our Vancouver summer: part two

This is the second of my little two-part recap of our time home in Canada this summer. If you missed part one, you can read it here. 

Today I wanted to share with you a few of the places we had the chance to travel to during our time away. Mostly, our time was spent in Vancouver and the surrounding areas, with day trips here and there but we did get a chance to explore the coast as well. We went from Northern BC (almost Alaska) all the way to central Oregon, with a few stops in between. Today I wanted to share just a few final photos of our time away this summer, as these were some of the best memories we made:

Sunshine Coast, BC

First off, we spent a weekend away up on the Sunshine Coast. When I look back over our summer this weekend stands out as one of the highlights for me. I honestly can't think about it too much without getting teary, haha. We stayed for a long weekend with family right on the beach and our time together was made up of all the best things in life. Swimming in the warm Pacific, card games late into the night, heartfelt conversations, delicious food, and plenty of coffee. We even stopped in at a local yarn shop, where we picked out yarn for new projects that were cast on right away. On our last evening there, while eating dinner around that table, I looked up to see a whale swimming past. We followed him down the coast and he hung around for almost an hour. Such an amazing experience, and one that just added to an already full weekend. 

Haida Gwaii, Northern BC

I mentioned this briefly before, but we also had the chance to visit some more family up in Haida Gwaii, a group of islands off the coast of Northern BC. Our time there was filled with beach exploring, wildlife sightings (mostly seals and eagles), and sleeping outside under the stars. We even got a quick glimpse of the Northern Lights! As I've mentioned, one of the highlights of the trip for me was learning to spin from my aunt. It's these moments- sometimes brief and simple, that make up some of the best memories: walking to the coffee shop with my parents, camping with my brother for the first time in years or eating homemade peach pie on the beach. This is one of the most wild and beautiful corners of the world I've yet seen, and we were so lucky to have the chance to visit again.  

Oregon Coast, Oregon USA

One final trip we took was down to Oregon with some of my family. While we did make a quick stop in Portland (to eat breakfast at a diner and go to Yarnia, of course...) it was the coast that really captured our hearts. We camped two nights in the Cape Lookout/ Tillamook area and then drove south for one last night. Half of us were biking, and the other half were playing road crew- we drove down with the supplies and set up camp. It was a fun few days of exploring and enjoying time together. A really great end to our trip for sure. 

So, that's our summer in a (very very tiny) nutshell. It's hard to describe exactly how wonderful it is to return home after so long, but I hope these few photos and words provide a humble glimpse into our time there.