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 tent
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.
We loved our previous trip to Japan so much, we decided to go back for more (and yet also something different) again in 2025.
Arrival – Kyoto
We hadn’t had a lot of time to pre-plan our entire agenda, so we chose the Kyoto Granbell Hotel again as for our first night. We had taken an Haruka trian from the Osaka Kansai International Airport to Kyoto, and immediately crashed (me, my wife, and the Lightning Kid) in a large bed.
I love starting my mornings with an Onsen (public bath) to feel relaxed. We started our day with an exploration of the Maruyama Shrine. We tried to be respectful of the space, and ended the tour with a quiz conducted by a local group who were promoting the concept of ‘touristship’ – a blend of friendship and tourism.
We went for lunch to a pancake which was delicious and decadent. After that, I “pig cafe” where you could pet pigs. Mine tried to bite me so I didn’t love that experience too much.
The next day we visited a Samurai/Ninja museum.
We also enjoyed a couples spa with stretching, scalp and regular massage.
Our final day in Kyoto had a lesson in Japanese archery. In Japanese archery (Kyodo or Kyujutsu) there are five steps:
1. face perpendicular to the target
2. turn head toward the target
3. raise the bow overhead (with one hand on the bow, the other on the string)
4. lower the bow into drawing position
5. release
The instructor kept telling me to view the target from “outside” with my viewpoint left of the bow rather than looking down the shaft. I found that hard, and my best shots had me seemingly aiming well below and to the left of the target.
Sapporo
We flew to the Northern Island of Japan, Hokkaido, to see parts of Japan we hadn’t experienced before and to escape the heat. We found Peach Air to be a low-cost no-frills airline that still worked efficiently and comfortably.
We visited a Chocolate Factory called Shiroi Koibito Park, their specialty is a cookie layered with White Chocolate. The tour had a whimsical fantasy element not unlike Willy Wonka, and the Lightning Kid got to take a baking lesson.
Getting cleaned up to go into the kitchen
While one of Hokkaido’s tourist draws are Lavender fields in Furano, it felt wasteful to take a bus tour way out of town just to look at flowers – we found out about a field more local to Sapporo that had a lovely view of the city, and we even got a free ride to the top of the hill from some kind strangers who didn’t think walking was plausible (I think we’d have been fine – after all, we live near the Rockies).
Lavender Fields
The next day we had a longer excursion planned. We took a bus tour to the Shakotan Penninsula, we had some small stops in Yoichi in the beginning and the Chocolate Factory again on the way back, but the real highlight was Cape Kamui – the ocean lookouts feature the ‘Shakotan Blue’ of the ocean. See below.
Shakotan Blue – From Cape Kamui and the Shakotan Penninsula
The next day we left Sapporo to travel to Hakodate, but we made a pit stop in Noboribetsu and the ‘Hell Valley’. Natural Sulphur springs gave rise to demons and other underworld influences. There are many statues to illustrate what kinds of demons you might encounter, and the Sulphur lake was other-worldly.
Demon Father & SonA foot washing station A trivia question on the trail
After a long hike around the crater, we stopped into the oldest public Onsen in a town full of them (the natural springs make for a great bathing experience). We got to experience waterfalls, sulfur baths, aluminum baths, sodium baths, some hot, some cold and altogether had a great period of relaxation.
In Hakodate, we enjoyed a sea urchin lunch, a trip to the Red Brick district shopping area (with a pit-stop to play with Lego), a Harbour Cruise and a Cable Car to the top of Mount Hakodate.
LegoView from Mt Hakodate
Our quest to find a beach in Hakodate the next day came up somewhat empty, as the signs said swimming was prohibited; but at least we got a massage in on our last day.
The next day was devoted to traveling back to Osaka to prepare for our flight home. Though leaving Japan was sad, we had an exciting summer to look forward to.
Rather than do a traditional Thanksgiving this year, we opted for a weekend getaway – only starting Saturday night. We drove to Horseshoe Bay Ferry terminal, and crossed to the Sunshine Coast (Langdale) terminal, and from there, up to Rockwater Resort in Secret Cove (Halfmoon Bay).
We arrived late on Saturday night to a simple room; it wasn’t until morning that we realized what a stunning view we had. A great boardwalk lines the property, and there are several other great vantage points.
We had a lovely breakfast, but if we had been able to hold out till 11 AM, we could have had a wider selection of savoury fare. Later, we took a dip in the water, but no one seemed brave enough to try the cold ocean water. In fact, we travelled to the nearby town of Sechelt, and took advantage of the Aquatic Centre there. There was supposed to be a water slide, but we still managed to enjoy other features like the diving board, sauna and lazy river.
We had a great lunch at a restaurant called El Segundo – the menu was suggestive of fusion between latin American and Asian cuisines. After returning to the resort, we found a nearby Geocache, and my wife got a massage. I also took a quick dip in the ocean water, just to be able to say I did it.
For dinner, we returned to Sechelt to go to a restaurant called Buccaneers (the resort restaurant dinner seemed like it would be crowded), then we capped off our evening with a romantic couples walk on the same boardwalk, but lit for night-time.
