Some images for purchase here

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Some images for purchase here.

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Congratulations Deb & Scott!

Wedding Details –

Officiant: Arissa Rench

Flowers: Pozie By Natalie

Hair: Carma Jean Allen

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It makes me so sad when I hear people say “I’m never going to Mexico” – usually commented after a headline of violence from one specific area, somehow causing them to write off the whole country as dangerous. It’s true, like anywhere in the world, there are dangerous areas. Just keep in mind, that mindset will result in missing out on the gorgeous scenery, wonderful culture, and beautiful, hospitable people.

Sunrise swirl

Fishing boat bow

Flores en Mexico

Blue crush

Amor Tropical beach bus bar

Where we stayed: Los Raqueros

Where we ate:

Amor Tropical Cocktail Bar

Cafe Pacifico

La Mexicana

Roberto’s Bistro

Present Moment

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Bellingham  ->   Victoria  ->  Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park  ->    Tofino  ->  Pacific Rim National Park Reserve  ->  Strathcona Provincial Park

With traveling in the Pacific Northwest in the spring and the high probability that it would rain for some, if not most, of our trip, we decided to borrow Chuck’s Grandma’s VW Westfalia camper to make our camp time a little more comfortable. It was awesome – I loved the extra space and the pop-top tent – but disliked the lack of a functioning radio/stereo (my iPhone and a small Bluetooth speaker provided roadtrip music for this adventure).

This was my first trip out-of-town since my Dad passed away two months earlier and it was really therapeutic – it’s no secret that I love to travel and it felt good to step outside of my daily life routine and focus on the new things we were seeing. Not that he wasn’t on my mind each day – as a lover of nature and an enthusiastic admirer of anything scenic, he would have really appreciated all of the beauty we saw, which encouraged me to focus on really, truly enjoying each moment.

Love the festive ferry name; Ferry selfie; Ferry-induced seafoam

All aboard the Vancouver (Tsawwassen) to Victoria (Swartz Bay) ferry – a very scenic 1 ¹⁄₂ hour jaunt through the Southern Gulf Islands.

Grey sea and sky

After disembarking the ferry, we drove into BC’s beautiful provincial capital city – Victoria. We fueled up with $6 Tiki Tuesday drinks, tacos and burgers at North 48, then checked out the impressive Parliament Buildings and various other historic landmarks around the Inner Harbour.

We also perused several quaint shops downtown; I bought a Cowichan-knitted wool toque and a few locally-designed silver rings at Tonic Jewelry.

Parliament Buildings; World traveler Captain Cook; Canadian chocolate expressions; WWI and WWII memorial statue

Impressive totem poles at Thunderbird Park

Sunlit Garry oak trees in Beacon Hill Park

After a full day of walking around town (my iPhone Health app tracked us at over 10 miles), we watched the “America Wild – National Parks Adventure” IMAX movie at the Royal BC Museum and had a fantastic dinner at farm-to-fork restaurant 10 Acres Bistro.

The following morning, we picked up coffee at Murchies Tea and Coffee and headed to The Butchart Gardens. Being that it was listed as the tourist attraction in Victoria, I thought it best not to miss it.  Surprisingly, Chuck didn’t bat an eye when I suggested spending an afternoon there – granted, as a lot of you know, he does like his plants and herbs (ha!).

What a beautiful place! It’s amazingly maintained – nary a weed in sight – and we both thoroughly enjoyed walking through the various garden displays. It was also great people-watching – many of the fellow garden-goer’s comments regarding various garden delights reminded me a lot of my dear Grandma, bringing up wonderfully nostalgic memories.

Adorable moss-covered squirrel; Ross Fountain

Bird totem; Various beauties from the Sunken Garden

My favorites from the Mediterranean Garden

Garden selfie

After our stroll through the gorgeous Gardens, we drove north through Duncan and caught a glimpse of the “World’s Largest Hockey Stick and Puck.”
In Cowichan Bay, we popped into a few cute shops along the waterfont and stopped for grilled cheese and fish tacos at Get Phil’d Up. After lunch, we continued north into Parksville to secure a camping site in Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park, located along the Strait of Georgia.

Beach boy

Rising tide

Journaling Rocks

After a stroll around the park, we picked up A&W – another nod to my Dad for his love of the Teen Burger – and had a picnic dinner on the beach. Then Chuck showed off his baseball skills…

Stick and rock baseball

Me, my new toque, and Chuck; Driftwood flower; Chuck counting the rings.

