28 LEISURE Travel
“It’s not every day you can watch
the sun rise from a surfboard, then
see it set while on skis atop a moun-
tain,” said Margo Pfeiff in the Los
Angeles Times. For me, such a day
was “the oldest dream on my bucket
list,” and to make the challenge
more interesting, I was determined
to accomplish the feat in my native
British Columbia. Fortunately, my
partner was willing to join me, so
about this time last year we set our
sights on Vancouver Island, hopped
on a ferry to the island’s east coast,
and soaked up some spectacular
scenery on a three-hour drive across
the island to Tofino, Canada’s own surf
capital. But don’t imagine this was just
a mere day trip. “To fulfill my surf-ski
dream, I first had to learn to surf.”
Tofino is easy on beginners. Chesterman
Beach is particularly novice-friendly, which
is why I found myself there in a wet suit
on a sub-32-degree morning following an
This week’s dream: From the waves to the slopes on Vancouver Island
Getty, Shutterstock“Ever wanted to vacation
the way Hollywood royalty
would do it back in the day?”
asked Valerie Stepa nova
in VMagazine.com. At the
Beverly Hills Hotel, 21 private
bungalows have now been
renovated, providing guests
the chance to imagine re-
living the life of, say, Charlie
Chaplin, Elizabeth Taylor, or
Frank Sinatra. Bungalow 9,
the new Chaplin retreat, is
“at once luxurious and laid-
back,” said ElleDecor.com.
The honey-toned palette of
the rooms matters more than
their theme details. “If you’re
looking for your next home
away from home, the bunga-
lows are your best move.”
dorchestercollection.com,
$7,700 a nightHotel of the week
“To travel through the Grand Canyon is to time-
travel through the geological history of Earth
for the past 2 billion years,” said Doug Hansen
in The San Diego Union-Tribune. On a recent
Colorado River rafting trip with Western River
Expeditions, I saw rock formations in an “art-
ist’s palette” of colors; some resembled medieval
fortresses. If you look closely, you can see that
Earth is telling a mind-bending geological story
here. These landscapes have changed radically
over time, from oceans, swamps, deserts, and
grassy plains. During six days on the river, we
alternately slammed through rapids and floated
peacefully. At night under the starry sky, I lis-
tened intently to the river as it “rushed past us
like a freight train in perpetual motion.” On the
river, we watched for bighorn sheep, blue heron,
and turkey vultures. Still, nothing topped simply
watching the “mesmerizing kaleidoscope of rocks
and cliffs” as we passed through them.Getting the flavor of...
Bungalow 9’s garden settingLast-minute travel deals
Stargazing in Virginia
Through the end of March,
weeknight stays at Primland, a
luxury resort in the Blue Ridge
Mountains, start at $243, or
nearly half off. Activities and
amenities include game hunt-
ing, horseback riding, golf, and
an observatory for stargazing.
primland.comA condo in Aspen
Finish the ski season in Aspen,
Colo., and save 25 percent on a
luxury condo rental. The Gant,
a condo complex at the base
of Aspen Mountain, is offering
the discount on select nights
through April 19. Rates start at
$371, down from $495.
gantaspen.comKenyan safaris
Book by March 20 to save $400
on a safari tour of Kenya with
Indus Travel. The eight-day pack-
age, for example, now starts at
$2,699 a person and includes
international flights, a day in
Nairobi, four game drives, and
a boat ride on Lake Naivasha.
indus.travelinstructor’s enthusiastic command to jump
on my board and start paddling. I didn’t
stand for that first wave, but I whooped for
joy the moment I caught it and instantly
“fell deeply and completely in love with the
sport.” By the 12th ride, I was able to stay
upright rightly. By the time I’d finished din-
ner that night at a place where we ran into
Dom Domic, the godfather of Canadiansurfing, I was ready for a sunrise
start to my dream day.We played in the waves at spectacu-
lar Long Beach for more than two
hours before hot showers prepared
us for the drive ahead. By lunch-
time, we’d reached the hip, young
town of Cumberland, leaving us
with a 30-minute zigzag up an ever
snowier road to Mount Wash ing ton
Alpine Resort. Mount Wash ing ton
enjoys one of North Amer i ca’s larg-
est annual average snowfalls and
also “spectacular” views across the
Strait of Georgia to the mainland’s
Coast Range. The resort offers night skiing,
and I couldn’t resist. But my dream didn’t
require it: “By 2 p.m., I had clicked on my
skis and was basking in sunshine as I made
downhill runs on 7 inches of fluffy cham-
pagne powder.”
At Tofino’s Long Beach Lodge Resort
(longbeachlodgeresort.com), doubles start
at $195.Rafting the Grand Canyon
“Ice-fishing gear usually looks ridiculous or cool
or both,” said Steve Macone in The New York
Times. “The rods are 2 feet long. The augers
are lawn mower engines or cordless power
drills attached to 3-foot corkscrewed blades.”
Ice fishing also has a reputation for being both
dangerous and boring. But on a recent trip to
New Hampshire’s Silver Lake with guide Clay
Groves, I learned that the sport has evolved
since my childhood days of playing hockey
while waiting for a bite. Imagine a quick snow-
mobile ride across foot-thick ice, a truly cozy
ice shack, and a sonar screen to tell you when
there’s potential dinner swimming beneath you.
And when you leave the shack, “the silence feels
almost holy,” because you’re so far from most
everything that makes noise. “Stepping off the
ice always feels like just having lived a whole,
strange little life. And who wouldn’t want to try
that, at least once.”Ice fishing in New Hampshire
Beverly Hills, Calif.Beverly Hills HotelA winter surfer at Tofino and a skier on Mount Washington