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Published: October 29th 2016
Less than a week after returning from my Camino de Santiago pilgrimage (see
Camino de Santiago - Galicia - Camino Angels) I was off again, this time with Linda. Our son-in-law Evan had a week long human genome conference in Vancouver and he was taking our daughter Rosanna and grandson Connor with him. We thought we would keep them company while he was at meetings all day. Our previous trips to Vancouver had been one day in and out visits, so this would give us a chance to really get to know the city. Our only concern was the weather forecast...a typhoon was headed that way and rain and wind was predicted for the entire time. But what else can one expect in the Pacific Northwest in October?!
13 October 2016 Thursday. We spent the morning packing and then drove up to Greely to drop our four cats (actually only one is ours...the rest belong to our daughters) and one dog off at our daughter Tamara's home as she would be taking care of them for the 10 days we would be away. We spend the rest of the day entertaining our three grandchildren who we haven't spent enough time with recently. We slept on their hide-a-bed
couch, which are never very comfortable. Next time we spend the night in Greely I'll opt for a hotel.
14 October 2016 Friday. Tamara had some errands to run in Fort Collins so Linda went along with her and did some shopping. They returned at 11:30 AM just as I was getting anxious that we might miss our 2:40 PM flight. We didn't...although I was happy I had given ourselves extra time as we ended up parking a way off site. The flight to Seattle was delayed a bit due to weather, but was otherwise uneventful. Linda and I were in middle seats in separate rows. I had hoped to take a picture of Mount Rainier as we flew by, but the rain clouds covered the mountain. Before catching the shuttle bus to the airport hotel, we bought Rosanna a "Sleepless in Seattle" nightshirt for her belated birthday, which was 7 October. We would celebrate together in Vancouver. The airport hotel was comfortable and we had pizza at their restaurant for dinner. Rosanna and Evan's flight wouldn't get to Seattle until almost midnight so we didn't wait up for them.
15 October 2016 Saturday. We met them for
breakfast and then Evan and I took the hotel shuttle to the airport and then the rental car shuttle to pick up or Kia Sportage, which the rental car companies classify as large...it's not!!! My Kia Sorento is large. Anyway, we drove back to the hotel to load up everyone and our suitcases and then headed downtown. Our first stop was Pikes Place Market which was terribly crowded with tourists, so we just added to the numbers, but not for long. We also saw the oldest Starbucks coffee shops, with its long lines to get in. We decided to move on. I wanted to see the original Eddie Bauer store and perhaps buy a few things. The last time I had been there was in 1990 (see
Home leave to the Western United States). It was supposed to be a few blocks up Pine Street, but it wasn't. So we stopped at an Italian restaurant for lunch. It turns out that the store no longer exists...how could that happen!? Instead there was a store in the shopping center of which our restaurant was collocated. I didn't bother to see it. However, the food was great. We decided to return to our car and drive around the
city. We drove past the Space Needle (to rainy to see anything from the top so that was a pass), through the Queen Anne neighborhood (quaint), to the Woodland Park Zoo. I wanted a picture of the entrance to post on the Woodland Park (Colorado, where I live) Community Facebook page on April Fools' Day announcing the opening of a new zoo in our town. Then we headed for Bellingham where we had reservations for the next two nights at a TownePlace Suites. We arrived at about 4 PM to learn that our suite was not ready. They asked us to return in an hour and we got a $75 discount for the bother. We headed to a Barnes and Noble Bookstore where Linda spent that amount on books...memo to self...keep Linda away from bookstores! We returned at the end of the hour to find we were still delayed a bit...something to do with being understaffed due to the stormy weather. We ended up only paying $50 for the first night!
16 October Sunday. We awoke to a much better day...no blue skies, but no strong winds and rain. I sent and email to Tom and Wendy, our former
neighbors from Falls Church, VA who had retired in Bellingham, to let them know we were in town for the day. They were excited to hear we were in town and invited us for dinner. For the day we drove to the quaint town of Fairhaven via the coastal Chuckanut drive...all very scenic. For lunch we ate at the same microbrewery where Tom had taken us when we visited him in 2008 (Wendy was the U.S. Consul General in Wuhan, China at the time so was away) at the end of our Alaska Inside Passage cruise (see
Alaska Inside Passage Cruise May 2008). We toured the town before heading back to our hotel for a siesta. At 5 PM we drove to Tom and Wendy's home which is located on the side of a mountain overlooking Lake Whatcom. We had a wonderful evening sharing old memories, and exploring possibilities of traveling places together...the most likely being a South America coastal cruise in the not too distant future. Wendy's a great cook so dinner was enjoyable too. As Connor was getting tired, we said our farewells about 8 PM.
