This week-end my friend invited me down to a cottage where she was staying in the ocean-side town of Parksville. I jumped at the chance for a night away to recharge.
We planned it as a scrapbooking night and day, with lots of time to chat as well. I arrived late evening and left around 5 the next evening, so we had a good length of time. Lots of scrapbooking got done, including a mini album that I completed for my son, titled Summer 2008.
The cottage is at a resort along the shore, and we took time to enjoy the views and go for a walk. The cottage itself is small, although that wasn’t a problem with only two of us and no children running around!
It was very quiet, as I went down on the Sunday and stayed for the day on Monday (my husband’s week-end). The weather was gorgeous, although quite windy on our walk along the beach!
This stretch of shore is all resorts, with no public access. However, just down the other direction is Rathtrevor Provincial Park, and that is the way we walked. It was wonderful to just walk along, no where to be or time to be back, and talk away. We came back to the resort along the driveway and stopped to gawk at this wonderful arbutus leaning out over the road.
We are just a little too far north in my town to have the wild arbutus, so it is always a nice surprise to see them again. They are such an unusual tree.
Even though it was short, the get away was just perfect for me. I got to play with my friend, scrapbook all day, and not have to fetch food or anything else for anyone for 24 hours. A true breath of fresh air which has recharged my battery, and a great way to spend the last day of summer.
Rocks, Waves, Beach 
Wow–your mini vacation sounds like heaven on earth! Good for you for taking the time away. I agree that a 24-hour trip is plenty. Anymore time than that and I’d start to worry about what was (or more imporantantly, was “not”) happening at home!
By: me7of11 on September 23, 2008
at 12:40 pm
Good for you for getting away! What a nice time you must have had :-)
If only I could get away like that every know and then. Alas I will have to wait patienly for the annual scrapbooking weekedn at the end of January.
Aren’t the Arbutus trees wonderful! If you take a drive out along upper Campbell and Buttle LAke thier are a good amount out thier to. I always enjoyed that drive when I worked at Westimin.
By: Rona on September 23, 2008
at 9:52 pm
Oh, what a great idea. A weekend crafting retreat with a friend…sounds like heaven.
By: Shannon B on September 23, 2008
at 10:42 pm
You’re all right – it was a great idea!
What amazes me is how recharged I felt even though it was only 24 hours. As meof11 said, if it was longer than that I would have started worrying, etc about back home. This was just perfect!
By: Kate on September 24, 2008
at 7:14 am
[…] week-end my friend (the same one I went to Parksville with in September) and I attended a charity scrapbooking event in Shawnigan Lake. It was held at the Shawnigan Lake […]
By: Recharging the Batteries « Rocks, Waves, Beach on February 9, 2009
at 1:23 pm