Monday night we left Seattle and headed to Vancouver. We stopped at the border, declared our mace, had it destroyed, and stayed the night in Vancouver. Upon crossing the border I had a moment of panic when I realized I had no idea what anything in kilometers was to miles-our phones didn’t work so we just decided to go with traffic-except there wasn’t any since it was midnight. Luckily minutes later I realized kilometers were also on my speedometer-slight blonde moment.
Mom and I stayed in the Downtown Vancouver HI Hostel. We luckily had a private room since it was so late. The difficult part about booking online is you have no idea about the area. The street seemed fine both at night and in the morning but the front desk had bars from the countertop to the ceiling and our beds were as hard as a rock. We did get a room at the end of the hall and it was spacious but the quality wasn’t the best. I would recommend checking out one of the other locations in Vancouver.
Tuesday morning we headed to Café Medina for breakfast-known for its lavender lattes and Belgian waffles. It was delicious and an added bonus was that everyone in the place was gorgeous. Vancouver has a GOOD gene pool!
Mom and I split the Paella, I had a Lavender Latte, and we split a waffle with a berry compote, and salted caramel sauce.
We left shortly after to catch the ferry from Tsawwassen to the intended Nanaimo. We had been talking about visiting Victoria and there was a ferry leaving for Victoria only 15 minutes after the Nanaimo ferry so we decided to take it! We waited for maybe 45 minutes in the line before loading. They have a nice visitor center at this location with WiFi, Starbucks, tourist, and food shops.
Our ferry ride was beautiful! We had taken the 12:45 ride and it was sunny. We found front row seats on the top level which has a glass barrier to keep the wind out. We ventured outside once to take pictures and it was freezing!
We arrived in Victoria and were starving so we walked around and found a seafood place right on the water. Victoria is a beautiful town-almost European down some of the streets with pubs and cobblestone. We went to The Docks for dinner – a waterfront seafood restaurant. The food was delicious and we watched the sun go down as our waitress told us how our night was about to get very interesting.
Our hostel for the night was located in Tofino-a town with one road in and one road out. This was the place I was looking forward to the most on our trip. Our waitress told us from Victoria to Nanaimo we would have to drive on one of the most dangerous roads in the world. She said it was a steep road that twisted and turned up a mountain and came back down. It was already dark and we weren’t exactly pleased to hear this. Since our decision to come to Victoria instead of Nanaimo was last minute, no research was done on the roads or conditions we had to pass to get to our destination. We had a 4 hour drive in front of us and were picturing the worst. My headlight was out so I had been driving at night with my brights on so I took the lead. I was picturing these roads in National Geographic that were hairpin turns with drop-offs hundreds of feet down. We headed out with Suz in my car and mom in the other as tensions were already high and we all know how driving with our parents make us feel.
An hour and a half later we arrived in Nanaimo and were like “That was it?!” The roads were wide and double lanes. We wondered if the waitress was just trying to scare us, if she had ever driven other than on the island, and finally if we misunderstood and were NOW going to start the difficult drive to Tofino. We stopped at Tim Horton’s to refuel and headed on the last leg of our journey. This drive was gorgeous and yes more treacherous than the first with slight snowfall and lots of elevation gain and descent. Even in the darkness we could tell it was insanely beautiful-tall trees covered in snow, large lakes, and a wide open road. We arrived in Tofino shortly after 11:30pm which was when the office closed. Thankfully they were closing up and able to check us in and give us the run down. We passed out.
The next morning I came downstairs to what I imagine Alaska to be. Our hostel was right on the water-a log cabin style looking out to the water. A puddle jumper was loading up on the dock, boats were coming in and out, and tree covered mountains bordered the water. We extended our stay for another night.
We walked downtown for breakfast and ate at the Rhino Café- a cute coffee shop with great breakfast burritos, donuts, and coffee. Right next door was Pacific Surf Company which I had researched so we went in and talked to them and reserved a surfing lesson for the next day. We went down and checked out the beach and then went for a short hike in an old growth rainforest located in the Pacific Rim National Park. It was just cold enough for there to be a layer of ice/frost on the wooden walkways and we did some fancy footwork. We came back to the same beach – Cox Bay and watched the sunset. We stopped by Chocolate Tofino and picked up some chocolate surfboards before going back to the hostel to clean up.