17 October Monday. We got a mid-morning start and drove directly to the Tea House restaurant
in Stanley Park, Vancouver. It is very typically English with great views over the bay. And on a rainy day, the fireplace kept the place cozy and warm. The food was also very good...and a bit expensive as to be expected. Our next stop was the Vancouver Aquarium which is one of the best in North America. We spend a couple hours there watching the various shows and fish. They had a childrens' play room where Connor donned shark costume...very cute. By then it was 4 PM so we drove to our hotel and checked in. Our suite was on the 16th floor so we had a great view of downtown Vancouver. Evan and I went to a nearby Thai restaurant to get take out food for dinner. We relaxed and assembled a jigsaw puzzle until bedtime.
18 October Tuesday. As Evan's conference didn't start until 2 PM, we spent the morning at the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. Our previous visits to Vancouver had all included this stop, but not much else. The museum has a tremendous exhibit for Northwestern Indian artifacts and totem poles. They also have exhibits from the cultures around the
Pacific Rim. I took the guided tour and we had lunch in their cafeteria. Then it was time to take Evan to the convention center which was only a 0-15 minute walk from our hotel.
19 - 21 October Wednesday to Friday. With Evan at his meetings all day and some evenings, we were left to our own devices for the rest of the week. We visited Granville Island and its markets where we encountered large numbers of school children on field trips and seagulls who were very aggressive about eating out lunch. We drove through Chinatown and were not impresses so didn't stop. We visited North Vancouver and its neighborhoods and looked for walking trails at Lynn Canyon, but the trails were too muddy to walk. One day we met Evan for lunch. After we explored Gastown, buying souvenirs. Another day we returned to eat at a Peruvian restaurant. We revisited Stanley Park and on Friday evening took the miniature Ghost Train for a ride where the theme was the Mexican Day of the Dead. Connor was impressed, but not too scared. We got to know Vancouver.
22 October Saturday. Evan's conference ended at noon so we
Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle
We live in Woodland Park, Coloradochecked out of our hotel by 1 PM. The weather was much improved so we headed to the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, which has not only a 450 foot long suspension bridge, but also elevated walkways through the forest. So while Evan, Rosanna and Connor walked, Linda and I went shopping for Kinder Eggs and Smarties, which our grandchildren love, but which are not sold in the U.S. We also ate French fries covered with cheese and gravy, a side only sold at Canadian McDonalds. We met them at 4 PM; time to head back to Seattle. The U.S. immigration line took 40 minutes to get through. We refilled gas at a Costco in Everett and ate at a Thai restaurant in the plaza. We had one more sight to see in Seattle...Chinatown...better than Vancouver's, but not worth the detour. We checked into our airport hotel and then Evan and I returned the rental car.
23 October Sunday. Our flight departed at 10 AM and arrived in Denver at 1 PM. We retrieved out car and drove to Greely to pick up our pets. They were naughty so Tamara doesn't want to pet sit any more...at least at her
house. She didn't even want to keep her two cats! This could curtail our travel in the future. We drove home, but on the way up Ute Pass, the engine lost power and a light cam on indicating the engine had problems. I called AAA to send a tow truck, which took us and the car to the garage in our town, and then we caught a taxi home. The next day the garage was able to fix the car by replacing the spark plugs...I apparently went too long without replacing them. So the cost wasn't too bad. Now I'm home and hope to stay here for quite some time to recuperate from my travels. I'm sending Linda to visit our kids in CT in January or February. I will stay and watch the pets.
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taracloud
Tara Cloud
What a great visit!
You guys really packed in a lot of fun and yummy adventures in that beautiful Northwest, and how great that the weather cooperated a bit! Regarding your pets and travel, once I lost my dog, I was keen on pet-sitting for friends and strangers when they went on holidays. I also have friends who volunteer with Trusted Housesitters and organizations like that--just a thought. Happy enjoying your home for awhile!