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Our first and last visit to the Arkansas Alligator Farm
After visiting the Arkansas Alligator Farm & Petting Zoo in Hot Springs, Ark., I finally understand what those Guzoo Animal Farm protesters are all up in arms about. Avery holds an alligator. Note...
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Off to the races!
When I was a kid I was obsessed with the Black Stallion series of books. I wanted to be Alec Ramsay and grow up to be a horse jockey and ride an Arabian in the Kentucky Derby. My dad told me that if I...
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Why I love the Amazing Race
I know season 22 of the Amazing Race wrapped up on Sunday night, but I didn’t watch the two hour finale until last night. It reminded me why I have continued watching this particular reality TV show...
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The open road
Summer break is almost here and I jump-started road trip season with a jaunt up to Red Deer from Calgary to dump the children with their grandparents (my amazing in-laws) for a long weekend while I...
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5 reasons to rediscover Heritage Park
It had been a of couple years since we visited Heritage Park Historical Village during summer with the kids in tow. While it was fun back then, I recalled a lot of walking, and some weird rule about...
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Cliff jumping in the Canadian Rockies
The first time we hiked up to Silver Spring Lakes near Elko, B.C., I thought I wasn’t going to make it. The sun beat down relentlessly; the children (then ages six and three) complained and the...
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Have dog will travel
It’s our first official trip with the dog. Piper, our Brittany spaniel puppy, is now five months old, and though she’s ridden in the car to Fernie once before, this B.C. road trip is our first real...
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Drink of the Week: Wine
You can’t really stay true to the cocktail thing if you’re in the middle of Canadian wine country. So if some place in Osoyoos — or anywhere in the Okanagan Valley, for that matter — is pouring, I’m...
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Up Indian Arm
For August long weekend we boarded a boat in the Deep Cove harbour in North Vancouver and motored up Indian Arm fjord to a cabin reachable only by water. It’s not off-the-grid-living, exactly — there’s...
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Gone fishin’!
The ocean water up Indian Arm north of Vancouver was “boiling” with pink salmon making their way up the fjord to spawn. You could see them jumping from the dock and it looked like easy pickings. We...
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Pet Beach
Kalamalka Lake near Vernon in the Okanagan Valley has been rated as one of the world’s top 10 most beautiful lakes by National Geographic. It is stunning — its clear blue waters that range in hue from...
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Stand up paddle boarding at Kalamalka Lake
I had been wanting to try SUP (the cool-kid acronym for stand up paddle boarding) ever since I saw bikini-clad teens making it look easy in Maui four years ago. So I was excited to see the large, flat...
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End of the road… trip
There’s always a sense of letdown coming home from a great holiday. Your excitement to sleep in a comfortable bed is tempered by your disappointment over trading scenic hikes and hot beach days for a...
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Just call me Miss France-y Pants
I had the good fortune of spending last week in Paris, Reims and Angers, France, with a group of Canadian travel, cocktail and fashion journalists, courtesy of Cointreau liqueur, Piper-Heidseick...
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Getaway to Island Lake Lodge
We go to Fernie a lot in the summer and have spent the past several years exploring the many hiking trails in the area. A favourite place to go has been Island Lake, a beautiful mountain lake located...
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Inglewood Bird Sanctuary “Flood Tour”
I am the first to roll my eyes at so-called “disaster tourism,” where people visit a place that’s been devastated by a natural disaster, such as New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, to see and take...
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Who knew it’s called Chi-Town?
The great thing about visiting a city for the first time is that everything is new. Every street leads to place you’ve never been before, whether it’s a famous monument, a hip restaurant or an urban...
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Down and out in Disneyland
Disneyland promotes itself as the “Happiest Place on Earth” and under normal circumstances — my belly stuffed full of churros after riding Space Mountain, or breezing through no line-up at the Pirates...
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Catskiing at Island Lake Lodge
How’s this for a powder fantasy — two days of catskiing on virgin slopes at one of B.C.’s premier operations: Island Lake Lodge. This dream became my reality for two days in December on assignment for...
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Marvelous Mount Norquay a hit for families
Back in the days before kids my husband Blake and I happily drove past local Banff ski hill Mount Norquay in favour of chasing powder and longer vertical at Sunshine Village or Lake Louise. But now...
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