a fuzzy leopard stirring wheel covers? That guy is coming to your car window with his selection. Guys would show up at our campsite, invariably presenting us with the same fare someone else offered us a few hours priors: *almost gratis* bracelets and hammocks. The weathered down musicians coming to our tables at night in the restaurants, dragging their old amplifiers behind them (everything has to be loud in Mexico, especially the music!)...

As we drove back to the border through the desolate suburbs of Mexicali, I was reminded of a conversation a friend had a long time ago with a Buddhist monk. She was telling him that her brother was dying of cancer while she was living a happy healthy life and how unfair this was. After a few minutes of silence, the monk simply looked at her with his wise eyes and said: Who said it would be fair?

We were dealt a pretty awesome hand while many are struggling pretty hard to get enough food to eat for their family. Life isn’t fair, indeed and traveling is quite humbling.

Lake Tahoe area

Ever since I can remember, Lake Tahoe has always been synonymous of adventure in my head. When I worked in outdoor retail stores, there was always a Tahoe Jacket or aTahoe something... I collected pictures of Caribbean blue beaches with a snowy mountain tops background on my Pinterest boards and kept hoping we could make it there before it got too cold... it was always next year... Finally, we made it (by crossing the border much earlier than usual) and it's beautiful, warm and sunny. We got to ride amazing trails (the Corral trail system in South Tahoe is amazing, don't miss Upper and Lower Corral, Armstrong connector, Sidewinder and for a longer ride, Mr. Toads wild ride). 

JF went for a long run on the Tahoe Rim trail and the girls and I set to go explore Tahoe most beautiful beach at Sand Harbor State Park. After driving for one hour, we found out that we could not get in because we had the dog with us. They would not let us in even if the dog would stay in the Westy and I would just get out to take pictures. Have you ever heard of such a stupid rule? I get that dogs are not allowed on beaches and trails, no problem. But not allowed to enter a state park and stay in the vehicle for 20 minutes??? I was NOT happy. This is the beach I had waited to photograph and visit for 5 + years... Oh and the entrance fee is $12...  So we turned around, very disappointed and headed 6 miles south to Chimney Beach, a free public beach where dogs are allowed. We were not expecting much, but we were sweaty and determined to swim in Tahoe. Well, Chimney Beach was awesome!! You have to walk down a half mile path to the shore where there are tons of little rocky coves you can choose from (you can either go left or right once you get to the bottom of the trail, just keep exploring until you find a private spot you like... if you go left for a bit, you will encounter a nude beach, just so you know!). We went right and found a beautiful crescent beach where we spend a few hours WITH Stout! And as you can see from the pictures, the water was as turquoise as in Sand Harbor. 

Lake Tahoe is very expensive and since we needed gas, groceries, laudry, etc., we decided to stay in Gardnerville, NV, where everything is much cheaper and accessible. We could have camped on the shore of Lake Tahoe for $36/night, but we stayed in a quiet Walmart parking lot in Gardnerville. Not exactly by the lake, but the lower altitude made for warmer nights and we stocked up on groceries before heading down the Sierras where it would take a while to see big grocery stores. There is a Grocery Outlet and a Raley's (great grocery store) 4 miles north from the Walmart in Gardnerville and a great cheap 24 hours Laudromat 6 miles north (Village Laundromat). There is another Walmart where you can spend the night in Carson City, but it's much busier and not as quiet (but there is a Trader Joe's right by and a Costco).

 If you are planning to enjoy the Tahoe activities for more than a few days, it might be a good idea to pick a campsite near the Lake (I'd say between South Tahoe and Sand Harbor State Park, on the Nevada side) and go for a weekly rate. Driving from Gardnerville to the Lake requires you go over passes and it is longer than Google will tell you, especially with a Westfalia with its original engine...

Ruby Beach and South Beach, Olympic Peninsula, WA

South Beach

Trying to take pictures of whales is quite frustrating...

Reflexion of the orange sun from the forest fire smoke on the ocean.

Ruby Beach

Tons of green anemones.

Exploring the tide pools at Ruby Beach

Look at all these sea stars!

Hermit Crab.

Kelp crab

The sea star population was decimated a few years ago by a virus called sea star wasting disease. This sea star is dying. It has lost a limb already, a sure sign of the disease.

