Day 23: Passing Through

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We got into Vancouver way ahead of schedule at 4:30am but baggage was going to be unloaded until 6am. All of us had an uncomfortable nights sleep, the only draw back of our very enjoyable train ride.
After we collected our bikes we headed back to the Storage Facility were it all began. The plan is to cut back on our gear for the few days riding we'll do on Vancouver Island.
On the way there we passed by what was called the City Farmer which was a large garden the size of a few house lots. These had been supplied by the council and maintained by a group of dedicated people intent on informing and educating locals and school groups on the benefits of sustainability, re-use, composting and gardening in general.
Jeff must have a radar for this sort of thing because the rest of us had passed it by and were called back to have a look. About an hour later, after a personalised guided tour of the grounds by Mike, the instigator of the gardens 41 years ago, we were on our way - with a few gifts.
We eventually got to the Storage Facility and culled our gear and repacked for the rest of the trip. For the afternoon, Graeme and Tom decided to go one way and Jeff and I went another - to Stanley Park.
Stanley Park is a huge park on the west end of the CBD. It is criss-crossed with paths, has a couple of lagoons, a miniature railway and is where the Aquarium is situated. We cycled round the outside of the park and then into the CBD itself. A one point we ended up under the Lions Gate Bridge giving a great view and picture opportunity. Cycling around the waterfront we ended up at the port-access for the cruise ships that head north to Alaska. There were two huge ships there, both over 200 meters long.
We continued riding round the city and passed through the tourist section called Gastown as well as China Town. We also saw the less desirable part of t0wn where the homeless congregated. Every city has issues and obviously Vancouver, as beautiful as it is, has it's own.
Our meeting time back at the train station was 4:30pm. We had to present our passports and go through Canadian Customs before we boarded and then again with US Customs on the train.
Our luck with trains continued as we got into Seattle about 30 minutes early. It was an easy 5 minute ride to the Hotel to check in. Our bikes are bunking in with us because they wont store them in the carpark which we thought was quite unusual. We decided on a few drinks before bed in the Hotel bar and turned in about midnight. I'm pretty excited about tomorrow's NFL game. We're looking forward to another big day.

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Photos

Artist built gate at the City Farm
built from the steel from the rails from the converted rail trail

Lion's Gate Bridge
Much higher at the south end of the bridge than the landing point at the north end.