Pacific Coastal Cruise Travelogue #2

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Travelogue - Day 2
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Hello everyone!

Friday, September 18, 2009 - continued…

Friday in Vancouver continued for us after we all rested a bit and then went down on to the lovely outside patio overlooking the marina and the pool here at the Westin Bayshore where we played some Euchre and the guys have now taken the overall lead in games 3-2. Christie and I will have our work cut out for us now for the rest of the trip! Keep your fingers crossed for us girls!

After we played cards for a couple of hours, we decided to take a walk over to Stanley Park, which is right next to where we are staying. The sun was about to set in the west and the sweeping clouds against the blue sky were impressive. The water in the marina was just like glass, and the masts of the sailboats were standing tall and straight as there was no wind to speak of at all.

The path going over to Stanley Park is about 12 feet wide, half for walkers and half for roller bladders and bicyclists with a nice rail in the middle to divide the two sections, keeping everyone safe. Along the way, there were several dozen Canadian geese just grazing on the lawn and very content to just talk amongst themselves. The pathway was landscaped with hydrangea bushes that had the remnants of beautiful purple and pink and blue puffs of flowers. It must have been magnificent when they were in full bloom, as the pathway would have looked like something out of a Kinkade painting.

The pathway winds around and down under the main street through a tunnel for the walkers going into Stanley Park. Off to the north of us we could see the mountains up towards Whistler and in between us and the mountains is the waterway leading back out to the ocean where a Celebrity cruise ship, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, and our Pacific Princess all passed us gliding through the canal headed out on another cruise for some lucky people.

In the marina there were four-man skulls gliding seamlessly across the glassy water along with a few kayakers. They were all enjoying the calm, still waters of the bay.

Once we got through the tunnel and walked a bit further into Stanley Park, we cam upon The Lost Lagoon. It is a beautiful setting. We first had to cross a bridge where lily pads with bright magenta colored lilies were gently laying in the still waters below. Next to the little lily pond were ducks and geese all enjoying the beautiful afternoon and an artist was sitting on the side of the slope painting in watercolors. As we walked a little further, we were greeted by this beautiful lake that has a walking path going all around it. There was a while swan gliding through the waters in the distance and several ducks swimming around where we were. Across the lake was a beautiful water fountain that had one setting where it went up like a short geyser and then a couple of others that sprayed in patterns.

We walked back to the hotel and went to dinner at a restaurant next to the hotel called Cardero’s. I had some of the best trout that I can ever remember having, but the portion was huge and I could only eat about half. Jim had cajon ling cod which he said was very good. Rob had a seafood stew and Christie had Wok prawns that both of them said were very good as well. After that, we were all tired and so we called it a day.

Saturday - September 19, 2009

After grabbing our Starbuck’s for breakfast in the morning because we did not want to spend $40 for breakfast in the restaurant for oatmeal and wheat toast (Can you believe those prices!!), we hopped on a tour bus headed for Grouse Mountain (the site of the upcoming Winter Olympics), the Capilano Suspension Bridge and the Capilano Fish Hatchery. Our tour/bus driver was Jack and he commanded full attention from everyone on the bus or else he would not talk.
Our first stop was the Fish Hatchery. It was quite interesting and just a beautiful setting in a small canyon actually right in a residential section in North Vancouver. We were only there for about half an hour but were able to see the ladders with the salmon jumping to head up river to spawn.

After the fish hatchery we drove only about 5 minutes to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. It was originally built in 1889 and is 230 feet above the floor of Capilano Canyon and spans 450 feet across. The bridge uses 2’ steel cables capable of supporting two fully-loaded 747’s. It moves quite a bit as you walk across it, especially if you have a young boy about 4 years old behind you who is laughing and thrilled at the fact he is jumping all the way across the bridge! We saw one oriental gal who was almost on her knees crawling across and laughing all the way. There are waterfalls cascading down the cliffs to the rushing waters far below. The forest is mostly cedar trees which appear to be the size of many of the redwood giants we’ve seen in California along with Douglas Fir and hemlock trees. The tree bases are all protected with a wire netting and the tops of each of the posts that line the pathway from the suspension bridge up to the Treetop Adventure are all covered with a plastic so no one will get splinters and the wood will be protected.

