Americanuck

As much as I’m bummed that we can’t leave the Province for our Summer vacation, I think we picked a winner for our mini getaway. The choice we were facing was stay in a so-so place for longer, or a really nice place for a just a few days. I’m a teeny bit of a snob when it comes to accommodations so nicer and shorter won out. The requirements were still in BC, a water view, a balcony and somewhere relax-y where decompression is the name of the game. I have a lot of compression I need to umm “de” so no squalling kids and no party people (ugh like in Kelowna a few years ago with the “WHOOHOOO” people outside our hotel window at 3 am).

I’m a big fan of the review site Tripadvisor.com. Yeah, some of the reviews are coloured with personal experience rather than with an objective eye, but as long as you read all the reviews you can get a pretty good idea what a place is like. I also know that number one on Tripadvisor doesn’t necessarily mean the nicest as some people will boost a place up for being half-way decent but CHEAP. I’m certainly not opposed to saving a buck or two but rarely at the expense of my peace of mind (see above comment about being a snob).

We also found in our search for a nice resort that the word resort itself is used rather broadly here. I mean to me a place where you need to pack in your own accommodation (tent) is not a resort, it is a campsite. Ok, sure you have indoor toilets, working showers and some communal buildings but that my friend does not a RESORT make. There were some other places that had Yurts which were maybe a BIG step up on your own nylon tent, not really the experience we were looking for. I like walls.

Some of the nice places in Tofino though gorgeous, were booked up or crazy expensive so we gave up on finding something on the West Coast of Vancouver Island and started looking at the East Coast, closer to Victoria. We wanted to hit up Victoria anyway and hey though we wouldn’t get to see the wilder ocean water, it would save gas right?

Downtown Victoria has some nice places, but that wouldn’t really fit the relax-y bill. There is a place in Sidney BC (about 30 mins outside of Victoria) called the Sidney Pier Hotel and Spa which looks pretty nice but it still didn’t quite seem to hit the mark, though I would love to check it out when we’re there for future reference. It was starting to look like we were never going to find a place when all the stars lined up and we got our winner.

Yeah, it’s a bay view but it still qualifies as water view and they have their own balconies. Though the best part? People under the age of 16 are discouraged. Score! It is far enough away from Victoria to be relaxing, but close enough to do the touristy thing if we want to. There is even a water taxi right from the hotel to the Butchart Gardens which is on the must-see list for the trip. Add to all that we got a great deal on a deluxe ocean view room so we didn’t end up paying full price. Score score!

Before we head out and officially “relax” we have our week long purge-o-rama to look forward to. I have been eyeballing the place trying to figure out what will go, what will stay and what needs boxing away. I really want to add some colour to the place having been surrounded by too much darn beige and brown for the last few years. I think that was my reaction to having been forced to live with the unfortunate Pepto-Bismol coloured walls from my old rental. Add that to rose coloured furniture? Yeah, blech!

See!! ^^^^^

My gorgeous Joe Average print really needs to get framed and hung (yeah I’m BAD I’ve had it for a long time already) and after how many years, actually maybe get some curtains hung so we’re not just staring at blinds. We probably won’t accomplish a fraction of what I want to do, but the purge alone will help. At the very least the goal is to make room for us to put away the stuff that is cluttering the living space that should be out of sight (umm like the vacuum) . That alone will make this girl happy.

So bring it on baby! Only one more week of work to get through. It will be a busy one no doubt, but there is a reward at the end of it and damn if we don’t deserve it. Big time.