Unfortunately, the eco marine tour I had planned for Monday was accidentally booked for Sunday, meaning we had missed our slot. I also hadn’t reserved our ferry ride back, so between worrying about how to get home and the incoming rain, we opted to leave the resort after breakfast. We got on the second ferry we could, after missing the first one by only one car slot. Waiting for the next ferry could have been worse as we did manage to spot a dolphin at one point. We also ensured that we had our final dinner in Langley at one of our favourite restaurants, Brodeur’s Bistro, which has a blend of Cajun and French Canadian food.
If we manage to find our way back to the Sunshine Coast, I hope we can fit in some sea kayaking, mountain biking or even just hiking.
With my elder son travelling to Japan with his competitive gymnastics team and Team BC, we decided to go to Japan too. That way, if something happened, we could be close at hand to support. I’m happy to report that all went smoothly and we did not meet him in person once during the entire trip (9 days) so we were free to have our own adventures with the Lightning Kid.
Trains and Transportation
Tokyo has 2 airports, Narita and Haneda. We flew in with All Nippon Airlines from Vancouver to Haneda. Though we landed in the evening, we opted to try and get out of Tokyo right away to our first destination, Nagoya. My wife did a lot of research through Japan Travel groups on Facebook, and it was funny how people get used to using Japanese names for things, especially trains when those names don’t mean anything to you if you haven’t been to Japan. For example, we took the Keikyu line to Shinagawa, and a Shinkansen straight to Nagoya. The Keikyu is a commuter train from the airport (run by Keikyu Railways), Shinagawa is a station that serves the Shinkansen – Bullet Trains! After about 3-4 days we started using these names in casual conversation too. Bullet Trains can go up to 320 km/h, and if you take a Nazomi service, it will make fewer stops (express) and definitely hit those speeds. We rode these between Tokyo and Nagoya, between Nagoya and Osaka, and from Kyoto to Tokyo. Every Shinkansen ride seemed to need 2 tickets per person, which we found odd. It seemed like the best way to get tickets right was to use the counters staffed with people, not use ticket machines.
Bullet Train (Shinkansen) arriving at the station
We tried to visit a Dinosaur Park on the outskirts of Nagoya and had to use a local train. Unfortunately, we got on an express train which overshot our station and forced us to backtrack – we were lucky that a local woman with good English skills overheard our dilemma and set us straight. The dinosaur park wasn’t even open, but we had such beautiful weather that just taking the Lightning Kid to a playground was a pleasant experience.
The other kinds of trains we made use of were subways and monorails. I usually found I could buy a ticket from a machine that had an English interface (when selected) by picking the line and station I wanted to get off at. It was important to hang onto tickets as you can’t exit a station without running your ticket through a machine. One time I made a mistake, and the gates blocked us until I could correct our fare with the ticket taker. Getting around by subway was very convenient; there were a few times it was very crowded but having such a cheap way to get around was a blessing.
Also worth mentioning in this section was that on 2 occasions we shipped our luggage to the next destination/hotel rather than trying to lug it through train stations and onto the train. This is common practice in Japan apparently, and worked well (keep your receipt/paperwork!); you might have to repack a few things so that you have the most important items upon arrival as it can take an extra day for your stuff to arrive.
Onsen
Some of my favourite things on the trip were Onsen – public baths that we had access to in both hotels and ryokan (traditional hotels with smaller rooms where you can sleep on mats on the floor). Onsen have set rules – most notably you go nude, though they are separated by gender. The tubs were wide and shallow with a single step down the bottom. You could dip your feet in first, sit on the first step to put your lower body in the water or get your whole body in, provided you could recline in a semi-lying position.
Some Onsen had saunas, some had cold plunges, but they all had little sit-down shower stations for washing before and after. Each station had a bowl that you could fill and dowse yourself with. Bowls were also next to each tub (hot or cold, indoor or outdoor).
I brought the Lightning Kid with me, and I found that children are generally welcome to come, with the understanding that the Onsen is a quiet space for relaxation. An interesting note is that people with tattoos are often not allowed in Onsen. Luckily, that didn’t apply to us.
Accommodations
We stayed in The Nikko Style Hotel in Nagoya. It definitely had a stylish vibe, with a lounge decorated with spacious bookshelves. The room was definitely one of the more spacious ones we had in Japan, though we had to share one bed. We did find it odd that we had to book the Lightning Kid as an adult at age 12 in a lot of venues, though obviously, we weren’t going to get him a separate room. We found king-size beds generally big enough for 3.
This room had another 2 twin beds, but we thought it would be more fun to sleep like this.
In Osaka, we stayed in a Ryokan – a more traditional form of lodging. The room was mostly one living/eating room with only a table and mattresses that had to be fetched from a closet. The Ryokan included dinner and breakfast with traditional set meals and the Onsen in the basement was very artfully decorated.
Our Kyoto stay was at the Granbell Hotel – Kyoto; which had a great speakeasy-type subterranean entrance and a nice bar and Onsen. It was very close to the train station, though a lot of nearby restaurants were closed early.
