Squamish Loggers Festival
We hit the road yesterday, for the long drive home. Our holiday in Canada has been just over 4 weeks which feels both long and short. Short on family time because there’s never enough. Long on getting organized because we know how many boxes are sitting unpacked.
Our last weekend was particularly fun. Our daughter took us to the Squamish Days Loggers Festival which is like nothing we’ve ever experienced.
Squamish is a bustling little town, 45-minutes north of Vancouver, on the Howe Sound, surrounded by stunning mountains.
The first evening, we had dinner in a fabulous little restaurant then wandered around town to check out the festivities.
The first event we saw was the bed races. 
One brave soul lays on a gurney while 5-6 people race it down the street at breakneck speeds. Some “patients” wear helmets but most do not.
This firefighter didn’t even lay down. I’m shocked no one fell off and needed a gurney ride to the hospital.
The following day we took the 10 minute Sea to Sky Gondola ride up, 855 meters (just over 2900 feet) above sea level. The views from the top are breathtaking.
While Mr. AWSL and I sat on the deck soaking up the majesty of this place, our daughter went rock climbing.
I’m constantly amazing at how much more adventurous she is than me. I’m not a princess, but I’m happy to sit and drink tea while she wants to strap on a helmet and challenge herself to scale rocks. She did not get this adventurous spirit from me. She got it from my mom.
As she neared to top, I went out onto the suspension bridge to get a better picture of her. I’m afraid of heights so this was as daring as it got for me.
Later that afternoon we went to the Squamish Days Logger Sports Festival. I’ve never been to anything like it. This is one of the sawing competitions. 
It’s hard to believe how fast these guys saw slices off these enormous logs. The crowd goes wild during these competitions and it’s hard not to be caught up in the excitement.
Next was the axe throwing competition. Apparently, it’s a fairly common sport. You get points based on how close your axe gets to the bullseye. This axe missed altogether.
My daughters’ little pug was our constant companion. She’s a total character and made her displeasure known when I forgot to put her crate in the back and she had to ride without her cushions.
We’ve only been gone one day and I miss my daughter already. It’s so hard living almost 1,000 miles away. There are no quick trips to have coffee, go shopping, or just share a glass of wine which really stinks. I’ll have to make a point to get up to Vancouver more frequently.
Have you been to an axe throwing competition?
How about a bed race?
Oh how I love that part of the country! Thank you for sharing it with us. Though we’ve been through Squamish many times (our daughter-in-law’s family have a cabin at Whistler) we’ve never really explored the town nor have we been there for the festival. I also regret that we didn’t take the time on one of our recent visits to Vancouver to take the Sea to Sky Gondola. Did you hear that it’s been closed due to vandalism? On August 10, a cable was deliberately cut resulting in close to 30 of the cars crashing to the ground. Thankfully, the gondola wasn’t operating at the time and no one was hurt, but it will be closed indefinitely.
I did see that! It was awful. I do t expect that in Canada. I’m just glad no one was hurt.