What a whirlwind of a trip! After 10 days away from Nelson we are back to the *smoky* mountains.

We had a few rough days of course, struggling with naps on-the-go and too much car seat time, but we prevailed and learned a few good lessons along the way.

We left last Wednesday, with a full day of travelling ahead of us. We met the most generous and kind strangers along the way who wanted to help with my bags and make Freya smile.

Thursday and Friday were nice relaxing days for us. We went to the park around the corner from Jeff & Erika’s house, had some good solid naps and met up with my old friend Darren and his wife for a dog walk. On Friday night we went to Gladstone’s Brewery for dinner and I had my favorite fungi pizza. Both nights were topped with boxed wine and long overdue hang time with one of my bests.

On Saturday, Erika, Freya and I ventured south to Sooke to visit our friends from Nelson who had just moved to the island. Kevin and Kris purchased a beautiful west coast modern style home that backs onto a little piece of perfectly-wild space. We visited a little town named Shirley for lunch (and yummy cinnamon twists!! Mmm), complete with a rocky coastline and picture perfect lighthouse.

After lunch we stopped by Tugwell Creek Honey Farm and Meadery to taste their honey wines and take a tour around the beautiful property.  During the summer they have 60,000 bees that forage over a 20km radius of the farm, pollinating the berries and fruit trees that are used to make the wines. Before dinner, Kevin and Kris took us on a nice walk to the spit and showed us a bit of their neighborhood.

Dinner (of course) was incredible; a simple and delicious chicken & veggie bowl that still has me drooling. We celebrated Kevin and Kris’s new home with a bottle of champagne on the back porch and then moved inside to enjoy the most amazing evening light through the huge front windows and stained-glass front door.

On Sunday we traveled inland to visit Merridale Ciderworks and the Tea Farm in the Cowichan Valley. We had a delicious lunch and flights of cider, followed by iced lavender black tea and cake at the Tea Farm.

After the long drive home, Monday was a perfectly timed rest day. We went for a lovely river dip then relaxed in Erika and Jeff’s beautiful backyard all evening.

 

More to come later this week! Freya is in daycare on Wednesday morning so I plan to enjoy a quiet morning working on Part II.