We wandered along the beach the next morning, then drove the Pacific Rim Highway to Tofino, stopping at Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park to hike along the gorgeous waterfalls.

We took a walk among the hanging moss in Cathedral Grove, then stopped at Kennedy River to stretch our legs and found these neat Love Locks fastened to the chain link fence.

5.27.16

After a long, windy drive to the coast, we reached the cute surf town of Tofino and checked in to the beautiful Red Crow Guest House for our anniversary stay. After unpacking, we walked into downtown Tofino to explore the waterfront, shops, and restaurants.

Shoes on wires at Tofino’s Tuff City Skatepark

After dinner at Shelter, we went to watch the sunset at windy Chesterman Beach.

Silhouette

The following morning, we picked up Rhino coffee and drove south to Ucluelet to explore the Wild Pacific Trail. This scenic walk was paired with low chant-like sounds of the whistle buoy, which is activated by the waves. I’m excited to storm-watch here at some point in the future…

Coolest sign ever; Mossy sunlight; Lighthouse sign; Amphitrite Lighthouse

Look closely to the right to see a glimpse of a grey whale breaching!

Prayer flag vista; South Park school sign in Ucluelet

After our Wild Pacific Trail walk, we hiked through old growth trees to sandy Half Moon Bay.

On our dive back to Tofino, we stopped at Long Beach to watch the surf and (blowing) sand.

Next up, our annual anniversary self-timer (with remote).

Then, relaxing on the deck of our guesthouse.

Maple bacon doughnut; Chuck learning; The only bear we saw on our trip; Scenic rocky beach in front of our guesthouse

We finished the afternoon with a romantic canoe ride along the Tofino inlet.

After our anniversary paddle around the inlet, we had a wonderful dinner at Wolf in the Fog, sharing the Block Party plate which consisted of pickled watermelon salad, fried chicken, pulled pork, ribs, and the best cornbread ever.
Then the rain came… we had really lucked out on the weather thus far but it wouldn’t have felt quite right to not have any rain over the course of our PNW trip. Plus, it was really soothing to take a dip in the guesthouse hot tub amongst the rain (SNL Will Ferrell hot tub skit-imitation ensues).

The misty rain continued through the next day and we headed east towards Strathcona Provincial Park, picking up provisions at Save-on-Foods in Campbell River, then stopping for a quick hike to Elk Falls.

To our pleasant surprise, Strathcona Provincial Park was nearly empty – hardly a car in sight – so we had our choice of camp sites at Ralph River campground along Buttle Lake.

Buttle Lake; Wetland walkers

After talking to the camp hosts, we decided on Flower Ridge for our hike the following day.

It was a steep uphill trek for over 3 hours – then we hit the snowline. Luckily, we met two hikers on their way down so we were able to retrace their snowy steps to reach pretty viewpoints of the surrounding areas.

Camo hard at work

Views amongst snow

On our final island day, we took the short hike to beautiful Lower Myra Falls.

One of the many pictures of Chuck looking on…

With that, we had to pack up and head home via the Nanaimo ferry, leaving with wonderful memories of PNW island life.

I’m so grateful to have spent 7 happy years with this guy – cheers to many more adventures!

If you’d like to reminisce about our previous years anniversary adventures, here are the links: Kaua’i’s Kalalau Trail, the Oregon Coast/Crater Lake, Banff/Jasper, and Glacier National Park.

Some images for purchase here.

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The post Vancouver Island | Road Trip appeared first on jamievphotography.com.

Bellingham  ->  Garibaldi Provincial Park  ->  Golden/Yoho National Park  ->  Lake Louise/Banff National Park  ->  Icefields Pkwy  ->  Radium Hot Springs  ->  Republic/Wauconda  ->  Hwy 20/North Cascades National Park 

Kilometers driven: 2575 (1,600 miles)
Kilometers hiked: 40 (25 miles)

A few months prior to our roadtrip, Sarah had “tagged” me in her friend’s Facebook photograph that was captured above beautiful Garibaldi Lake and commented “Let’s go here!”. This set the stage for our adventure plan, as little did we know, Garibaldi Park was less than a two hour drive from Bellingham!

After Sarah’s arrival to the PNW, we reserved our camping permits online, checked-off items listed on our backpacking, camping, and roadtrip gear lists (items which were strewn around my living room), packed up my Subaru, and headed north into Canada.

