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Saturday: Sylvia and Mark walked the sea wall all around Stanley Park, I met them partway in time for lunch at the Tea House. In mid-afternoon we headed out with a bus day pass downtown to the Skytrain to the Main Street neighborhood to a knitting store for Sylvia. We stopped off at a bistro for appetizers and drinks, a bookstore, then back to the Skytrain to go across the bay to Richmond for the last weekend of the Night Market. The market was fun but turned out to be mostly Asian food and vendor stalls. An experience to be sure. Back at the Sylvia Hotel we finished with a drink and snacks. Sunday: Off to Victoria. The tour bus picked us up near the hotel, drove to the bus station to pick up more passengers, ... read more

Last day of our tour and we crammed two days worth of activity into one. Our tour guide gave us background information on the bus as we drove through the downtown skyscraper, Stanley Park, residential areas, to the University and the Museum of Anthropology with its totem pole collection and artifacts from native peoples throughout the world. After lunch we visited Granville Island Markets and shops. Back at the hotel I had time for a walk along the beach before our farewell dinner at an Italian restaurant.... read more

The Athabasca Glacier, on the edge of the Columbia Icefields, was a 90-minute drive north along the Icefields Parkway. Shortly before arriving at the Glacier Discovery Center, heavy snow began to fall. After a half-hour delay to clear the roads, we boarded a bus which took us to a Ice Explorer snow bus which took us through a rocky glacial moraine, descending to the glacier via a 32% grade. We were able to walk around on the glacier though wind and snow limited our excursion to 15 minutes. Still, it was pretty amazing. Back on our own bus we dug into deli sandwiches and headed south. Our Jasper guide used the bus time to orient us to Jasper National Park, life of a park warden, overview of its plants and animals -- we saw several elk, ... read more

Friday and Saturday, September 29 & 30 My room is great! Very compact, huge window, comfortable bed, warm comforter, large bench to sit on during the day, sink, and toilet/footrest which is covered up by the bed at night. Shower down the hall. Dining car is next to us. Breakfast between 6:30-8:30 on a first-come basis, three sittings each for lunch and dinner - we got the coveted middle seating of 1:00-2:00 and 7:00-8:00. Four main course choices for every meal, plus soup or salad, dessert. Activity car always has coffee, tea, fruit, crackers, cookies. Activity room has tables and a small dome section, too. It took the twenty or so hours to travel across southern Ontario with a time change the second night. We got into Manitoba Saturday morning and were able to get off ... read more

The talk this morning gave us an overview of the common history of the American and the Canadian colonies. However, during the American Revolution (called the first American Civil War by Canadians), American Loyalists supported the king and many fled to Canada. The War of 1812 caused further friction and eventually caused the Canadian colonies to consider working together in a confederation for protection from the new U.S. Montreal merchants looking to expand their trade encouraged the Vancouver area and British Columbia to join the confederation. They promised that a transcontinental railroad would be built to connect the western population with the eastern provinces within ten years. It actually took 15 years, completed in 1885. Historians believe that this railroad, connecting the two population centers through the mountains and almost empty plains, was what finally made ... read more