For dinner we headed to SoBo, an incredible healthy restaurant with an amazing chef. After dinner Suz and I played some pool and met a few travelers from Ireland and Germany.
The next morning we headed back to Rhino Café for a breakfast burrito before our surf lesson. We met our instructors in the parking lot at Cox Bay and slid on our cold and still wet – wetsuits. This was Thanksgiving morning in Canada. The water was 50* and felt like 30*. We headed out to the water after our land instruction and on came the brain freezes. Every time a set came we had to turtle roll 2 or 3 times in a row. Coldest surf ever. Our instructors were awesome and we had a photographer as well. Definitely one of the most memorable days for me!
Our hostel allowed us to come back and shower before we left. We ate our Thanksgiving meal at Tacofino Cantina – a delicious little permanent taco truck that had a continuous line the whole time we were there. Then on our way we went.
We had plenty of time to catch our ferry once we arrived in Nanaimo. Our ferry was an 8pm ride to Vancouver. We didn’t even leave the dock until past 10. One of Canada’s best and brightest tried to drive a trailer with an oversized CAT (?) which happened to get hung up on the ceiling. We had to wait for fire truck squad to come and remove the CAT, then switch ferries and finally head out. We did get free beverages complimentary of the delay. Thankfully we were just staying at a friends in Vancouver for the night and didn’t have any plans that evening.
The next morning Mom and I were off to Whistler for 2 days and the rest of the girls were heading home. We said our goodbyes and started up the Sea-to-Sky Highway to Whistler. We arrived a couple hours later and walked around a bit and ate lunch at Naked Sprout. We had a pear curry soup with rice and bananas- I highly recommend. We then met up with our driver who was taking us to the dogsledding site. We got in a van with 4 other people and drove to the dogsledding site. The majority of the business side of Blackcomb Snowmobile is located in a large yurt. We went inside and got a run down of our session, geared up, and went to meet the dogs. Because Whistler is so much warmer than Alaska, purebred Husky dogs would overheat running in such “warm” temperatures. Our dogs were a mix of greyhound, husky, and labs. Mom and I had an awesome instructor who seemed to be the most experienced. This was only their second day of the season so the dogs had lots of energy! Maybe 10 minutes into our adventure our instructor taught me how to drive and mom was able to on the way back. We stopped at an opening to let the dogs rest and allowed us to take some pictures, ask questions, and give the dogs some love. When our ride was over we gave all the dogs a treat and went inside the yurt for hot cider and homemade cookies. This was an AWESOME bucket list experience I 100% recommend!
Mom and I walked around downtown Whistler and I did a little shopping as it was Black Friday. We grabbed a bite at the famous Zog’s and had Canadian Poutine (Fries covered in gravy, cheese curds, and a sausage) and a Beaver Tail (fried dough with cinnamon and sugar). We checked in at our Hostel and crashed early. Our hostel was located in the Olympic Village and was also where some the Olympians stayed when the 2010 Olympics took place. Mom and I got a private room again and really enjoyed our stay. It was modern, clean, and quiet.
The next morning we went to Wild Wood Café across the road from our hostel and it was a great find – away from the bustle of the main village. I had a huge mocha and we shared an eggs benedict with avocado and pancakes. Mom and I went back downtown and checked out the art and craft festival going on that day. It was in a large banquet hall and small businesses had their food, art, crafts, and clothes out for sale. We wandered around eating samples and picked up a few souvenirs. We headed to the Green Moustache for lunch and had a butternut squash soup with a fresh pressed juice. Another great place to eat! Finally we were off to our main attraction of the day – the Scandinave Spa. This is an outdoor spa mainly. The whole area restricts cell phones and talking. You first soak in the hot water or sit in a sauna, then you jump in a freezing pool for 30 seconds (we made it maybe 5), and then you relax in your robe by the fire. We went through this process twice before it was time for our Swedish Massage. Best. Massage. Ever.
The next morning Mom and I drove back to California. We had a GREAT vacation and it was SO nice to spend time with some really good friends. If you ever get a chance- GO TO TOFINO! Coolest little town ever! Spend your next Thanksgiving on adventure with some close friends. I promise it will be more memorable than the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Get out there and explore!
the nomadic nanny 
I have to agree, this was THE most memorable Thanksgiving I’ve had in a looooong time! Was awesome traveling with you!