A few photos from recently:
We finished out July with a short trip to Squamish. Squamish is a town situated between Vancouver and Whistler so only a ferry ride and a short drive away. We camped one night by the Mamquam River and then met up with my parents and my brother and his family for a trip up the gondola and a stay at a hotel.
On our first afternoon, the four of us poked around downtown Squamish, had lunch, and found a shady playground. Squamish is tucked in among beautiful mountains and peaks and is a very outdoorsy community. Our time there also coincided with the hottest weather we’ve experienced so far this year. By mid-afternoon we were all a little hot and grumpy and setting up at the campground didn’t get off to a promising start when Rose had a run-in with some stinging nettle. We found a shady spot by the Mamquam River though and were able to turn things around. The river is glacial and was too cold to swim in but it was still lovely and refreshing.
The next morning we packed up and met my family at the gondola, which takes you up the mountain, enjoying spectacular views along the way.
At the top there are trails, a suspension bridge, a playground, food, and a gift shop. We did a couple of easy trails (Rose was not really in to walking), had lunch (poutine!), and got a cold treat to cool off. The heat started to get to us all and we decided to check-in to the hotel early and take advantage of the outdoor pool.
All ten of us had a great time swimming and playing in the water for a few hours before heading to dinner at Howe Sound Brewing.
The next day we hit the pool again before it was time to check out and head home. Typically, ferry travel on a long weekend is particularly busy and by the time Peter and I went to book a reservation on the way home, they were all filled up. So we got to Horseshoe Bay stocked up with food and water, fully expecting to spend most of our afternoon there. We arrived slightly after noon and I, rather unoptimistically, thought we would make it on a 3:15pm sailing. We got there just as a sailing was leaving and unwittingly hit a sweet spot between two close ferries and found ourselves quickly boarding the 12:55 ferry. We took a picture of the terminal as the boat pulled away because Peter and I agreed we might never see it this empty again.
We’re now back home and gearing up for August and further adventures.
Karissa Reads Books 
Argh, just looking at that suspension bridge makes me dizzy! I don’t get on with bridges at all, but great big stone built ones that don’t move when it’s windy are just about bearable… 😉 Have you read For Whom the Bell Tolls before? Wonderful book!
Suspension bridges are not my favourite either though there is a much more alarming one in North Vancouver. I thought the gondola would scare me more but I really enjoyed it.
I have read For Whom the Bell Tolls. It is excellent! I actually already have a lovely copy of it but I have a bit of a collection of different Hemingway editions.
Some lovely views in these photos! It sounds like you’re having a great summer.
I’ve gone up the Appalachian Mountains in a gondola before. It’s pretty cool, though the one I was on would do a bit of a tummy turning-bump whenever you went over one of the support poles.
I thought I’d feel more nervous but i really enjoyed it!