Weekend Report: Surf and Snow

No, surf and snow didn’t happen on the same weekend -at least not this time around. I’m combining two trips into one post, because I’ve been awol for too long! A nasty head cold combined with a crappy internet connection have resulted in very little blog stuff happening lately. But it’s sunny out, the cold is nearly gone, and I am sitting in a coffee shop that provides much better internets than I have at home right now. Soon, I will be posting an eerie window into my inner thoughts -something I wrote while being swept up in the wind at the beach last week. But for now, something a little more down to earth.

Tofino Time!

I was lucky enough to spend the remembrance day long weekend in Tofino, renting a house with a bunch of awesome friends (and one awesome baby friend). Since I have finally acquired all the necessary wetsuit for winter surfing (bought the gloves to complete the outfit on this trip), and a friend was nice enough to let me borrow his (smallest) longboard (ever), I expected to be surfing a lot -no rental required. Unfortunately, I woke up Saturday morning with a wicked head cold, which lingers still, so plans changed a little.

Luckily, the weather rocked, I wasn’t the only one in the group avoiding the waves, and there’s plenty to do in Tofino that doesn’t involve sinus-cleansing frolicks in the surf. I went for a run with one fit girl from our house to Cox Bay, along a great shared pathway beside the highway. There were lots of beach walks and sand dollar collecting to be done, and who doesn’t love a trip (or three) to Common Loaf Bakery, Wildside Grill or Tacofino?

I did manage a quick (attempted) surf session Sunday morning (excellent cure for stuffy heads, hangovers and rejection), where weird waves tumbled me all over the place, but I nonetheless revelled in the fresh air, salt water, and ability of my wetsuit to keep me from freezing to death -at least for a little while.

Something about evergreens, smooth sand and stormy ocean all together will never get old. And being able to spend this time with friends who will inevitably move on one day to more family-oriented activities is precious.

First Tracks!

This past Saturday, I headed up to Red Heather with a couple of awesome girls for the first ski of the season. Two of us were on skis, and one was on…trail runners. There wasn’t actually enough snow for snowshoes. Or for skiing all the way out. There were some bare patches, and a lot of rocks, but we had a good run around the halfway mark where the snow was just deep enough and beautifully soft. Great conversation, good exercise and the ability to get out there on a pretty nice day made up for lack of coverage. And the shelter was packed -we weren’t the only ones raring to get out there.