An Impromptu Holiday to Tofino for Bigger Waves...

We just returned from a trip to Tofino. This all came about last week when I took Horse Girl (now 12) to the ocean. She literally was in the water from the time we arrived until the time we left -- only coming out for food and a Johnny Pop from the concession. The tide was sooooo fun that day. *Elapsed time in water was a mind-blowing six and a half hours.

The next day, she asked to go again but to this time bring her bestie. Two days later, we were back at the ocean -- with bestie and bestie's little sister. As soon as the car parked, they took off to the water only to come out for food (they couldn't even sit down to eat, and instead stood at their bags shoveling snacks in their mouths before running off to the ocean again) and a stop at Yogen Fruz. *Elapsed time in the water was 3.0 hours.

Back to our first day at the ocean and how we got to Tofino...

While she was in the water, I read the Spring 1991 edition of Beautiful British Columbia magazine (why not?). It highlighted Tofino, BC and Clayoquat Sound. A gentle knowing started to breeze through my cells.

Now, I am not much for traveling to places where we don't know anyone. We go to where our friends and family are to laugh, connect and tell stories. Tofino is somewhere tourists go to consume and take surf lessons later exclaiming, "so, yeah, we went to Tofino this year. It was a nice trip and now we are back to ho-hum." We are not those people; however, life is challenging and when you have a little person who is growing into a bigger person it is your responsibility to keep them active and engaged in life. They need to move their bodies, laugh everyday, create, socialize, have healthy challenges and be a part of things.

Second day at the ocean...

I read another article from the same Beautiful British Columbia magazine -- two brothers on a 350km canoe journey. There were no urges for a canoe journey after reading this article, but the urge for Tofino was still present. This, perhaps, was the answer I had been seeking. You see, her bestie and bestie's little sister (the ones in the water with her) were moving in four days. About to be removed from her list of people to hang out with each week and onto the list of people to visit on our quality-over-quantity holidays.

Witnessing Horse Girl log her eighth, tenth -- eleventh hour in the Ocean that week, I knew I was going to take this little person, who was turning into a bigger person, to Tofino. She needs bigger waves and an epic transition to her new life without bestie. So, I opened myself to the possibility -- and everything fell into place:






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