Our stay in Tokyo was at the Candeo in Roppongi. This hotel had a rooftop Onsen and provided loungewear that we could wear to and from the baths. It took me a day or so to realize that the bathroom floor was sloped and thus I sometimes felt a little disoriented going in there.
Sights and Attractions
In Nagoya, we visited a science museum – the Lightning Kid went to a playground while my wife waited in line for entrance tickets and engaged in play with a Japanese boy. The museum had dinosaur exhibits, as well as sections devoted to biology, physics and technology.
Later that day we visited Nagoya castle and were treated to a live samurai and ninja show.
The castle was quite scenic with its gardens and moats, especially with fall colours and bright sunlight.
There was also an inner palace within the castle/fortress grounds. The tour of this was rather crowded, but seeing the interior artwork and design was interesting.
We tried to find and go to a Dinosaur Park on our second day in Nagoya, but it ended up being closed so we spent some time in the sunshine at a playground.
On our first day in Osaka, we got a Ninja lesson at a Ninja Cafe. We got to don ninja costumes (with belt and headband), then got lessons in using shuriken (throwing stars), a blow gun, and finally some sword techniques. We also got lunch and drinks in the package, it was tremendous fun for the whole family.
Our afternoon in Osaka was spent exploring the Shinsaibashi Shopping area and Dotonburi Street (fun fact: on the flight home I watched John Wick Chapter 4 and was able to identify Osaka based on sights from Dotonburi Street before Osaka was identified by the movie characters).
At night, we went to an art installation created by a collective known as teamLab that they set up in the Botanical Gardens. From the website: “teamLab’s art project Digitized Nature explores how nature can become art. The concept of the project is that non-material digital technology can turn nature into art without harming it.”
Some Images from teamLab Botanical Garden Osaka
We visited a place called Spa World that had Onsen and other bathing options from around the world, but navigating their ticket system with regards to the built-in waterpark with waterslides proved to be too much for us to really enjoy any relaxation.
For our day trip in Kyoto, we ventured to Aramayashi, which had multiple attractions in a mountain village setting – first off was a Monkey Park! There was some climbing involved, and we saw a few of the native Macaques (the only species of monkey in Japan) on the way up, but that was no kind of preparation for the number of monkeys we’d find ourselves surrounded by at the summit! There were strict rules about engaging with the monkeys – avoid prolonged eye contact, hide any food you have on your person, and keep your distance.
In Tokyo, we started by fulfilling a promise to the Lightning Kid that we would rent a dog and take it for a walk. We chose Sumire from Dog Heart, who was a gorgeous golden retriever, but she had her own ideas about how far she wanted to walk so it was a bit of a struggle; I ended up deferring to her ‘local expertise’… we ended up also paying to have an extra half hour with the smaller dogs in the pen. There were miniature French poodles and a beagle among other breeds of dogs and some couldn’t wait to jump in your lap and be petted.
Later the same day we made our way to Harajuku, but those adventures are culinary in nature, so you’ll have to see the next section! We’ve always enjoyed seeing cities from the water, so we found a small river cruise we could take that ended at the Odaiba Marine Park.
There was a beach and playground at Odaiba, as well as a mall and a replica Statue of Liberty. We did some shopping but did not visit the animal cafe which had otters, toucans and capybaras.
Food
Due to a late arrival on our first night in Nagoya, our first meal in Japan was food from a convenience store on one of the train station platforms: Pringles, sandwiches, waffles and Pocky (my fave!). The Nikko Style hotel had options of western breakfast (french toast or omelette-based platters) or a Japanese breakfast. It wouldn’t be the last time I had to find a way to like fish in the morning…
Japanse style breakfast at Nikko Style Hotel.
That evening we made a point of trying to find a Gyoza (dumpling) based restaurant and lucked out thanks to some recommendations from the hotel staff. We actually sat with a Japanese family and made friends using broken English and even more limited Japanese. The Lightning Kid even tried a fermented drink called Calpis.
Breakfast and dinners in Osaka (at the ryokan) were set meals – no a la carte. Our first dinner was 5 different courses and despite a written description, we often didn’t know how close we were to being finished. Our breakfast involved poached eggs, and tofu and grilling our own fish over an open flame.
There were two occasions, the first in Aramayashi (a beautiful mountain village outside Kyoto) where we had to navigate a different eating experience. You purchased tickets for the food you wanted from a machine, then handed them to a server from your table – the food is still brought to you at the table when it is ready, but the aisles stay clearer of servers this way. It was difficult to gather an entire order for 3 people before starting to press buttons and pump coins into the machine. Once we ate Udon dishes this way, the other time Ramen.
Ordering food from a machine in a restaurant.
The Ninja cafe where we got our ninja lessons had passable food, but nothing special – my meal was a curry.
Dotonburi street is a marvel of food, but we actually stuck to eating meals at restaurants rather than grabbing random eats. We may have to correct that if we visit again in the future!