We arrived at the Garibaldi Lake trailhead around 3pm, finished loading up our food/camping supplies into our backpacks, and started our 9km uphill climb to the Lake. For a 3 day trip, the weight of a tent, thermarest, sleeping bag, stove, food, clothes, and camera gear got old, real fast. In hindsight, as two professional photographers who document life for a living, I can’t believe that we didn’t take a picture of us with our huge backpacks!

The hike up was fairly uneventful, save for a bear and cub sighting along the way. Although we were packed to the brim, we didn’t include bear spray or a bell but a very nice hiker gifted Sarah her very own bear-bell, which we continued to “ring” over the course of our various hiking trips.

It was dark by the time we reached our lakeside camp and I have never been so excited to take off my backpack! After selecting a site several steps away from the lake, we set up camp, made dinner in the shelter, and bundled up in down coats and sleeping bags for a crisp night in the mountains.

The next morning, we arose at sunrise and enjoyed the alpine lakeside calm at dawn.

Garibaldi Lake sunrise

Garibaldi Lake Dawn

After breakfast, we packed our daypacks and headed up the Panorama Ridge Trail (7km from camp). It was an absolutely beautiful sunny day and it felt fabulous to hike without heavy backpacks! We met several people on the trail, most of whom were on early morning day hikes.

The final stretch to Panorama Ridge; Garibaldi Lake from above

Panoramic view of Garibaldi Lake – our camp is down on the far right-hand side

A view of Black Tusk from Panorama Ridge

Enjoying the view

After a leisurely hike down the trail, we returned to camp just in time for sunset. The light was unreal – so beautiful and clear.

Garibaldi mirror; Arrow and target pose

Meditating on Garibaldi Lake

Token jump shot

The next morning, we packed up our camp after breakfast and headed down the trail. Although we were still a bit sore from 2 days of hiking, the downhill hike was a welcome respite.

Spoils of field mice

I had a bit of trepidation as we got closer to the car as I had heard that vandals liked to frequent the trailhead parking lot. Luckily, none of the car windows looked broken and we were very relieved. After further investigation, however, we found that a different type of thief had “broken in” and stolen a few things: field mice had squeezed their way in, chewed through our cloth grocery bags, and ravaged our Costco-sized bag of raw almonds and a half loaf of bread – and left a generous gift of mice droppings, littered throughout the car.

After cleaning up/disinfecting the best that we could for the time being, we stopped in Whistler for a healthy snack and coffee.  From there, we started our drive on scenic Highway 99 along the “Discovery Coast” towards Lillooet and Cache Creek. We also had our 2nd bear sighting, just outside of Whistler.

A bear in our sights; Heading down the valley into Lillooet

Seton Lake off of Hwy 99

That evening, we stayed in Kamloops for the night, enjoyed a dip in the hot tub, a hot shower, and a place to dry our gear at Hotel 540. Despite the idea that it would be fun to go dancing and to “get loopy in Kamloops”, we decided that we wouldn’t be able to keep up with the 19-year-old partiers and opted for a mature, classy drink at The Plaza.

After picking up coffee drinks for the road, we headed on to Revelstoke. As snowboarders, we had both heard so much about this mountain and wanted to see what it was all about. Unfortunately, it was so cloudy and foggy so we weren’t able to witness the “Most Vertical in North America” for ourselves – which gives us an excuse to come back in the winter (heli-boarding is on my list of must-do’s!)

Journeying on, we passed through the town of Golden, determined to find a camping spot in Yoho National Park. Unfortunately, we found out that almost all campgrounds close at the end of September – for tent camping, anyway. We considered poaching a spot in the Park but decided to head back to Golden instead and found Golden Municipal Campground. We weren’t crazy about the idea of camping in the middle of town, next to the busy Canadian railway, but it actually wasn’t too bad. Plus, we found an awesome restaurant in town called the Wolf’s Den, which had amazing burgers. As an added bonus, Sunday is their “Jam Night” and we enjoyed bluegrass-type bands, rap flow by Electric Jon, and a cover of Bryan Adams hit “Run to You“. It was also the bar manager’s birthday, so we shared shots with fellow patrons, all of whom truly lived up to the friendly Canadian stereotypes.

The next morning, we stopped for coffee at Bacchus Books and while perusing a few shops downtown, we bumped into several of our bar buddies that we had met the previous night – gotta love small towns!

