July 12, 2006 | Tips from Us >
Squamish, Camping
The kids and I woke up last Saturday to a beautiful sunny day, and decided to go on a spontaneous overnight camping trip. Knowing that many of the BC Parks camping grounds would be full, we headed out on one of the logging roads just north of
Squamish, and camped for free along the Squamish River. We drove past our usual camping locale and, lucky for us, found a campers dream come true – a perfect spot equipped with leftover firewood, a raised fire pit, easy access to the glacial-fed river and its sandbars, complete privacy, and a mountain view of two receding glaciers complete with waterfalls. Not bad for a 2 ½ hour drive from Vancouver (not counting the stop in Squamish to watch rock-climbing on the Chief and to fill our cooler with marshmallows, popcorn, hot dogs, ketchup, hot chocolate, and other mandatory camping fare).
Camping along B.C.’s logging roads doesn’t require a 4x4 – our little Mazda Protégé did just fine going 60 km/hour on the relatively smooth gravel road (I was pretending I was on a road rally!). Ironically, I got a flat tire on the newly paved highway on the way to Squamish (putting on spare and mandatory stop at Canadian Tire also not counted in our 2 ½ hour timecount… and thank you to the two cars who stopped to help), and yet made it through 40 miles of logging road unscathed. Check out this link for more info on
free camping in B.C.
If you are interested in seeing the mountains and glaciers on-the-move, the Squamish River has also become quite the hot spot for
river rafting. We saw four expeditions heading to the river as we were heading home.
July 12, 2006 | Tips from Us >
Victoria, Dining
Find more information about Victoria - Dining
That was the question Sunday morning after Canada Day. We chose to benny, and by this I mean indulge in heart-stopping eggs benedict for breakfast. I am a big fan of breakfast, and when I travel I like to eat in unique, greasy-spoon joints. You know the place I mean – long line-ups, stuff on the walls, old music and an endless flow of coffee being poured by a woman who calls you “honey.” In the case of our Canada Day weekend trip to
Victoria, we found two delightful diners.
The first day we stopped at
John’s Place. The lineup was 20 minutes long, the walls were filled with celebrity (and not-so-celebrity) pictures, posters of rock stars and sports memorabilia, and the music stuck with us for the rest of the day. The waitress kept filling our coffee cups even though we said we had enough… a few times. She addressed us as “daahh-lings.” My veggie benny was $8.95, came with a heaping mound of hash browns, and could have used a bit more hollandaise sauce, but really, isn't that a given?
Superman, Charlie Chaplin and Marilyn Monroe all grace the menu at our second-day stop, Floyd’s Place. The building is appropriately painted pink. My stomach couldn’t take another benny, so I ordered the $3.95 traditional – eggs, hash browns and toast – which also came with a heaping mound of seasoned oh-so-yummy carbs. Floyd’s has a sunny outdoor patio and the inside is comfortably decorated with deep couches, bright walls and a lively fish tank for the kids. I dare you to order the Mahoney – you get what the kitchen prepares and you can either pay the original price or flip them for it – double or nothing! No lineup that day and located at the corner of Pandora and Yates.