Dotonburi St in Osaka
We tried to find a Tonkatsu (fried pork cutlets with a BBQ sauce) restaurant in the Harajuku district, but Google led us to a place that was closed. We wound up wandering around till we found a restaurant with Italian cuisine! It still had a Japanese spin on the pasta dishes and we found it to be delicious. Unfortunately I didn’t record the name of it and my Google Timeline wasn’t any help tracking it down. The other thing we found in Harajuku was a “candy factory” that specialized in Cotton Candy…. look at the size of those things.
Exploring the different types of Japanese food remains an incomplete quest; I’d like to get to know Ramen better and maybe some Izakaya…
Conclusion
I love Japan! In the period leading up to our trip, I didn’t have a lot of time to get invested in a detailed itinerary, so I just wanted to know that I would be able to relax and get a taste of what the country was like – and all my expectations were exceeded.
I composed this list before our flight, but I’m publishing it after our return so you’ll see some pics and updates on how it went down.
Very shortly I’ll be flying to Germany for a month or so. It’s been 3 years since I’ve been.
1: Beer I’ll just get that one out of the way first. I like German beer.
2: Spaghetti Ice Cream Invented by an Italian in my father’s hometown – I don’t think I’ve ever seen it anywhere in North America.
This one was a little too big even for me.
3: Strengthening My German Language Skills I’ll get to work off the rust. Even better, the kids both really improved their spoken German. It was thrilling to see them communicate with locals and their grandmothers in German.
4: Commuting by Bicycle We don’t have a car there so bikes will be a significant mode of transportation. I rode at least 16km a day. The kids rode to their summer camp (on an island) by bike every day. I even got my wife a bike for her birthday.
5: Riding the double-decker bus into town
I think the double-decker buses were decommissioned. This was pretty disappointing.
6: Curry Wurst A Berlin specialty. A bratwurst with curry powder. Also, french fries with both ketchup and mayonnaise.
7: Free Range Kids From less ‘sanitized’ playgrounds to a largely unstructured summer camp, I’m hopeful the boys can flex their independence muscles a bit. They spent a night on the island in a tent, and went to the bakery to get us fresh buns for breakfast every morning. They rode the bus home from town alone too.
8: Fresh Water Swimming A river and a lake are within short walking distance
A Stork on the Dock
9: Berlin Sightseeing We might not get that much of this done, but we’ll see. We got into downtown Berlin (Kurfürstendamm) for Sushiand a bit of a walking tour. We also did our usual river cruise
10: Summer Festivals Germans celebrate the summer a lot like other countries in the Western world.
This was taken at the Havelfest in Tegel.
Overall another successful Germany trip. I worked remotely for most of the visit, and I may share some thoughts on the ‘Laptop Lifestyle’ in a future post.
I’ve been spending a few minutes each day over on NotePD. It’s a website dedicated toward capturing Idea Lists – the principle is that you dedicate yourself to coming up with 10 new ideas a day. They might not be good ideas, but by making a daily practice of it, your ‘creative muscles’ get their exercise. I really enjoy it, and when I did a Clifton Strengths Finder test, ‘Ideation’ came up as one of my top 5, so it makes sense that I would enjoy that sort of thing.
Before the Labour Day weekend of 2021, we pulled the trigger on our move to British Columbia. I had driven from Toronto to Calgary once, but I didn’t think I could re-create the same route and timing with the kids. Using Google Maps shows that crossing the country is accomplished the quickest with crossing the US border, but COVID-19 testing requirements ruined that idea. So we left early in the morning from Mississauga with a fairly unambitious goal of making it to Sault Ste Marie (the Canadian one – there’s one on the Michigan side too!).
Before I get into the journey, I should mention our packing. Obviously, we couldn’t fit everything we owned into my Kia Sportage, but a Thule rooftop carrier and trailer hitch bike carrier made it feasible that we could have a bit of life when we got there. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get my wife’s bike onto the rack due to its shape; it’s a ladies-style leisure bike and doesn’t have the normal triangular frame that the rack needed. The upside is I got to bring 2 bikes, my Trek hard-tail and Sable. The drive into Northern Ontario, was part familiar (maybe till around Sudbury), then got new and novel.
Photo actually taken in Sault-Ste-Marie, but it shows how we were kitted out.
We stayed in a Holiday Inn and ate at Montana’s.
The next day’s driving was a tricky one – we selected Dryden as our destination; Thunder Bay wasn’t far enough, Kenora was too far. Thanks to stopping in White River for the Winnie the Pooh monument (and a job interview over the phone), we were driving through lonely Northern Ontario roads in the dark and rain, which was a little white-knuckle for my tastes.
2 days just to get out of Ontario! The next day took us clear through Manitoba with a stop at a Winnipeg McDonalds’. In Regina we had a nice evening of Sushi and Steak at an Earls’.
Sample of the kind of scenery the prairies provide
Now we knew we were closing in on our new home. The next day we spent some time getting last-minute items for school including socks and pants. We stopped for lunch in Medicine Hat, but had something special planned for the evening – we would be staying at the Canmore Inn. Canmore is a tourist town for sure but was the better option (compared to Banff) going into a long-weekend COVID or not. The kids loved the waterslide and pool and it was a welcome change from being cooped up in the car for 3 days. Lucky for us, the Lightning Kid had a swimming cast on. Did I not mention he had a broken ankle?
