Entering into yet another season of cruising here, we’ve finally hit civilization again, with stores and traffic and sidewalks. Ha! What a concept.
We’ve really enjoyed our time in the wilds of Desolation Sound, despite having really patchy internet. There is such beauty out there, just around the corner from home and we only started to see the highlights. But we enjoyed every second of it. We also enjoyed getting reception back and asking Google questions and getting new photos of our cat and checking in on family. We know there will be more seasons like this, when connection is weak and we’re on our own, but it always comes back.
A highlight was tucking into Drew Bay on Quadra island, nestled next to Rebecca Spit. It’s a busy anchorage but a really great spot to explore Heriot Bay. It felt great to get out and walk the trails and then head into “town” for the grocery store and a super delish family dinner out for ribs and brisket. We spoiled ourselves with that dinner - but it is highly unlikely we will ever attempt to make ribs on the boat.
We try to stay away from sitting down at a restaurant as it has recently become prohibitively expensive, so we always want to make it count. Our best hack to make everyone happy is to have a “grocery store happy hour”, where everyone gets to pick out either an ice cream from the store or a cold drink (cold drinks have been winning lately, after some very dodgy melted-and-refrozen ice creams in Squirrel Cove) and then we pick out a bag of chips that we’ve never tried before. We take our treats (usually totalling around $15 - the price of one cocktail at a sit-down restaurant) to the nearest beach or park and enjoy the spoils of our labour. It’s not super classy, but it’s something we all enjoy and it still feels special.
The kids continue to do well, together and on their own. These two have always been buddies, deep down, but all of this time together really is gonna test their friendship. Digory is in prime Annoying Little Brother stage, while Piper is reigning supreme in the Eye-roll Teenager stage, so it has potential to be a pretty lethal mix. But they are working it out. We’re learning that a lot of this parenting business, especially as they get into their teen years is to let them solve their own problems and don’t get involved. They will always come to us when it’s gets to a level they can’t solve, but when we get involved, it usually makes things worse.
We’ve been so grateful for the little quarter-berth we made for Piper and the curtains we have up for both of them. It’s not much, but it’s working!
After Quadra we made our way towards Campbell River for some nice grocery shopping and tourists sites, and then after a reeeeally rough trek south towards Comox (8 hours with the wind and WAVES on the nose). We are now in a spot that we can visit family and catch up and cousins can play and we can get a few more stock-up items at Costco before we head further south.
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