My purchase at Bacchus Book – hilarious!; A Metis Nation mosaic

On our drive back into Yoho National Park, we spotted our 3rd bear thus far, as well as a herd of bighorn sheep.  We decided to hike to Wapta Falls, even though there wasn’t much, if any, information about this landmark. It was definitely worth the walk – we were rewarded with the sight of cascading, beautiful blue-green glacial water.

Top o’ Wapta Falls; Tree-huggin’

Mist from Wapta Falls

Women of Waterfall self-timer

After Wapta Falls, we continued through Yoho and stopped at beautiful Emerald Lake and the Natural Bridge.

True to its name, Emerald Lake

Red canoes resting alongside Emerald Lake

Bridge au naturel

Within Yoho National Park is the tiny town of Field, which consists of quaint historic buildings and the awesome Truffle Pigs Bistro (Chuck and I enjoyed this restaurant on our visit a few years back).

Historic water tower, church, and telegraph building in Field

Our tent-home for the week (when we could find an open campground); Elk in a field near Field

Immediately after leaving Yoho, we crossed into Banff National Park. This was Sarah’s first visit to the park, my second – it’s truly a magical place!

Gorgeous Lake Louise

Lake Louise boat house

With no campsites open for tents, we “Hotwire”d the Lake Louise Inn and had a great dinner at Bill Peyto’s Cafe (located in the hostel across the street). After dinner, we reviewed the maps around Lake Louise and decided on an ambitious 14km hike for the following morning that included Lake Agnes, Big Beehive, and the Plain of Six Glaciers. Highly recommended!

The Big Beehive

Icy Lake Agnes

I love watching the wind blowing snow off of the glaciertops

Finishing the POSG hike

Panoramic view of the Plain of Six Glaciers

Evening reflections on Lake Louise

The next morning, we drove 130km up and back on the amazing Icefields Parkway, all the while, wishing we had more time to complete the route to Jasper!

The glacier-fed goodness of Peyto Lake

Head over heels the Icefields Parkway

The Icefields Parkway – linking 2 amazing National Parks

The Columbia Icefield; Bundled up for our interpretive walk

After our Icefields excursion, we drove several hours south towards the U.S. border and stopped at Radium Hot Springs for a soak, which felt amazing after many kilometers of hikes!

We again experienced the wonderful friendliness and hospitality of our Canadian neighbors later that evening, this time at the only restaurant open past 10pm in Radium. We had smiled and said “hi” to the road construction crew (consisting of two older couples – the excavator guys and flagger ladies) whom we had passed earlier on the Banff-Windermere Highway, our way into Radium.  After our pizza dinner, we chatted with the Ukrainian restaurant owner and when we requested our bill and he told us that the couples had bought our meal – random acts of kindness warms my heart!

Although there is no photographic evidence, the remainder of our trip consisted of:

• Tent camping in Dry Gulch Park
• A mocha stop at Tim Hortons
• Border crossing at the tiny Danville station
• Tasty beers at the Republic Brewing Company
• Dinner with dear friends Dan and Emily at the Knotty Pine in Republic (while watching the Thursday night Seahawks game)
• A night spent at the family house in Wauconda
• Tasty Coffee at Blue Star Coffee Roasters in Twisp

Finishing our trip with a gorgeous, sunny drive through North Cascades National Park – the perfect ending to our grand adventure.

“Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living” ~Mary Ritter Beard

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So, I was thrilled when Brittany contacted me to photograph her wedding! A lifelong resident of the island, Brittany was married to her high school sweetheart on her family’s property. It was a gorgeous summer day and it started to lightly rain for a few minutes at the beginning of the ceremony as Brittany was walking down the aisle. Which I believe is great luck, symbolizing unity and renewal (it poured on my wedding day!)

A wonderful sense of community and love was shown throughout the day and it was truly an honor to celebrate with these two, alongside their friends and family.

Congratulations Brittany and Greg!

Wedding Details –

Ceremony and Reception Venue: Brittany’s Grandma’s property on Lummi Island

Officiant: Marilyn Miller

Flowers: Provided by Triple Wren Farms; crafted by family and friends

Caterer: Amazing food provided by family and friends

Cake/Desserts: Tasty treats provided by Chelsee Boucher and family and friends

Band: Broken Bow Stringband

Hairstylist: Erin from Sandalwood Salon

Dress: BHLDN Watters

Photo Assistant/Second Shooter: Grace Wilson

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Dream big, beautiful girl…

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It was the perfect time to capture their beautiful family – little James is growing up so fast and Mikaela would be heading off to college soon.

Thank you Seegers family – love you guys!

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