Here’s a video to get you caught up!
From Canmore, we got to drive through the mountains, and start really savouring the scenery.
The cell service in the mountains was surprisingly poor, given that we were on the Trans-Canada highway, and we had been forewarned that forest fires were still active. Though there was nothing dangerous to us, we could smell smoke throughout our drive and we saw a helicopter dump extinguishing chemicals on a small fire.
We arrived at our temporary digs in Langley in the late afternoon. The kids attend school in Abbotsford, and Shark Boy is back to competitive gymnastics training in an actual gym. We’ve moved around the Fraser Valley a bit, but we’re settled in nicely here. More BC adventure reports coming!
This post is another throwback to coping with the pandemic and lockdown. Ontario had nothing going on in terms of camps or activities, or at least not when you could plan for the summer, and the kids were long overdue for someadventure, and the adults needed their alone-time.
We had researched FlipFest and its sister event NinjaFest; a competitive gymnastics, and obstacle course/ninja warrior camp respectively, that are held in Crossville, Tennessee. We enrolled the kids for mid-July and plotted how to get there. The land border was closed into the US, while flights back into Canada had their passengers diverted into Quarantine hotels (which could only serve to help spread the virus by concentrating at-risk travellers into small spaces), so the workaround was to fly there and drive back.
The Drive Down
My car was shipped across the border from Niagara Falls, Canada to Niagara, NY, and we flew on 2 helicopters to meet it.
Each flight was only 7-8 minutes long, but the chopper could only seat 3, so we needed 2 flights. The car left on a truck ahead of our scheduled flights. After clearing customs, we hopped into the car and drove till we got hungry in Erie, PA, and had some pizza for lunch.
Then we drove on to Cleveland West- I booked mostly Holiday Inn Express and Suites on this trip since I’m an IHG rewards member. Unfortunately, the pool at this hotel was under repair/maintenance of some kind, so there was no fun reward for the kids being patient in the car. Instead, we found a SkyZone Trampoline Park. We found a nice Italian restaurant in a shopping village.
From the Lightning Kid YouTube Channel
On Day 2, we made our way to Lexington, KY. Our timetable getting to Tennessee was not an aggressive one, because none of us were sure how well we’d fare with the long drive. I’d made it to Kentucky in a day on a road trip in my twenties, but travelling with a family (never mind one that is recovering from lockdown blues) is obviously different. Before hitting the road, the Lightning Kid and I did a little geocaching – whenever there’s time and we’re in an unfamiliar area, it’s worth checking if there’s anything nearby to be found.
After some driving, we decided to try our first Chick-Fil-A at Columbus’ Polaris Fashion Mall food court. I’ve got to say, their chicken sandwiches were overhyped – I don’t think we’ve been missing that much in Canada. On the other hand, we gorged ourselves at a Cheesecake Factory once we reached Lexington.
The third day was the 4th of July. We tried Sonic and their killer milkshakes for lunch en route. We had We got a Holiday Inn in Newport, TN, and went to see the sequel to Boss Baby (Boss Baby: Back in Business) in a theatre – in Ontario, they still weren’t open. We had dinner at a Cracker Barrel and tried Okra for the first time while trying to distinguish between Chicken Fried and Country Fried – if we figured it out, I’ve since forgotten it. Once it got dark, we were able to see a few fireworks from the hotel windows.
Tennesee Family Time
Having arrived in Tennessee, we stayed at a ‘Glamping’ Camp Resort, and our first night was spent in a Treehouse!
We spent the day in a fairly relaxed manner, swimming in the pool, playing Cornhole, as well as eating Barbecue and ice cream. We took some time to check out Gatlinburg, which is quite the tourist trap – I had the verse from Johnny Cash’s ‘Boy Named Sue’ running through my head: It was Gatlinburg, in mid-July, and I’d just hit town, and my throat was dry… I thought I’d grab myself a brew… We drove up to Ober, which was just closing, so we didn’t get to try much in terms of activities. In winter it’s a ski resort, which kind of blows my mind that people can ski in Tennessee. We slept well in that treehouse and were sad to have to leave it.
The next day we used the Gatlinburg Trolley Service to go into town and had a long wait in line to ride a chairlift to the top of Anakeesta, a local theme park.
We were highly unused to crowds at this stage, and since standing in crowded lines is part of any theme park day, we were a little unnerved and unable to fully enjoy the experience. It was a hot day, and the Lightning Kid took to a splash pad we found near the top after lunch. He and I were going to take a coaster ride, but the wait times were too long. The kids did enjoy a cat-walk play area, but I didn’t get pictures. Still, it was a great view of the Smokey’s and we opted for a bus ride back down to the bottom.
Once we got back to the Campground we had to check out our Safari Tent, thankfully it had a portable air-conditioner as the canvas walls weren’t breathable and the summer heat was on!
