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9.19.2013


Pentax ME, 35mm

I don't know how to summarize this trip. All I know is that when I was standing on the sky train in Vancouver, completely drenched, hood up, eating a street market apricot, I decided that I never wanted to stop this. I always want to do things I've never done. Some stories from British Columbia:

Landing in Vancouver (first time flying), giddy and restless. Midnight breakfast at Denny's and yelling in French from the hotel rooftop garden and ignoring the POOL CLOSED sign.

Falling in love with strangers on every mode of public transportation.

In Coombs, I found my new favourite restaurant. It has goats on the roof. And ice cream. And a market. And a piano to play. I was so stoked, I left my shoes there.

The first night on the marina in Comox, Chloe and I looked for starfish with two kids we didn't know. I think we were giddier than they were.

Around 1am, I pushed open my porthole. I could only see night, but I sat in my blankets and listened to the guys play their guitars for at least an hour.

After the first day of sailing, we jumped off the boat to swim to Savary Island and I remembered a second too late: salt. I had never been so thankful to taste something so terrible.

One night I went for a kayak around the mountains after we had anchored in Tenedos Bay for the night. At dusk, in a moment of complete silence - "THIS IS THE DARK KNIGHT!!!". Apparently the guys had snuck a walkie-talkie in my kayak and decided to have some fun.

"Anvil Lake needs a mythical creature and we don't know what to name it. Will you help us?" Chloe and I spent a good portion of that evening standing on the pier, brainstorming and laughing with three boys we had never met. That same night, we met a lady who lived in a remodelled school bus on the top of a small mountain.

There was the night of mistakes and forgiveness and and pinot noir and phosphorescence. And then the night of tired laughter and lessons in s'mores and pinot grigio and stargazing. It was when we anchored that I felt anything but.

On our last day of sailing, Spencer played The Lumineers on his guitar and told me to sing. I did. Loudly. Terribly.

WHALES. Near Cortes Island. I will never forget it.

We spent a night in Victoria at a 1912 home turned bed and breakfast. This night was particularly terrifying and wonderful.

We were early for our flight back home, so Chloe and I snuck into the Fairmont to kill some time. I sat down at the grand piano in the lobby and just stared at the keys, too scared to play. "Psssst," I looked over my left shoulder. A middle-aged cowboy (in the full getup) cupped his hands around his mouth rasped, "Dooooo it." I laughed. And then I played. Chloe said the guests couldn't stop smiling. And now I have a good story about how I got kicked out of the Fairmont in Vancouver.




21 comments:

  1. these stories make me smile inside and these photos--woooow abbey. so good, and so full of this sweet summertime nostalgia. you're really, really good.

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  2. I'm so glad that you loved the West Coast, who wouldn't? And these stories and photos work magic in my heart. That's a good adventure if I ever saw one!

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  3. Oh, I've been waiting for this post. It's so neat seeing my province through your eyes -- both places I've been a million times (isn't Coombs Country Market the absolute best?), and places I've never been before but would love to someday. Your stories flow so perfectly. And this: "I always want to do things I've never done." gave me chills. Next time you visit the island we must meet up! And I can show you all the best that Nanaimo has to offer! :)

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  4. The Vancouver Island coast is a truly magical and inspiring place, and it's so wonderful to hear about your time there! You're such an amazing artist- with both camera and words.

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  5. ohmygosh. i'm seriously speachless. the beauty in this is just- woah. wow. wow.
    these are just magical, abbey.

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  6. LOVE THIS. seriously, i'm all smiles reading this. sounds like quite an adventure. :)

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  7. You are amazing. I love this, and I love you. Everything about this just screams all the details of you loving life, and I want to breath it all in- happiness.

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  8. just when i think you can't get any better, you go and blow my mind. you're SO GOOD. one of these days we will go on an adventure together and you will teach me your ways <3

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  9. these photos wanto to make me cry and your writing and stories make me wayy too happy.

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  10. Amazing. so beautiful. i am speechless

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  11. These photographs, though. ABBEY. SERIOUSLY. So good.

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  12. these are amazing, abbey. why are you so awesome! like seriously, your words. your stories. your pictures! perfect. all of it. -natalia

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  13. I feel like "I left my shoes there" should be a new phrase that's commonly used when you go to a new place and fall in love with it. It's pretty perfect.

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  14. Oh, YOU.

    You write and photograph and it's like you're singing, what is here, what is beautiful, let's see, let's enjoy. I love how you scoop up life in handfuls and point out grace in today like stars in skies. Past the big dipper, constellations of small things connecting and creating stories. This was the day we saw whales. The first time I flew. One time, I listened to guitarists in the pitch black night on the rocking of a boat for an hour. All of it, celebration and whimsy. These photos make me nostalgic for something I can't place and I love how your words beckon adventure.

    You remind me of Bob Goff because you live like love does and it's a beautiful thing.

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  15. Take me away, just take me on one of your adventures.

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  16. Abbey! I love this. It reminds me of my stint to the Pacific Northwest this summer. Mostly the trees and the boats in the harbor. It all looks so familiar but slightly different.

    You make life look beautiful. You really do. And it's not because you try to make it pretty, but because you show it how it is and its beauty -- your beauty -- shines through. That sounds so cheesy but man, it's true. I love your stories. And you.

    P.S. I can't believe it was your first time flying. That's crazy to me.

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  17. this post captures the quintessence of summer in a beautiful way
    xx

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  18. wow wow wow. these photos are so beautiful i just can't even tell you.

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  19. lovely stories and photos, abbey!

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  20. Love these photos, so dreamy, makes me excited for summer here in the southern hemisphere! And sounds like a really amazing trip!

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  21. what do you use to edit your photos! They look so rustic and beautiful!

    major-undecided.blogspot.com

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