Thursday, May 22, 2014

Bears, Beers & Birch Bay Beaches

This past weekend was the May Long weekend here in BC. May Long is always the start of the summer season and therefore one of my favorite holidays. Paul and I have been married for 4 years as of May 1st but this year hadn't had a chance to get away and celebrate so we decided that this weekend would be a celebration weekend. We were going to be going away one night and then making our normal weekend feel extra fun in little ways. 


Friday night we had friends over for a potluck and games night - lots of great food and some great game play. We had a good game - though I did not win. Hanne did though - she was amazing. 



Then we were up bright and early Saturday for a drive to Abbotsford - actually we were planning to be up early, then got a text saying we didn't need to be there until 10am - so we slept for an extra hour, made breakfast and then headed off at 9am. Lovely. We were going to watch Jodi at her skip rope competition. It was fun to see her do the thing she loves. 



We stuck around for a couple hours and joined Jodi for lunch, then we headed off for errands. Two weeks ago Paul was hunting and he got a bear - last week he dropped it off in Abbotsford at the Butchers and this week we got to go pick up the sausage - three types! Farmers, Garlic and Pepperoni. He was so happy! There was so much meat! The drive to go pick up the meat was pretty and we ran some errands before heading home. 




We got to rest at home for a while after we unloaded the groceries and the meat. Some napping and resting was very needed and made it feel like a restful time - even though it was normal life. Then we headed off for a friends birthday party: Bowling (I'm terrible), Spaghetti Factory and a movie (Godzilla - so good!) rounded out the party. Then we headed home, watched half of SNL and went to sleep. It felt a bit like a date night - which was fun. 

Sunday was sunny and bright - we were productive and restful! Then church and Transformations. It was a perfect start to what was going to be our big night away. 





Then we were off! We loaded up the car and made our way to the border. And we realized we'd forgotten one of our passports (we'd grabbed pauls usa one instead of mine) so we drove back home (half an hour) and back to the border (another half an hour) and crossed quickly. While we were annoyed at the extra time it took, at least this could finally solve the question: which route is fasted. We did time trials and determined that they are within minutes of each other and therefore not worth declaring a winner. 



We stopped at a pub for dinner since it was the only thing open at 10pm and we were STARVING, picked up snacks and drinks and then headed off to the resort we were staying at - Semiahmoo Resort. We were very pleased with the hotel when we arrived - and while the it was dark on the drive there we knew it would be beautiful and looked forward to seeing it all in the morning. 




The drink I grabbed for Paul that he loved - the guy at the counter described it as super American - moonshine meets mason jars meets apple pie. Paul was in patriotic love. 

In the morning we hit up the pool and hot tub - we practiced diving and swam laps and rested. We played in the water for some time and felt like kids again. We loved it. The resort itself was really nice also. We were impressed with the location and would definitly go back!



We took advantage of it's point location and took a walk around on the beaches and under a pier. Paul even got to sit in a rocking chair for a while - his favorite. It was so warm out - we were happy!



Then we headed into Bellingham - we had some errands to run. Rather than take I5 straight there we meandered down side roads and looked at estate sales and other such things along the way. Finally we hit up Olive Garden for lunch and then did our shopping as fast as we could. The drive out from the resort was so lovely.



After we were done all the boring work stuff it was only 4pm. We knew we didn't want to go back home yet and the border lines were really long already - since it was a holiday Monday in Canada. So we took the opportunity to drive to Birch Bay and hit up the beach! You can see here that we took lots of random routes and explored. We enjoyed that so much. 




Birch Bay and Semiahmoo are less than 15 minutes apart - both are great places to go for a beach vacation - we will definitely be back. 



We got to Birch Bay with our frisbee, shorts and tank tops and some beer and proceeded to have the best afternoon - we kept saying to each other that we couldn't believe it was this nice out. We talked about our dreams and our hopes and where God was calling us in this season. We played Frisbee on the beach and in the ocean! The water so warm - I was soaked by the time we left but didn't care. 



Finally around 7 we started to get hungry - so we headed off towards Bellingham and the highway to Sumas. We wanted to take the Sumas border crossing to avoid the traffice (only a 6 minute wait!) and on the way to Sumas is a Taco truck I've been wanting to take Paul to AND some great spots to stop for Mexican Crispitos. We ate our Taco's in the setting sun and were even more happy than we could imagine. 





By the time we arrived back in Vancouver it was 10pm. Late for a work night (especially since I had to make lunches and Paul had to unload the car still) BUT it was so worth it. Idyllic is the word we kept using the describe the time away. It was so so so lovely. We came home happy and in love and rested. We had quality Paul and Tara time (which we need living with so many others!) and great time with God as well. 

All in all - the anniversary weekend was a success!! Definitely a time we will try to recreate in the future!

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