We were in this Safari tent for two nights. The second day was spent with more swimming, Cornhole, and searching for breakfast. We grilled sausages by the fire for dinner. We really enjoyed the community feel of our campsite, and it was so nice watching the boys make friends.
The next day we checked in at another campsite, this time in a cabin. The Jellystone Park in Pigeon Forge. Pigeon Forge is Dolly Parton’s hometown and where Dollywood is found. We didn’t make it there; as we were still a bit wary of crowds (and expenses) from being tourists in Gatlinburg, but I’d encourage anyone and everyone to look into Dolly Parton’s biography because she is fascinating.
The Jellystone campground had a fun jump pad/ trampoline that the boys got to use to warm up their skills prior to their sleepaway camp (which was the purpose of this trip).
Our final destination as a a family of four was Crossville TN. Checking your kids in to their first sleepaway camp can be a little nerve-wracking. Shark Boy did a couple of overnights with Beaver Scouts, and sometimes at a friend’s or grandparent’s place. The Lightning Kid had only done overnight Beaver Scout camps with me as a leader. They were both anxious, and so were we leading up to it, but the check-in process at Flipfest was so encouraging and we were so happy to see our kids be able to interact with peers again that there were plenty of smiles (brave smiles, but smiles all the same) around.
My wife and I headed back to our hotel in Crossville with nothing to do but enjoy the peace and quiet. For about an hour, when we got a call from the camp! We were terrified that the Lightning Kid was not fitting in somehow – the fear of the special needs parent, or at least, fear #437 – but it ended up that Shark Boy had twisted his ankle. We spoke to the camp director and we came to the consensus that we wanted to wait and see with some icing, rather than rush to a hospital. In the end it ended up being the right move, since he was training at full capacity within a couple of days, having taken one day to treat the ankle lightly.
After that, we were able to have a couples weekend (which actually took place on a Monday/Tuesday) in Nashville. We stayed in a beautiful hotel called the Bobby. Unfortunately not every amenity was in full swing (e.g. rooftop pool, rooftop bar weren’t operational during the week.
Our first night in Nashville made it hard to find the barbecue that Tennessee is famous for – the line-ups and crowds were a bit much for us. It was exciting to hear live music come out of every bar though.
We had better luck the next day and reserved at Puckett’s Grocery Store early. We spent part of our afternoon at the Johnny Cash Museum. Some of my favourite parts were listening to all the great artists that have covered the Man in Black over the years (did you know Miley Cyrus did a live cover of A Boy Named Sue?). We’d been listening to Johnny Cash a fair bit on the drive down as a Tennesse music primer. Seeing him act in some TV shows and movies was a hoot too (he seemed to like to play the villain).
At Puckett’s, I tried a flight of Tennessee whiskeys and I’ve been on the lookout for a bottle of George Dickel‘s ever since. There was great BBQ, and live music from an artist named Troy Kemp managed to stoke an appreciation for country music in this heart of mine.
The next day, we left the urban environment of Nashville behind (though hopefully not for the last time) for a bed and breakfast in a more picturesque area, and not so far from the Flipfest camp (just in case). The Garden Inn Bed and Breakfast had a nearby trail with some nice lookouts (especially the aptly named Bee rock – the large bees kind of scared us off extending a sunset walk beyond a certain point).
We were able to do some nice hiking by Falls Creek Falls State Park. I actually used the waterfalls themselves to cool off after a tough, hot hike down. We added a little more walking and tried the suspension bridge with some trepidation.
Another day went by and suddenly we were picking the boys up from camp. They had a wonderful time, apparently their favourite part was the ‘Blob’ – a giant inflated pad which launches one kid up and into the lake when another kid drops onto it from a height. They had campfires, dance nights, and loads of other fun, and they’ll be begging us to go back next summer, I’m sure.
The drive back was through Lexington and we stopped in Cincinatti. From there to Detroit and across the border thanks to the negative PCR test results we got from a CVS in Crossville. We got home and spent 2 weeks quarantining which was difficult, but probably worth it in the long run.
We were very lucky and privileged in so many ways. We have a house with a backyard and pool which made the isolation easier to bear, our internet connection was reasonably stable, and there’s a member of the household (me) who is tech-savvy enough to troubleshoot issues as they arise. My wife and I were able to work remotely and both avoid infection and make sure our kids attended remote classes.
Still, we suffered. The constant multi-tasking and hybrid prioritization of being a teaching assistant on top of being a parent, playmate and a real job took its toll. The kids lost ground on their academic education, but so much more in terms of socialization. Making friends, taking turns, sportsmanship… I don’t even like to think too hard about all the intangibles, soft skills and experiences they missed out on. None of this is unique to our family, but the Lightning Kid has special needs, while Shark Boy is a Provincially-ranked competitive gymnast (with no place to train except our basement), so our family might be more of a rare case.