The Treetop Adventure is a succession of winding paths and elevated timber frame boardwalks high above the forest floor that give you a bird’s eye view of the rainforest. It is 650 feet long and made up of a series of cable bridges suspended between platforms that reach as high as 10 stories. And, yes friends, I did it!!

The scenery there was breathtaking with the thick, dense rainforest and green trees forever it seemed. We completely lucked out on the weather. The day began quite overcast and the ground was wet and puddle from rain the night before. But, after we began our tour, the clouds broke up and gave way to the deep blue sky and the puffy white clouds dotting the sky. It was a gorgeous day!

Our next stop on the tour was Grouse Mountain, one of the sites of the 2010 Winter Olympics. We boarded an aerial tram up to about midway on the mountain, where most of the activity was. One side note here, is that you can climb up this mountain from where we boarded the tram to mid point. That climb is called the “Grouse Grind” and for those who are in really good shape, they can make it in about an hour. However, today is the “race” to mark the end of summer and the record is 24 minutes!

Once we got off the tram we headed for the restaurant for lunch and were lucky to get seated right next to the window with a view of Vancouver that was unbelievable. Not only could we see the harbor and Canada Place where there were three cruise ships in port yesterday, but we could see the whole city from end to end, up north towards Whistler and across over to Victoria and Vancouver Island. It was beautiful with the sky so blue and just a few clouds in the sky.

After lunch we headed up to take the chair lift up to the very top of the mountain. While on the chair lift, we looked down at the Grizzly and Brown Bear habitat just in time to see a massive grizzly bear moving slowly through the forest. HUGE! But what a thrill to see him! When we got to the top of the chair lift, the view was even more spectacular than from mid level. You could see farther, and it was just gorgeous. Off to one side of us we could see over to another mountain range full of ski slopes that will be used in the Olympics; and all around us the mountains and trees were simply spectacular. It was much cooler up on the top of the mountain, so we were all happy to have brought our jackets with us. We eventually took the chair lift back down to the main area where we met up with the rest of the tour group and then headed back down on the tram and eventually back to our hotel.

One thing that was really funny yesterday was when the tour bus driver was introducing himself, he asked all of us where we were from. When we said El Cajon, another couple behind us said they were from El Cajon as well. We turned around and asked where and they told us off of Vista Grande (which is where Mom and Dad used to live!) and when they described where they lived I said to Jim that they live over by where the Ledwith’s live. They said, “Ledwith”? You mean Jim and Mary? So here we were on a bus in Canada 1500 miles away from home and on the same tour bus with neighbors of our good friends at home! Skip and Nancy Unander stayed with us for a good part of the rest of the day. We couldn’t stop talking about coincidences. They will also be on the Golden Princess with us today and will also be leaving the ship when she comes in to San Diego as we are doing.

After such a wonderful day, we sat in the Bar & Grill downstairs in the afternoon and played cards with Rob and Christie until about 8:30. We had a delicious warm crab and cheese dip appetizer served on crispy French bread that was thinly sliced. We all sipped on our favorite “adult” beverages - but personally I thought mine was the best - a Baileys, Kahlua and coffee with whip cream! It was warm and so yummy! After 8:30 we ordered some dinner and sat in there and just visited and reminisced about our beautiful day.

Tomorrow morning, Rob and Christie are going out for a walk (we are not because I am SORE!) and then we will meet up around noon to head over to the Golden Princess and start the next portion of our adventure. It is another gloriously crisp, clear morning here in Vancouver. We could not have had any better weather while we were here. It has been spectacular and we all wish we could have had a little more time.

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