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Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1468031
co-founder Robbyn Scott, and their three grandchil- dren. "We call it glamp- ing," McLeod says with a laugh. "We like to eat well—we don't take freeze- dried food—and we have a comfortable place to sleep. If it rains, we can be in the van, so it's sort of rustic elegance camping." Their morning routine always includes fresh coffee made from scratch with a hand grinder. The North Okanagan, Vancouver Island and Texada Island remain some of McLeod's favou- rite local spots to camp. He took his grandson back to Texada just last summer: "Getting the grandkids to experience that—that's the next level for me, having them be outside and see the beauty of camping. A little rustic, connecting with nature, roughing it a bit." One of McLeod's lon- gest journeys was a drive with Scott from B.C. to California that saw the van break down halfway through. "We had to rent a vehicle to drive part of the way," he remembers. "That was a beautiful trip; a couple of weeks driv- ing through the coastal mountains, through Washington and Oregon and California. It ended up being an adventure." His most notable ad- venture, however, took place one moonlit spring night in Alaska. Hearing a "whoosh" at his window, McLeod looked out to see a spectacular herd of cari- bou pass by. In hindsight, Texada gave him more than a deep love of the outdoors. "There were a lot of people not wanting to go to Vietnam, hiding in corners of B.C. or throughout Canada," McLeod says. "Our family had a general store in Gillies Bay, so I got to meet a lot of counterculture people at a very early age." The early 1970s revived appetites for what was then called "natural food," an outlook that heavily influ- enced him and Scott. "It was about eating food that was not manufactured," McLeod recalls. "So when we started Salt Spring Cof- fee in '96, we were support- ing organic agriculture for those reasons. We've been doing this for 26 years now, and we're advocates for doing life, food and coffee in a better, cleaner, healthier way. That's been our focus forever." £ A F T E R HO U R S AMERICAN EVOLUTION This smash hit has enjoyed a long stay on Broadway, picking up armloads of awards, and now it's finally our turn for a visit. The touring production of Hamilton: An American Musical, by Lin-Manuel Miranda, takes the stage at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver. Drawing on hip-hop, R&B and other contemporary styles, the diversely cast show follows the eventful life of Alexander Hamilton, the U.S. Founding Father who was his country's first Treasury secretary. May 24–June 19 Tickets $69-$209; premium seats from $249; ticketmaster.ca TOP SHELF Craving a theatrical spectacle after two years of blah? Here's just the ticket. No stranger to Vancouver, Cirque du Soleil returns for another run of Alegría, under the Big Top at Concord Pacific Place. The show, set in a mystical kingdom, is billed as a power struggle between the old order and the new. Either way, Cirque's extravagant costumes, eye-popping sets and bold acrobatics make for a gripping performance. Through June 5 Tickets $65-$325; tickets.cirquedusoleil.com £ FROM TOP: JOAN MARCUS; MATT BEARD 78 BCBUSINESS MAY/JUNE 2022 WINNERS REVEALED IN VANCOUVER MAGAZINE'S JULY/AUGUST ISSUE! Vancouver magazine's 2022 Made in Vancouver Awards spotlight the city's best homegrown goods, from artisanal hot sauces to handcrafted bags to eco-chic outerwear.