The good news is that in the last year, we see lots of baby sea stars, like this tiny purple sea star, which means the population is growing back.

From the Hoh Rainforest, we headed to the Pacific Coast of the Peninsula to Kalaloch Beach. We had made a reservation for an ocean front site there, but the site was too small for our rig and there was only 3G signal which was not good enough for work. The ranger sent us 3 miles down the road to South Beach campground where there was 4G LTE and some open sites. The campground is nicer and more treed at Kalaloch, but South Beach is right on the ocean. It looks more like a big parking lot than a campground, but at $15 per night, we didn't complain! And what was the first thing that we saw once we got off the bus? Grey whales jumping! We had no idea that South Beach is one of their stop on their way back to Baja where they go back to calve and nurse in the warm lagoons. They return in early Spring on their way to arctic feeding ground in Alaska. Somehow, across 4000 miles of ocean, they navigate precisely, on a predictable timetable!

We thought we had lucked out incredibly with our timing... until we found out through Ranger Meagan on the tide pool outing that for the first time this year, 200 whales stayed here all summer... things are changing for sure... She also told us that about 3 weeks ago, she was part of a rescue mission to help a whale that was life stranded on the beach. It took almost 48 hours for the crew to help her back to the water since the tides were not in their favor. They used a a pulley system to turn the whale so she could face the water and finally, it worked! 

The Amaroni is a cousin of the Negroni. Instead of the more in-your-face Campari that might not be love at first taste for many, this is a great introduction to the world of Negroni.
AMARONI
1 oz gin (I used Hendrick's, but use your favorite Negroni Gin, Plymouth is a good choice here)
1 oz Carpano Formula Antica sweet Vermouth
1 oz Mia Amata Amaro (or your favorite amaro, Averna would be a good mild introduction, Ramazotti would be more along the same lines as the Mia Amata).
Orange peel for garnish

Stir with ice for 30 sec and strain on new ice. Garnish with orange peel.

Neah Bay and Cape Flattery, Olympic Peninsula, WA

How fairies are born

Hike to Cape Flattery

View at the tip of Cape Flattery

There are many caves at the Cape.

The beautiful rugged waters of Cape Flattery

Hobuck Beach

Green anemones in the tide pools

From Neah Bay, it is a short 10 minute drive to Cape Flattery, the northwest tip of the Lower 48. The hike to get the to the tip where the Cape is located is only 1.5 mile through a beautiful Coastal Forest. Since Cape Flattery is on the Makah Reservation, you need to get a permit to hike the trail ($10 per vehicle for the year). We got ours at Neah Bay's General Store. 

As for camping in the area, the options are limited. Hobuck RV Resort has 10 full hook-up sites with a seaview (but pretty close together) for $40/night. There is also a field down the road where you can camp for $20/night (access to shower and outhouses, but otherwise dry camping). It might be a good option on the off-season, but since we got there on the Friday before Labor Day, it was a zoo. The only other option was a new RV park called Hide-away RV park (that looked more like an RV storage lot than an campground), but they had full hook-up sites for $30/night (and a few dry camping spots for $20) and it was a short 100 yard walk to the beach. It was much more quiet there.

Keep in mind that the drive to Neah Bay from Port Angeles is pretty twisty and bumpy (frost heaves), so lock your cupboards and secure everything and take what you need for motion sickness. Take your time and enjoy the scenery!

There is a beautiful hike that can be done as an overnighter (you sleep on the beach!) to Shi-shi Beach or as a long day hike (it is part of the Olympic National Park). With Mara being injured (and with the amount of cars along the trailhead), we decided to keep it for another time.

Also, on a different note, I will publish cocktails here in some posts (you can find them in the cocktails category), but I won't publish them all (it's a traveling blog after all!), but you can access them all either on Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag redbusdrinks (#redbusdrinks). My friend Catheline is translating many of them and publishing them on her beautiful site (in French only).

My Manhattan

2 oz rye whiskey
3/4 oz @oddsocietyspirits Italian bittersweet Vermouth
1/2 oz rosemary honey syrup
3 dashes orange sage bitters

Stir with ice and strain. Garnish with a rosemary sprig.

Boya Lake Provincial Park, BC, the Bora Bora of the North!

