Down the west coast – part one

Earlier this year I drove from Tofino on Vancouver Island all the way down the coast to San Diego. I took the coastal highways most of the way going back and forth between the 101 and the 1. I tried to stay as close to the coast as possible from Canon Beach all the way down. I only just now realized that I hadn’t posted a single thing about it. So here we go!

Vancouver and Squamish, BC

After my company meetup in Whistler, Stephane, Dean, and I made a quick stop near Squamish for a few photos of the crazy people who took the hard way to the meetup.

Then, Stephane and I headed to Lighthouse Park in Vancouver to do a bit of wandering, climbing, and swimming.

After, we wandered back up north of Squamish where we found a great camp site for the night. We also ended up making damper (mostly) successfully for the first time!

Then it was time for Stephane to go our separate ways. He headed back all the way across Canada to Montreal to see his family and his pups.

After some hugs and tears, I went on to meet my friends and coworkers Sheri and Chris in Squamish. Sheri, Chris, Kelly (not there this time), and I tend to randomly hike or bike with each other all over the world. No planning involved. We ended up doing a short hike on the Chief. We hit a pretty good brewery after. Such a cool place!

Tofino, BC

After Squamish, I had a few days to kill so I headed up to Tofino. Check out my post on surfing in Tofino.

Bowen Island, BC

Post Tofino, I stayed with a good friend and coworker, Enej and his family on Bowen Island. Getting there from Tofino wasn’t the easiest and required two ferries. Both were filled with stunning scenery. When I got there, I was met with one heck of a surreal sunset.

I coworked with Enej the few days I was there out of his house, on a beach, and in some coffee shops. We even did some work with a few deer right next to us. We took time to hike around the island fairly often since there was such good weather.

Bowen Island is an inspiring place. I got a ton of work done along with a nifty side project Enej and I built out in a couple evenings.

Vancouver, BC

I didn’t spend too much time in Vancouver, but I did get to see two of my favorite people, Kirk and Joey. We worked out of a space called Hive (I think). After a couple days there, I head back to the US after about a month of wandering some amazing parts of Canada. ❤️

Seattle, WA

I ended up staying with my family while I was there initially. We ended up going on a few hikes and visiting some of my favorite spots. We took the monorail to the EMP (rock and roll, scifi, and horror museum), Pike’s, and Fry’s (there’s no Fry’s in Denver, so it’s awesome to check out).

I also took the opportunity to work out of our Automattic Seattle office a couple of the days with Brooke and Beau. Both are awesome to work with.

Portland, OR

I headed down to Portland for a few days to wander around the city a bit with Meg and Carlos. I was too distracted by all the food and drink to take any photos. Shame on me. I did stop in at Powell’s book store and holy heck is that place massive. It could also use some serious wayfinding design improvements. It was extremely difficult to navigate.

Damascus, OR

I met a coworker of mine in Damascus. Derek and Heather graciously let me stay with them on their farm and meet the goats, the dog pack, and the flock of chickens. They even have a greenhouse filled with unbelievable carnivorous plants! It’s a fantastic place.