Summer tradition in my little family is to hit the road in search of lakes, oodles of fresh fruit, friends, family and places to find crazy fun — and even a little relaxation. We need to go no further than hopping on a ferry and challenging the borders of this great province of British Columbia.

This summer’s trip took us up and down the Coquihalla, the Trans-Canada Highway, through the woods and back again — BC is so beautiful, you’ve GOT to explore it.

This is where I make you sit down and look at my vacation photos, hahah. From the Okanagan, to the East Kootenays, Arrow Lakes and Harrison Hot Springs we made some pretty decent tracks in two weeks. Hover over the photo in the slideshow for details on where, who, and what’s going on…

Along the way we found some crazy surprises:

We visited best friends, gramma’s and new additions to the family…

A wicked looking thunderstorm in a Frontier town, Fort Steele, BC…So surreal.

Traveled through the “smoke belt” of BC with wildfires raging through many parts of BC and Washington obscuring blue summer skies, but making some interesting views in their own right:

And a whole lotta hot springs...Radium Hot Springs, Fairmont Hot Springs, Halcyon Hot Springs, Harrison Hot Springs…All hot, and VERY relaxing:

Yah, I’m thinking we need a hot tub now….

Hope your summer was awesome and you managed to knock of a few things from  your “summer bucket list”. That’s me rocking in the corner wishing it wasn’t back to school quite. yet….

Mel Z – Middays 10am – 2pm on Ocean 98.5

Photos by Mel Z — More on Flickr