Another way my family might be rare is that we are willing to think outside the box (and honestly we have the privilege and means to make ideas a reality). We looked outside our own backyard and realized it didn’t have to be this way. While we considered moving to Germany (where we have roots and family) or even Finland (which sounded nice at one point when the ideas were at their most fanciful stage), British Columbia presented something desirable without too much culture shock or legal red tape etc.
And so we booked a flight to Vancouver during last week of school to look into some schools that might be willing to take our boys on. We also had appointments at Gymnastics facilities that had a Men’s Competitive program for Shark Boy. Combining those prospective lists kept us mostly around Langley and Abbotsford, which are in the Fraser River Valley, inland from Vancouver.
White Rock
The trip took about 10 days, with the better part of a week staying in a corporate hotel in Langley. We kept up with remote work and school from the hotel room, though I occasionally retreated to the business centre for increased peace and quiet. Due to the time difference, the kids would be done school at noon local time, and I could wrap up work in the early afternoon. So our first afternoon was spent visiting a school in White Rock (Surrey). The kids needed to get reacquainted with how to behave in a school, but they were wide-eyed at seeing halls, gyms and lockers again. After the tour, we took a trip to the beach. White Rock is home to the longest pier in Canada, and it was lovely to be by the ocean and eat ice cream. Driving to the shore involved roads like the ones you see in movies that take place in San Francisco. I have a recurring nightmare of losing control of a car while driving on steep and twisty roads, so this was a good way to face my fears. The area near the shore is lovely but looks like a neighbourhood where people really care about appearances and property values and such. The tide was high and we saw someone in the water so we thought we might try swimming the next time.
Abbotsford
We visited a lovely school and a gymnastics facility the next day in Abbotsford. Abbotsford had that familiar feel of a suburb that is a commuter/satellite community of a larger metropolis. While Shark Boy was in his gymnastics tour (the try-out wouldn’t be for a couple of days), the Lightning Kid and I had an opportunity to geocache and explore a great playground nearby, which led to this video:
Delta & Langley
Delta is an interesting neighbourhood in that the proximity to the water should make it a little fancy like White Rock, but it seems to serve fishing, transport and industry. Shark Boy liked the gym there just fine, and the Lightning Kid fooled around in a skate park (without skates)
We headed back inland to see a school in Langley Township. It was situated in a gorgeous area with quite a view.
After many attempts, we were able to get a table at an Olive Garden, which hasn’t existed in Ontario for some time. So we enjoyed our dinner, as it was something of a rare gem.
On Friday, back in Langley by the hotel, I managed to get a run in around the local area. The hilly terrain did not make it easy! I called it a ‘Funky Fartlek’ because I played around with speed and sprints.
Saturday meant no school or work, and we still had a try-out at the Abbotsford Gym in the afternoon, so we took the kids back to White Rock to see the beach. Unfortunately, the tide was out, and I had no confidence in the safety of swimming further out, so we fooled around in the tide pools and looked at crabs.
Lightning Kid in shallow water
We capped off the Saturday with a trip into Vancouver and up to Grouse Mountain. We got a look at a Grizzy Bear and a lovely dinner at the mountain top restaurant called Altitudes Bistro.
Victoria
With our business on the mainland concluded, we used the rest of the weekend to travel to Vancouver Island. The Ferry was an interesting experience, albeit there was a lot of waiting and pandemic restrictions made it less fun.
We had a beautiful hotel in Victoria. The pool was especially enjoyable. It also had theatre room where we watched the movie Cruella (the hotel provided Disney+ Premium Access), and a rooftop marshmallow roast.
Victoria is a beautiful city. We checked out a school that held a majority of classes outdoors and a gymnastics facility that was starting up a built-in high performance school.
We flew from Victoria airport on a propeller plane to Vancouver, and from there back home, having completed our mission to gather information on what our lives might look like when the next school year started. How that turns out, will be the story of another post.
We were finding it hard to make use of the bunk bed set-up in the room. Shark Boy found the safety railings uncomfortable, but given how he thrashes in his sleep they were completely necessary.
Luckily, every day tuckered them out so much, we came up with a solution that worked better for all concerned and made for good bonding.
Kayaking in Hilo
For our day in the port of Hilo on the Big Island, we had scheduled a Kayak to Waterfall excursion. This was one of the shortest bus rides to an excursion, and Hilo doesn’t seem like much of a town, but small and quaint can be good. Our guides were friendly, but we found out later that ours was the second-last tour they would be operating! Apparently the tour operators were closing up shop. My wife took Shark Boy in one kayak while the Lightning Kid and I were in the other. It was important to keep your strokes in sync, which made it a challenge when quick responses to “Left!” or “Right side!” were called for (I can only imagine how it would have gone to use “Port” and “Starboard”…
We paddled outward from the shore through the surf and needed to hit the mouth of the river from an angle, coming in from further out in the bay rather than heading in a straight line from the shore to it. This allowed us to avoid a nasty break in the surf that would have been hard to handle. Unfortunately that longer paddle through the surf was taxing and tiring for our family, but luckily the overall level of our group wasn’t much more fit or advanced than us.
