On June 27th, the girls (finally) completed their school year. Peter finished the next day (Friday). We’ve come to realize that we like having some sort of getaway immediately after school lets out; it acts as a kickstart to our summer and lets us feel like we’re on holiday right away. So Friday afternoon we drove up to Earls Cove and caught the ferry to Powell River.
Ferry Luck was not with us this time as we didn’t make it on the ferry we had aimed for. So we had an extra two hours and dinner in Earls Cove and made it in to our hotel in Powell River at the time we’d usually be telling our girls to get their pyjamas on.
We opted not to camp this time and instead booked in for two nights at our favourite local hotel – the Island View Lodge. Longtime readers may remember that we’ve visited Powell River several times in recent years. Peter and I even spent our 10 year anniversary at this hotel. (Thanks COVID 19!) It’s very basic but clean and well-located and pet-friendly! This was Winnie the Dog’s first hotel stay and she (thankfully) did very well. We brought her ladybug tent which we used camping with her last summer and set her up in the closet. And then, of course, we took her everywhere we went.
The weekend was warm but largely rainy so it was nice to have a cozy hotel room. On Saturday we drove up to Lund – mostly for cinnamon buns at Nancy’s Bakery. We explored a local beach and played in the rain.
In the afternoon we visited a local thrift store and then we headed out to Mowat Bay on Powell Lake and decided to go for a rainy swim. It was very cold but also very fun.
We don’t have TV at home, just streaming services, so watching cartoons on television in a hotel is a bit of a treat. It does make us laugh though when our kids ask us to pause the show and we have to explain why that isn’t possible. Telling them to go brush their teeth during commercial breaks brought back flashbacks of our own childhoods! Saturday night dinner was takeout from our favourite local Thai resturant.
On Sunday we visited a couple of playgrounds the girls have really enjoyed and strolled along the main street of Powell River. (Turns out a lot is closed on Sundays.) We made it home on Sunday afternoon just in time to head straight back out to a barbeque with friends and into the rest of our summer holiday!
Karissa Reads Books 
Happy summer holiday! Sounds like you had a great start to your break (despite the weather)!
This was a ridiculously lovely post, Karissa. I just squeed over the girls “trapped” in the (lobster?) cage photo, taking off the day after school is over to create a new groove, Winnie’s little backpack and her tent, the action shot of Pearl jumping in the water, and explaining what commercial breaks are. I can absolutely picture me in the bathroom with a sibling yelling, “It’s ooooooon!” and then you do that ninja run to tuck and roll in front of the TV right on time! 🤣
It’s been a nice tradition to have a little trip or something to look forward to and kickstart us into summer mode. And I kind of love that they get the experience we all remember of frantically getting ready for bed during commercial breaks!
[…] to visit Nancy’s Bakery, home of delicious cinnamon buns. We reminisced about our visit there last year, in the rain, with our […]