Vancouver, BC

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5th July
Mission: Stanley Park. This was our only non-rainy day! We had planned to rent bikes to go around the Seawall.
Again, the Visitor center was not loaded with information. But we picked up a couple of maps.
We wanted to go to Spokes, but found this place Stanley park Bike rentals(Georgia & Denman)just opposite to it offering competitive rates. They offer free parking, but we had already parked our car in Stanley Park.


Ganesh rode a mountain bike, but I preferred a Schwinn ladies bicycle. Oh! how comfortable she was!
Our first stop was the train ride for the little one. She was filled with wonderment😊
The downtown failed to impress me. There was something missing. I did not know what. We biked the Seawall while little S was asleep. We chose to come back later to see in detail the sights.


Lions Gate bridge was interesting, but failed in comparison to the mighty Golden Gate bridge. Just past the bridge, by the English bay, Ganesh pulled over. I did not know why. He asked me to look out. I did. Wow! I had never seen something like this. A village of balancing stones! And we got to see the creator in action. Kent Avery was actually balancing the stones in front of us. I was tempted to get down to the rocks to have a closer look when I heard some stones rolling. A guy just did what I wanted to & managed to unbalance the stones. The creator seemed angry & I left my temptation at that. I overheard Avery say to one person that the tide was coming in & soon most of this village would be gone.
The seawall was jam packed with people on bikes & roller blades. The kid's play area by second beach was flooded with kids & parents. The pool by Third beach was full of kids & adults.


We returned the bike back after 5 hrs. This time, we toured the Seawall behind four wheels. And we caught was was missing. The High Tide. Boy! It made a difference or what?
The Sun might have wanted to peek in, but the clouds were reluctant. The downtown looked fabulous. We stopped by the Totem poles & Prospect Point.
I spotted the place where Avery erected the balanced Stones. I could see some of them. Many were gone!


The day was not over yet. We set base along the seawall across the downtown, waiting for the Sun to go down. Sunset was just an eyewash. But the cloud cover went away with the sunset too. The day was warm & I had never taken night shots without chilling my bones out.
So, with Ganesh generously offering to engage little S, I got down to business. The downtown is extremely gorgeous at night. The water was smooth & glittered with reflection. Truly magical!


I had to call it a day(er night) when:
1. Little S refused to be engaged anymore.
2. When it started getting more windy.
And that was around 10.30pm or so. But I so did not want to go.😞


6th July
Forecast: Gloomy & rainy & slighty windy!
We had a late start & drove towards Gastown. We found parking on Cordova St near Abbott. The gas lamps were pretty cool & we picked up some souvenir magnets. Our main attraction was the steam clock.
It was a pretty cool sight, though I expected it to toot for a longer time than just a few seconds.
We walked over to Canada Place. The cool & cloudy day was warmly welcomed.

We walked along the seawall(near Canada Place) for a little while. When the rain seemed to pickup, we returned just in time back to the car. We could not find parking along False Creek. So, we headed back to our sixth floor hotel room in Holiday Inn via Marine Drive. We got to see the silent side of the city & it was really beautiful. It was raining all day.


7th July
Still Raining!!! We were contemplating on our drive to bridal veil falls near Chilliwack. We decided to aim for it. If we did not get to see the waterfall due to the rain, we promised ourselves a drive along the countryside. And a good drive it was! The countryside is fantastic. That was the Canada we hoped to see. The rain considerably reduced the farther we were from the city.


Bridal falls was a 15 minute walk. We did not mind the rain. The minute we set foot into the trail, we were encompassed by this beautiful temperate rain forest that would devour the Hoh Forest in Olympic National Park any day. The weather made the setting only look prettier.
On our way back, the rain seemed to intensify but touched us less, thanks to the forest canopy.
All said & done. It was time to get back home. We crossed the border at Abbottsford.


End of day? Yeah, right! Ganesh just would not budge from visiting Snoqualmie Falls in WA
It was 7.30pm by the time we reached the falls. We spent some time at the overlook & did not go down to the river. I looked up about the falls & looks like it is one of Washington's main attractions. The beautiful drive took us via Redmond, the biking capital of the world & no, we did not stop by the Microsoft campus.
It was well past sunset by the time we arriver at our hotel close to SEA.


8th July
An early morning alarm woke us up to make sure we caught the 7.15am flight back to OAK. Little S went ZZZ during take off. In a short while, Golden Gate welcomed us home to sunny CA.
Seriously, a 1000 miles away & so much of a weather change. Wow!
Back home to the usual grind.


Quick facts on Canada

A few quick observations from my mind to this blog:
-100 km is just 60m. Aarh!
-It is amazing to realize how much we got used to being in the States.
-The lower mainland as they call it is getting ready for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Most of the hotels in Whistler are sold out. Guess should be the same with Vancouver as well.
-If you are in BC, you should either own a bike or a roller blade & know to ride them.
-People in the Province love the outdoors.
-Chinese....they are everywhere. Punjabi's too!
-Some men grow unusually long hair.
-People are friendly. Driving is sane.
-Too much construction. I cannot stress this enough on the Sea-to-Sky highway.
-Vancouver is expensive as a tourist town. No idea on how it is if you live there.
-Vancouver downtown is just not beautiful. It is stunning. It is kind of an acquired feeling.
-If it is a sunny day at Vancouver, you are sure to see crowds everywhere, especially Stanley park.
-Many people own pets here than anywhere else I know- mostly dogs.
-Biking the seawall is a MUST.
-The downtown reminded me of San Diego; It is a downtown by a bay. Most of the tall rises are actually residences.
-Take the Marine Drive. We did. And did not regret!
-If you were me, you would stay out of the town & commute. I hate to LIVE in cities. But that's just me. Ok! that's just us!
-Canada is definitely growing. The growth would grow multi-fold after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
-It was quite interesting to hear French in Canada as opposed to Spanish in CA.
-Vancouver is a busy port & you always have a cruise or two dump about 2000 people at anytime.
-Most people we saw were not Americans. They looked different. I truly do not know how a Canadian looks.

All said & done, this was our first international vacation as a family. All went fine & we enjoyed ourselves till we dropped.


~travelbuffs
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“To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.”
- Aldous Huxley

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Photos

The night gets darker
and the place gets prettier

Canada Place
Downtown Vancouver

Comments

[geetha]

British Columbia
Hi guys, nics pics - BC appears the most beautiful state of canada. so many interesting palces to see. Wish we could visit sometime soon. Take care geetha