For months we’ve planned our time off from work and for months we went back and forth on whether we should go somewhere or stay home and, if we went somewhere, fly or drive. As the time got closer and we hadn’t spent our money on a house yet and it was too late to plan for any major trip.
David and I have always wanted to go to Vancouver, BC, so at the last minute, we decided to grab our passports and take off for Canada on a Wednesday morning. By that evening, we were strolling down the streets of downtown Vancouver, people-watching and window-shopping. Two things we noticed right away were that drivers were more aggressive on narrower roads and that Vancouver had more Starbucks than what we’ve seen in Portland and possibly even Seattle. (Who would have thought that was possible?)
We noticed there was a high presence of Asian culture there, so for dinner, we were urged to try Korean BBQ. We enjoying some of the best service we ever had, being served by a young college student who prepared our meal at the table and taught us how to make our lettuce wraps.
Early the next morning, we went to the famous Stanley Park to get some pictures of the Vancouver skyline at sunrise and to enjoy the park scenery.
From Stanley Park, we went to Grouse Mountain where they have what the locals call a SkyRide, which is a gondola that goes about a mile up mountain. I, being from the Northwest, and David, spending much of his time in Alaska, Montana, and Oregon, have had the pleasure of enjoying scenery like this compared to people from the desert southwest. Therefore, in lieu of spending money on the gondola, we had dinner at Vancouver’s Lookout, complete with a revolving restaurant and the downtown light scene below, much like the Seattle Space Needle. As we sipped our drinks and ate our gourmet dinner that evening, it was more than worth what we passed on.
That night, we stayed in a quiet bed & breakfast where it we were surrounded by people who were grieving. We were greeted by a gentleman named Wayne who was staying there while his 22-year-old daughter was laying in a hospital bed with a brain injury from a fall. The next morning, at breakfast, we spoke with a man whose son had several complications from diabetes, which he had only been diagnosed with 3 months ago. His son was in a drug-induced coma to help prevent any further damage from happening to his brain. David and I have and will continue to keep them in our thoughts and prayers.
For our last day, we thought we’d go to Granville Island, a small island surrounded by boats of business owners and patrons. The Island is filled with shops of local goods, handmade items and an indoor public market, much like Pike’s Place Market in Seattle. We almost bought my bother’s dog, Eve, a Dino Bone that was much much bigger than my arm, but we decided not to, not knowing how good, old, or safe the bone would be for Eve. We enjoyed walking around all the shops and were tempted more than once, but left empty-handed.
The next, and last stop in Canada, was the Vancouver Aquarium. We saw some Goliath-sized fish, but were most overwhelmed by the jellyfish. We fell in love with the miniature monkeys they had, who were about 4 inches high with cute little faces. They were fun to watch. They moved so quickly that I’m surprised that David got a few good pictures of them.
After a few more exhibits, we watched the sea lions for awhile who were very hyperactive. They would show you a perfect face close up, but not give any time nor chance for a snapshot. The same was true for the dolphins. The almost seemed to know we wanted their picture.
As we were leaving, we saw a few very well-fed raccoons who weren’t people shy at all. They begged a couple of girls in a stroller for some cheerios and only faced us once or twice. I love the few pictures David was able to get.
We completed our short trip by having Korean BBQ in Lakewood, WA for dinner and that night we were home with the weekend left to relax before heading back to work.
View the Vancouver, BC Gallery
River City Bicycle Race
