My wife booked us on glamping trip in nearby Aldergrove as a kind of birthday party for me. If you’re not familiar with the term, “Glamping” is glamourous camping (we got our first taste of it back in Tennessee) – it takes the roughest parts (and work) out of camping. Food provided, nicer beds, etc.
The site was part of a Blueberry farming company’s land, and that made the entrance a little hard to find. The welcome email did warn us to ignore Google maps, in fairness. Once we had driven in, we were given a good briefing as to what we could expect. There was an itinerary of activities, but the timing was somewhat loose so it didn’t feel like a we were doing a drill, nor would we wonder what to do with ourselves. Snacks were plentiful.
Our first activity was to feed the horses. You could use a scoop or your bare hands. One horse, Princess, was more demanding than the others, and would stomp her hoof demanding to be fed. We also got a chance to feed the Alpaca, which was a bit more interesting as they are somewhat shy, and we let them get acclimatised to our presence while we fed some sheep.
We got to sample some of the local honey and blueberry products after that, and we brought home an espresso honey that I’ve enjoyed at least once at home since the weekend.
We also got to try a little archery and an air rifle. While the air rifle was an unexpected bonus, I was a little disappointed by the archery since there were only 2 bows which didn’t provide much variety.
Dinner was Korean BBQ, where you prepare meat and vegetables on a hub-cap like grill. There was great beef and pork-belly available as well as barbecue sauce you could add to spice it up. It was a little tricky to manage utensils, chopsticks, raw meat vs cooked meat, etc. on the small, low-slung tables, but it was a hearty meal for a camping trip.
For desert, what else but a marshmallow roast? We slept very comfortably in our tent. When I got up to use the washroom in the wee hours of the morning, I found it to be a long walk and was surprised at how many rabbits I saw snacking on whatever leftovers had fallen into the grass. Unfortunately, it was hard to get back to sleep with nearby highway noise and beeping trucks backing up (even at that hour!).
The tents were provided with nightmasks and earplugs, which were a good idea because the field was bright with fog diffusing the sunlight everywhere as soon as dawn arrived. Our agenda announced breakfast at 8:30, and it was delicious with eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage and noodles!
Before leaving, the staff airdropped us various photos they had shot over the course of our stay. It was a nice, low-effort adventure for our family and a great way to celebrate a birthday.