.excation part 7 .07.27.16.

All good things must come to an end, and unfortunately our excation was coming to a close. After a long week of exploring (and spending too much money) we chose to have one last beach day before we started the long journey home! 

One thing I didn't know about Vernon BC before this trip, is that lots of beaches are not dog friendly! Which proves very difficult when you have two chihuahua's with you and no where to leave them. Luckily we found a beach that allowed dogs. Cosens Bay in Kalmalka Lake Provincial park allowed dogs, how perfect; it's my favorite lake in the Okanagan! 

Turns out the website forgot to mention that this beach wasn't accessible by car. In fact, you have to park about 3 KM's away and walk down to the beach. We learned this after foolishly following Google Maps. We were wayyy up the hill, and all of a sudden Google chimed in informing us we had arrived... 

This is what we saw... Technically we had arrived, we were just above the bay, with a very steep hill down and no parking in sight! So we carried on along the winding road that lead down to some cottages along the lake. Luckily we saw a lady walking and asked her how to get down to the beach. She told us about the long walk from the parking lot and warned us about rattlesnakes.. Which I also didn't know Vernon had! 

Once we found the parking lot we were supposed to be at we began our walk down to the beach! The path let through a big field passing the road we drove in on many times! That would have been nice to know ahead of time 😞  

Kal lake is absolutely stunning and the beach was definitely worth the walk! It was nice and secluded and the water was super refreshing! It was the perfect way to spend the day soaking up the sun one last time before I had to go back to the great north! 

Since we figured out the path crossed the road a few times we decided it would be much smarter if only one of us walked the full way to the car. Since M can't drive my standard car I carried half of our gear while she would bring the dogs and the other half of the gear to the point where the path crosses the road. It was a good idea except it was +37 outside!! I was dying! So I stashed the bags along the road and picked them up on my drive back to pick up M! 

After a stop to get some Ice cold water we headed off to Revelstoke! Mom had been lecturing us about not taking any pictures of what we were doing, so when we went to the "Giant Cedars Boardwalk" we spammed her phone with tons of pictures of us on the board walk! 

After that small detour we headed to Canyon Hot Springs for the night! After sleeping in a tent for a week and a bit we were both pretty sore! Plus it's chilly in the mountains at night so it was the perfect way to warm up before heading to bed! 

We woke up early the next morning to some mangy squirrels throwing pine-cones at our tent. Tia and Mia were not impressed, so M and I packed up and headed off on our 7 hour drive back to my house. It was a long day in the car but it went by pretty quickly. 

And just like that my Ex-cation was over. I'd like to say that it helped me move on completely and I was totally okay. But breakups take time, and unfortunately running away and spoiling yourself doesn't actually help you accomplish much moving on. At best it was a really well disguised band-aid that made me look like I was okay. One day though, one day it'll be different; just have to keep moving.

.excation part 4 .07.24.16.

The thing about a spontaneous road-trip to the Okanagan, campsites are usually full. We spent most of this trip setting up and taking down our campsite quite regularly! That pop-up tent came in handy for the amount of times we had to switch campsites along the way (4)

Today was a pretty fun adventure! Once we were all packed up and had some breakfast (timmies fueled our breakfast needs for the trip as we had ZERO camp cooking supplies, no room!)

M and I set off to Chase, BC to go ziplining at Tree Top Flyers. Google maps, let me tell you, the amount of times it led us astray on our trips was astounding; but hey it just adds to the adventure! There's two ways to get to Chase from Vernon, one is alone nice highways winding around the mountains. The other is a farmers road through the mountains. The drive ended up having some beautiful views along the way! Lots of ohhh's and ahhhh's from the passenger seat as I tried to predict which way the narrow road was going to wind next!!

Once we got to three top flyers there was loads of adrenaline for us!! We started out doing the Zip-line's! This particular Zip-line takes you over a waterfall! The view was absolutely stunning!! There was 1 practice Zip-line at the office to get you in the groove of zipping, and then you loaded up into a van and drove up the mountain!! Now, M is terrified of winding/steep drop off roads, so naturally she picked the window seat that let her have the best view of the narrow steep road you drive up to the main ziplines!!

We went down 3 ziplines that all went over a waterfall. It was absolutely beautiful and loads of fun! On one of the ziplines they let us hang upside down which was super fun! The views were amazing and at the end we got to go for a little stroll up to view the water falls!!

After the ziplines we headed back to the "office" where they had a 50 foot free fall! You stood on the edge of a platform and fell straight backwards! You fell at a very controlled rate but it was still quite thrilling!!

Then came the "screaming eagle swing" and let me tell you, did we ever scream (mostly M though). The swing is 100ft tall and you free fall for about 40/50 feet till the swing catches you! We were 100ft in the air with our feet dangling, I got the thumbs up from the guide below so I pulled the cord! It was so exciting and terrifying at the same time, I LOVED it!! M was screaming in my ear and the warm summer wind blowing in my face!! It was an amazing moment I won't soon forget. The initial free fall was extremely thrilling and the swinging back and forth taking in the beautiful sights of the mountains was so peaceful! I highly recommend it if you're every traveling through small town Chase BC!