I mean, look how clear this water is!!

Picking Saskatoon berries on the trail to the beaver dam.

Isn't that place spectacular or what? OK, there are some leeches in the lake and lots of deer flies, but hey, Bora Bora has dengue mosquitoes and sting rays, so we're even. 

For more info on that campground, read my review on Campendium. Make sure your fridge is full of groceries and your tank full of water, because this is quite far off in the boonies. 

Perdido Key and Big Lagoon State Park, Florida

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Our morning commute...

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“The loneliness you get by the sea is personal and alive. It doesn't subdue you and make you feel abject. It's stimulating loneliness.” 
-Anne Morrow Lindbergh

“If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”
-Antoine de Saint-Exupery

When we found out our Wisconsin friends were heading to the Florida Panhandle for Thanksgiving week, we decided to join them. It was a *slight* detour from our original itinerary (which was to head down diagonally from Wisconsin to AZ), but spending more time with them on those awesome beaches was worth it! White sugar beaches and turquoise water? Hell yeah!

This area of Florida is one of its best kept secrets. The beaches are wild and empty, it's not too hot or too damp for us Northerners and the state parks campgrounds are more affordable. What's not to like about it! We liked Big Lagoon SP, but we would have prefered a campsite closer to the open sea, like Fort Pickens SP (where you need to reserve quite a while in advance). We also loved St. Joseph Peninsula SP, but there is no cell signal there. The big downside is that dogs are not allowed on the beaches pretty much everywhere. We either had to drive 45 min to Pensacola Dog Beach (a really nice beach) or drive 15 min to a dog park on the lagoon side of Perdido Key. 

If you go to this area and do not need Internet signal and want to tent camp, go camp to Cayo Costa State Park, it's on an island only accessible by boat (when the address is 4 Nautical Miles West of Pine Island, you know it's gonna be quiet!).
 

Okanagan Lake Provincial Park, British Columbia

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Crampy feet from the freezing cold water! They still played for a good hour with that log together! It was a beautiful sight to see!

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My mom flew in from Quebec to spend 2 weeks with us before we drive north to the Yukon for the summer. The Okanagan Valley is the perfect place to camp at this time of year. We have enjoyed the beautiful Okanagan Lake and did a beautiful short hike at Hardy Falls. JF found an awesome used Santa Cruz (Juliana) mountain bike for Aïsha (hers was getting small so it went to Mathilde) and she was zooming around the campground on it at every hour of the day (when she was not reading her new books that Mamie brought her or perched high up on a tree). It was the perfect setting to celebrate Mother's Day together. We had long conversations in the morning sun and around the bonfire at night. I am so fortunate to have such a fun, easy-going open-minded mom!

La Jolla Cove

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Mara and I kayaking in La Jolla

La Jolla Cove is San Diego’s most desirable spot for kayaking, snorkeling and diving. The water is calm and ecologically protected, providing a safe home for colorful garibaldi, yellowtail, rays and even leopard sharks. The harbor seals came very close to the people swimming on the beach. There was a little boy that even felt it was a little too close for comfort!

Actually, I wasn’t surprise to read that the small number of sea lions that swimmers used to enjoy watching frolic some years ago has turned into a colony of as many as 300, ranging in size from 100-pound females to 900-pound bulls, which have been mounting, biting, charging, and baring their teeth at swimmers and beachgoers.

Lately, the increasingly territorial animals have started blocking swimmers from getting into the water, forcing people to walk back and forth on the beach until they can find a safe opening to enter the ocean… Of course, people are exacerbating the problem by tossing fish, potato chips, and leftover food off the cliffs and over the sides of boats. While we were there, we saw a few people jump over the fence to take pictures of the seals and sea lions.

The other big disadvantage is the foul odor of sea lion and bird poop. And I mean, cover-your-face-with-your-t-shirt-or-scarf-exclaiming-OMG-this-is-awful foul. It is actually driving locals and tourists away from area restaurants and hotels.

La Jolla

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Some days, I forget how happy I am. Today, I remembered.

Kayaking in the waves

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We sure made the best of that last day at the beach with our friends!

There were pelicans skimming over the water, a big puddle that became a lake for the little ones, hand-clapping games, Christmas songs thaught in French and English and a bonfire under the full moon by the ocean.