We got into the river’s opening and found a place to rest under some trees, while everyone got caught up. We held ourselves fast on dangling vines. There was a part of the river where rapids would have prevented us from getting further but the guides were able to get out onto some rocks and pull us using a rope.
Shortly beyond that point, we reached a waterfall area where we could swim, but we were tired and it didn’t really feel safe – it would have been difficult to climb out and back into the kayak. Paddling our way back out of the river and to the shore was a somewhat tiring affair, but the weather was beautiful.
We returned to the ship and I had time to use the running track around the ship (each lap approximately 1/3 of a mile) as well as the fitness centre to do some rehab exercises for my shoulder. I found it fairly well outfitted. We also had our first meal in the Liberty Dining room which is one of the included restaurants, but not a buffet. The food and service were excellent. We wrapped up our evening with a ‘Close-up Magic Show’ – it focusses on sleight-of-hand card tricks (no sawing people in half or whatever). It was a little cheesy, but there was a trick or two that really still boggle my mind. It was actually New Year’s Eve, but jet lag was enough that we didn’t make it to the local midnight – although we did see it observed for those in Central Standard Time
CANCELLED – NO TRIP TO KONA
Kona is the only port where the Pride of America can’t dock – a ‘Tender Port’. That meant taking smaller boats to shore and with the seas being too rough that day, all shore excursions were cancelled. It was too bad as the ‘Captain Zodiac Raft & Snorkel’ trip was the first excursion we booked – the only one that had been formally planned prior to leaving for Hawaii. We had to fill our day with onboard activities like voting on a Gingerbread house contest, board games in the games room, mini-putt and oversized chess. The latter was difficult because the wind kept blowing the pieces over, and there was a lot of demand for any onboard activities – the basketball court was also closed from that day forward. The ship navigated a more scenic route past the islands of Maui, Lana’i and Moloka’i, and the view did not disappoint.
My wife and I enjoyed French Cuisine at the Jefferson Bistro for our date night, and the kids had a blast at the Splash Academy that evening.
Port of Naiwiliwili on Kaua’i
We hadn’t found an excursion that suited us for Kaua’i (the only contender was yet another waterfall/kayak expedition) so we opted for a beach day at Anchor Cove. We had some time to throw the ball around and swim in the waves, but the highlight for me was the surf lesson I booked for Shark Boy and me.
This would be another of those occasions where a GoPro would have come in handy. The lesson was great, and though it was a little nerve-wracking not have a continuous line of sight to my son (due to waves), never mind being far out of reach, we were both able to get to standing on each attempt and had some good runs. It got a little crowded, and once Shark Boy got knocked by a surfboard, while I had a near collision with another surfer and a canoe, overall we had a great time. I did feel the paddling in my shoulders and my back hurt a little when I tried to stand quickly but it was a small price to pay for a once in a lifetime experience.
Did I say we had no excursion booked for the first day in Kaua’i? I forgot the Luau! We gathered in the onboard theatre and were grouped into buses that took us to a plantation where the Luau would take place. The meal was rice, pulled pork (traditionally prepared in a pit called a Lua), Terriyaki chicken and fish. Everyone was encouraged to try some Poi (a paste of mashed taro root) – I found it a little bland, to be honest, I think you’re supposed to add something to it.
The Lightning Kid and I took a chance to volunteer for a dance performance. Then it was time for the show to begin the show. The story of a family separated but ultimately reunited in a journey from Tahiti to Hawai’i was compelling and had great songs, dances and a fire show, but I couldn’t really take it all in, because the Lightning Kid found the drums and chanting terrifying to the point of physically shaking. I took him outside to comfort him. It was really weird to see him react like that, but he had been scared by a theatre performance of ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ when he was much younger, and I wonder if there was some kind of flashback going on. The Luau was an enjoyable experience, but we were eager to bring tired kids back to bed as soon as possible.
Our second day on Kaua’i was spent on the beach (with a little shopping and ice cream mixed in). The chop of the surf seemed rougher and neither kid was interested in trying out the boogie boards I rented, so we were content to swim and play catch. We decided to re-board before lunch so that we could save money and use the buffet. The rough seas also caused the onboard pool to be closed – for a while there it looked like a fun wave pool, but I’m sure it got dangerous. Our cruise was coming to an end, and there was packing to do.
Departure Day
We got up early and enjoyed our final buffet breakfast – everyone on board had the same idea. We had arranged a shuttle to the airport, but it seemed a little foolish since our flight wasn’t till 11:30 PM, we had the day in Honolulu to spend. NCL wouldn’ let us cancel our shuttle charges unless we booked an excursion with them instead. We took our luggage to the airport and paid for storage, then made our way to the Ala Moana Shopping District. We saw the movie Frozen 2 (long overdue, since the Lightning Kid is a huge fan of the first one), we played in a local playground and we did some more shopping and ice cream.
Our last meal was a Shabu Shabu restaurant – you choose your own broth, meat, vegetable and seafood and prepare in on an element at your table. We filled up so quickly the all-you-can-eat aspect was wasted on us, but ending our big Hawai’i adventure with a culinary adventure was a nice way to go out before a long flight.