Once we were all done our adrenaline rush we set back on our winding mountain road singing at the top of our lungs with the windows down and the summer wind blowing our hair all around!

After the campsite was all set up we tossed on our bathing suits and went straight to the beach! We floated on the water until the sun started going down.  

It was a perfect day full of screams, laughter and adventure!

.excation part 3 .07.22.16.

The next morning we woke up and went to the Kalmalka Lake lookout, we chatted about how badly we both wanted to live there. The lake is abosolutely gorgeous and the summer heat 😍. We spent most of the day talking about the benefits of moving to beautiful Vernon, and planning how we could make that dream a reality!

Something you should know about me is that I LOVE heritage towns, so naturally I wanted to visit the Heritage ranch in Vernon! M and I got to go on a horseback tour of the O'Keefe Ranch! We had both been talking about how we wanted to get back in to horse back riding,and this was the perfect opportunity!

It was a cute morning! We strolled around the grounds admiring the buildings and the history. They had tons of livestock around the ranch, our personal favorite was a 3 month old baby goat! He was jumping and flipping all over the place, putting on a show no doubt! 

Later that afternoon we met up with some friends who just recently moved to Vernon! We went down to the beach and played in the waves (it wasn't the best weather for the beach, but the company was fantastic). It was nice seeing a friendly face in Vernon, and I've always admired this couple for their determination to do what they want to do; not just dream about what they want to do! We chatted about life, and how much they loved Vernon so far. I'll admit I'm a little jealous of them! I want to live there too; maybe one day! 

They gave me some much needed advise about how things always get better, this hard time I was going through was just a stepping stone. This couple is a real inspiration in my life, they are very strong in the church and have a very loving family. I hope one day my life is a lot like theirs. 

After visiting for a few hours we headed back to our campsite to take a dip in the pool! Relaxing nights at the campsite are my personal favorite part of Adventures! There is just something so "warm and fuzzy" feeling about being with your friends and family in the woods!

This night proved to be less relaxing though, we decided to watch a scary movie called "The Forrest". It's a horror movie predominately about being in a tent, in the forest. Which is what M and I were sleeping in! I maintained my tough exterior but I will admit I was a little scared at a few parts! (It also didn't help that I had a friend texting me and warning me about traveling alone, and the dangers of being raped and killed)

Relaxing hey??

.excation part 2 .07.21.16.

The Revelstoke mountain coaster was next on the list!! Now, some advice for people wanting to do this coaster; go early in the day and plan for a long wait! Unfortunately we were unaware of this and we ended up strolling around Revelstoke for 3 hours waiting for our number! Also you should know that you can get tickets from Costco for cheaper, and you're able to go up and down the gondola all day; which would have been nice to know!

(This trip was pre-picture taking so these are the only pictures I have from that day)

The coaster was loads of fun, and not scary at all--- despite the terrifying description of the coaster on the website.

M and I were so worried that it was gonna be really scary, those fears were quickly melted away when a 5 year old girl went all on her own before us. No breaks right mom? (She was heckling us not to be sissy's)

That night we pitched our pop-up tent in Vernon! It was getting pretty late so once we were all set up we decided to go to the movies!! Now, if you know me in real life you know that I have two chihuahua's. Bringing dogs along on a road trip can prove pretty difficult but luckily my girls are "travel sized". They fit perfectly in a big purse or a "Hawaii" string backpack! So M and I smuggled them into the movies with us and they slept on our laps.

It was a good day.

.excation part 1 .07.20.16.

I recently went through a pretty tough break-up (at least for me it was) for purposes of this post I will refer to him as Pid...

It was a Tuesday night and I was crying on my parents living room couch, I was heart broken and completely crushed. I had just spent the past few months wasting my time with Pid; who never cared about me from the beginning. I feel like we all want that one person to care about you the way you think they should, but the hard truth is that sometimes you just have to let Peter Pan fly away and try not to look back.

As I sat on the couch dreading the week of tears ahead I decided I don't need to feel that way about someone who doesn't deserve my tears at all. Around 7pm on Tuesday night I decided I wanted to go to Vernon BC! I had been there the past summer and fell in love with the gorgeous Kalamalka lake! What better way to forget Pid then lounging on the beach soaking up the Okanagan sun?!

I hollered down the stairs, "pack your bags M lets go to Vernon!!"

My parents have a nifty little Pop-up tent, which they graciously let me and my sister borrow. We made the smart decision of setting up the tent and attempting to taking it down before heading off on our trip! (We also had a back up tent in case we didn't like the pop-up one)

2 face-time calls to dad and about 15 youtube videos of how to fold up this stupid tent later we were finally packed up and ready to go! Just like that my adventurous, spontaneous spirit was lifted. We pumped the music and chatted about what we wanted to do on our "Ex-cation"

The first stop worth mentioning was visiting K, she was camping that weekend in Kananaskis!

K was there for me through the entire Pid emotional roller-coaster, it only seemed right to get a big warm hug from my best friend to heal my hurting heart! We chatted and went for a short stroll down to the lake! The water was freezing, but that didn't stop us from having a mini photo shoot on the beach!

After another long hug goodbye we left K and continued on our journey!