It was hard to leave this wonderful camping spot (Faria County Park, near Ventura, CA) and say goodbye to some of our friends who were continuing their adventures on different routes. 

Fort Bragg's Glass Beach

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In the early 20th century, Fort Bragg residents threw their household garbage over cliffs onto what is now Glass Beach, discarding glass, appliances, and even vehicles. Locals referred to it as "The Dumps".

The area was closed in 1967. Various cleanup programs were undertaken through the years to correct the damage. Over the next several decades the pounding waves cleaned the beach, by breaking down everything but glass and pottery and tumbling those into the small, smooth, colored pieces that cover Glass Beach.

The sense of purpose

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I used to be so busy. I was, like many, sucked by the glorification of busy. It never was a 9-t-o-5-at-the-office-breaking-a-sweat-at-the-gym-before-soccer-practice kind of busy, but a make-everything-from-scratch-and-tell-wonderful-stories-by-memories-to-the-kids-with-homemade-needle-felted-puppets-while-they-wear-handnits-from-wool-I-dyed-with-plants-I-grew kind of busy. It was the good kind of busy, right? The one that is full of satisfaction. The one that gave me a sense of purpose.

But it still was busy. I still derived my sense of contentment from everything I made happened every day.

So, I aimed for less busy. And the less busy I became, the more bored I became. It’s like I didn’t know how to be happy without being productive. Like my sense of purpose was directly related to my level of busyness, to the end product of that busyness…

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As I wrote when we lived in Costa Rica, I realize how much boredom is a luxury in our society and that many people haven’t experienced boredom since they were 12 or 13 yo. But boredom is uncomfortable and unpleasant…

“If boredom is simply a lack of stimulation and the unpleasant feelings that go with it, then the antidote is not finding a source of entertainment – it’s finding motivation to brush away those unpleasant feelings.”– Tsh Oxenreider, Notes from a Blue Bike

When I told my dad I wanted to travel full-time so we could live an epic, exciting life, his answer was baffling. He said: “Your life on the road will become your new ordinary and it won’t be as exciting all the time. Life cannot be exciting all the time. 90 % of life is made of ordinary little things. One has to learn to live the ordinary.”

I thought he didn’t understand. Of course, life could be amazing and fascinating most of the time!

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The more we travel, the more I understand what he meant. Our days are filled with beautiful moments together discovering new places, but a big chunk of it is still everyday life stuff. Life cannot be (and probably should not be) exciting all the time. But to accept that, I need to learn to live with moments of boredom, of non-entertainment, of ordinary little events. I am not used to be idle, to not be stimulated by conversations or activities, to not feel productive and useful most of the time. 

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I know I am blessed to have the space to wonder what to do with parts of my days. I have no more to-do lists to check, no agenda or calendar to fill, no appointments or classes to drive to. I wanted a low-stress life and I truly created it, but I realize that there is a fine line between too little and too much. I know I have to learn to live with less full days and still find this exciting. To learn to not be productive and feel worthy and good about it.

“If entertainment isn’t our right, does this mean our days have to be drudgery? Well, sometimes, yes. Life has never promised us non-stop parties and parades. But our everyday rituals can also become our entertainment, if we let them. (…) As an adult, my struggle isn’t recognizing the value behind the little things – it’s intentionally setting aside time, energy, and focus to breathe them in, deeply. Sucking the marrow out of life requires that I sit down in the silence, un-entertained.

And then, remarkably, the marrow-sucking becomes the entertainment I crave.” – Tsh Oxenreider, Notes from a Blue Bike

**The pictures have been taken at Lost Creek State Park, OR

The beautiful wild sea at Ecola State Park, OR

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"People say that what we’re seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. What we seek is an experience of being alive." –Joseph Campbell

We had been dreaming of the sea for months and were all looking forward to hitting the Oregon coast.  Ecola State Park was our first stop and it didn't disapoint! The view from the cliffs is totally breathtaking and the beach (Indian Point) is nothing short of amazing, reminding us of our favorite secluded Costa Rican beach. The girls played for more than a half hour in the freezing cold water, among fully suited surfers!

*Note that this park is a day use area only (no camping) and the beautiful drive that leads to it is not suitable for an RV or larger trailer.