A much needed weekend away!

McKenzie Beach footsteps from our resort

On Friday I made a last minute decision to go away for the weekend.  It took me two hours on the phone and I managed to get us booked into Parksville at Pacific Shores for Saturday night, and then into Crystal Cove Resort in Tofino for Sunday night.  I got the last rooms at both places! Everything was sold out due to the Family Weekend holiday.

We checked into Pacific Shores Saturday at 13:30, we go here every two years for a week, because my Mom owns a timeshare here. The kids are very familiar with the property and all they wanted to do was swim which was perfect. We had a huge unit that we have never stayed in before, and I was so thrilled to have a jacuzzi tub with a fireplace none the less!  I made dinner reservations at the restaurant and I got a groupon deal for us for dinner.  The food was no hell and neither was the service so I was really happy to be heading to the spa after dinner.  I got the last appointment and they squeezed me in for a 30minute rejuvenating facial.  It was worth every second! It was an all around relaxing afternoon and evening and we were all excited about heading to Tofino in the morning. 
We were packed into the van and on the road by 9:08am.  We were looking at a 2.5 hour drive so we settled in and cruised along.  The road to Tofino is treacherous and winding for about 80kms so I gripped the "Holy Shit Handle" as Phil calls it and prayed we would get there in one piece!
The drive was worth every heart stopping second......
The resort was fantastic and we were all starving so we walked over to the Wildside Grill, it was about a 15 minute walk from the resort, located in a hippie surfer village shop stop, and came highly recommended by my fellow foodie friend Diane.  We made it our first order of business.  WOWZAS! We loved it!  There were burgers and chowders and fresh tortillas tacos and so much more....We had fish tacos, pork carnita tacos, poutine, fresh cut fries.  It was amazing. It was high tide so we decided to drive into the town of Tofino and walked all around and looked in all the shops and investigated the town.  We headed back to the resort so we could explore the beach and look for starfish and sand dollars.  It was fantastic and fun.  It was quite crisp so we were a bit chilly so all the kids wanted to head into our private hot tub, so we all got in and they had a nice dip and played around for ages. They were especially taken with the 6 different colours of lights and the waterfall in it.  We brought all the stuff to have a fabulous BBQ steak dinner with baked potatoes and Caesar salad, so we had a late dinner.  It was really delicious and relaxing eating in the cabin in front of the fireplace.  I even had a BEER! It was great. 
Today Phil and I had a morning hot tub and then the kids had one too! I went ala nakedness, Phil's to shy to do that.  Of course I flashed half of the neighbouring people LOL. Why not it was $300/night so we took full advantage!
We wanted to get to Long Beach and head down island before 2ish so we didn't have to drive the dreaded Malahat in the dark. So we had to get a move on so we could get more fish tacos, of course! Again Wildside did not disappoint! Then we spent the next hour in the hippie surfer village watching a local glass making artist blow glass and make three different glass pieces.  It was mesmerising and the kids didn't want to leave.  We managed to pull them away and head to Long Beach, which did not let us down.  We ran from the waves and walked along the water edge it was cold and windy, it was beautiful. I love taking photos so I was in my glory with the beautiful beach scapes and taking pictures of the kids is so much fun.
I have put a collection of my photos on my FB page along with the few I have posted here.
It was a much needed weekend retreat.