What is up lately!!

It has been a hot minute (2 months) since I have written anything on the blog…there have been many visits from friends and family, lots of work, and many different activities! I’ll quickly summarize a few of them:

Some close friends from home (Huntsville) came all the way out here to visit me. They camped at Bella Pacifica near my staff accommodation, we surfed, drank Tofino beer, ate pasta and white beans, visited Ukee, had a fantastic peanut butter bar and vegan sandwich, showed them a special little beach, and so much more! I think a highlight of the trip was the one evening where we walked to the brewery, had some beers, and then walked back to the beach where we laid in the sand and watched the stars. That night there was a meteor shower which was spectacular to watch, and there was bioluminescence in the water. You could see it when the waves crashed and when we stomped on the sand. We spent the rest of the night dancing in the sand and water while watching shooting stars.
My mom and sister came out to visit! They flew into Victoria, where Nathan and I went and met them (via bus because the car died). Spent a few days in Victoria where we saw the sights and ate some tasty foods. After that, we dropped Nathan off at the ferry in Nanaimo (after getting some Noodlebox). We continued North to Tofino while stopping to see all the sights (Goats on the Roof, Kinsol Trestle, Port Alberni Save on Foods, etc.). My mom and sister spent 6 days in Tofino where we went to Ukee (also got a peanut butter bar), walked around town, hiked the Rainforest trail, Combers Beach trail, the Tonquin trail (where Mom got to see her first sea otter swim by!!!), and a few other small walks. On their last night in Tofino, we got a great piece of salmon from the Fish Shop, some scallops, and some mussels for dinner instead of going out.
Took a weaving class – this was actually very fun! It was put on by Sea Woven and we got a take-home loom and brought home our wall hanging we made in class.
Hiked 5040 Peak! This is located about ~30 minutes from Port Alberni or ~2 hours from Tofino. It was about 3 hours up, a total of 891 metres of elevation, and ~9km total. We did this hike in the summer but it was foggy and rainy so we did not get to see any of the amazing views. When we did it the other day, it was such a BLUEBERRY DAY that we could see Port Alberni, Mt. Arrowsmith, Broken Islands Group, the Pacific Ocean, the Coast Mountain Range, and Mt. Olympus – it was amazing to say the least. There was also a bunch of snow at the top which made me miss the snow (but gives me hope that snow exists 2 hours from Tofino).
Mushroom picking! Went out a couple times to go picking for Chanterelle Mushrooms to eat – found quite a few. After one afternoon of picking them, we fried them in butter with thyme, then put them on top of some fresh bread with goat cheese and caramelized onions.
We bought a van!!!! It is a big yellow Dodge van from 1973 and is a little sketch to drive but definitely has some character. Inside there is a bed, a tiny woodstove, a stovetop, a fridge, a sink, and SO MUCH storage. We have been redoing the inside slowly…Nathan and his dad redid most of the cabinets inside, Nathan painted the interior white, and got a new mattress (which is suuuuper comfy and hard to leave). This will be our home when we move to Haida Gwaii in the spring for our 2 month field school courses.
Nathan FINALLY moved to Tofino. Took a while but he is here now!

Anywho! Needless to say, it has been a busy and full couple of months. I have had many friends leave the staff accommodation to move on to new things which has been sad, but I have also met so many new people since. I have some great friends who are coming to visit in the next little bit! I have goals to get out surfing more in the next little bit, get back into a routine of running, better morning routine, trying new recipes, trying to read 5 more books by December 31st 2021, and less social media! I am also going to try to be more accountable to making blog posts – maybe about the food I make and books I read. Anyway for now, here are some photos from the last couple of months 🙂