Vancouver, BC - Part 3 - 27th Birthday!

I don't know how I could have asked for a better birthday. John and I checked in to our Bed & Breakfast early and basically just dropped our stuff off. We decided not to spend money staying at a nice place the entire time, but for my birthday night, we splurged. We had the Shangri-La Suite - the entire top floor of the B&B.

From there, we went down to English Bay for kayaking! There was only one other couple on the trip, so it was nice and intimate. We had a double kayak which meant John and I actually had to work together to get where we were going. Our foot peddles kept sticking so John had to steer since I couldn't get the right peddle to move. That meant I should have been in the "powerhouse" position, but, well, I am not that strong. So it was interesting. I'd much rather be in just a regular kayak with no foot peddles.

Anyway, the trip was still great. We paddled along the seawall to Siwash Rock and then back. We saw a seal swimming next to us! There were some waves and rocks that we had to avoid, so it was a little more interesting than our usual flat water paddling. Loved being on the water.

The other couple on the trip were from Vancouver so we got a lot of inside scoop on places to go. Of course, we didn't have much time left in our trip, so it all got filed away for next time. But! They did take us to a great fish and chips place after the kayak trip. So John and I got fish and chips for lunch and sat out on a grassy area overlooking the water.

The rest of the day was filled with a nap and and John's attempt at romance. Ok, "attempt" makes it sound bad. It wasn't. But I don't want to get too sappy on the blog! Anyway, we then had a nice dinner at a Thai restaurant, followed up by Birthday Gelato. I had Baileys Irish Cream, John had Green Tea. So good! Then we strolled around the city, to another patch of coastline we hadn't been to yet, and watched the sun set over the water. Awww.

Again, awesome birthday. Did not want it to end.

Vancouver, you make me consider being Canadian.

Vancouver, BC - Part 2

Not much to say about Day 2. We went back to Stanley Park for more frolicking. There ended up being so much of the city we did not see (excuse to go back!) because we kept within walking distance of where we were staying. There was plenty to see and we enjoyed just wandering around in the beautiful weather. We'll go back some day to explore the area near the university and up into the mountains.

So, back to Stanley Park. Only we went the other direction so we could see the totem poles. Of course, these are fake totems, just recreations. Still, pretty neat.

Walking to the totem poles...

One day we'll be back to hike in these mountains.

That evening we decided to check out what a Canadian casino was like. The craps table failed us, but we ended up winning about $100 at the slot machines - which never happens. We planed one game that had alien cows, which was pretty great. But the best was this insane penguin game. It was like a slot machine on crack. You wouldn't win on the spin but then some penguins would dance out and switch the reels and suddenly you won sometime! I can't describe how crazy it was. But it played "ice, ice baby" at one point. Everyone should experience this game. Except maybe old people who may have a stroke because of it. Or those prone to seizures. So. Much. Fun.

Vancouver, BC - Part 1

Obviously I am behind on my blogging! It's September and I'm just writing about July. Ugg. Let's see if I can catch up.

After a bit of time where I was home working hard and John was frolicking in the wilderness, it was time to rendezvous! John arrived in Vancouver on Thursday and quickly got the lay of the land. I left work early and flew out from Baltimore. First flight was on a tiny plane and I felt every little bump. Not fun. Switched planes in Toronto and settled in for the long haul across Canada. They had a fun plane animation that tracked your progress all the way. I was not happy when I was only halfway, but every happy to tick down that last hour.

When I landed the sun was setting behind the mountains, John was on the other side of customs, and I couldn't have been happier. It was Canada Day, so after dropping my stuff off in the room, we wandered over to a bridge to watch the fireworks. The sun sets super late in Vancouver! So while I thought they'd be going off when I was landing it was actually much later than that. Canada Day fireworks were lame. But they were at least birthday weekend fireworks.

The next day we got up and went to Stanley Park via the Seawall. The Seawall is a path for bikers, roller bladers, walkers that goes all the way along the waterfront, around the big tip of Vancouver. I loved that there were separate lanes for bikers and walkers. So smart, those Canadians.

English Bay Inukshuk

English Bay Beach

We eventually left the seawall to hike through the Stanley Park rainforest. It was the most confusing system of trails ever! I'm glad we have good brains or we may have wandered around in circles for quite some time. One trail, I swear was a circle with 3 branches all named the same thing. Times that by 4 trails...constantly coming across a sign for a trail that should not have gone that way. But we made it out just fine!

Found a giant slug.

We were on the lovers trail! How cute!

The plants all had this stuff on them that looked like spit.

On the other side of the crazy forest trails was the Lost Lagoon!

The rest of the day was filled with a nap, yummy food, and more general explorations. Seriously, we just wandered around the city A LOT, taking it all in. Who knew I could like city life? If there's water, hiking, and mountains all so close to skyscrapers, how can I be unhappy?

That night we tried to get scalped tickets to a show John wanted to see but it didn't work out. Had a brief stint of rain but overall the weather was beautiful. More to come!

John's Yosemite Pictures

John got to stay in Yosemite for another 2 weeks. He rock climbed, went to the top of Half Dome (terrifying, he admits), and did a 4 (5?) day backcountry hike. Not as crazy about photos as I, but he had some good ones.

San Fransisco

Sadly, the Yosemite trip had to end. After getting up before the sun to secure John and Kevin camping spots at the first-come first-served Yosemite campground, we were off to San Fransisco. I had to have the whirlwind tour.

1) We ate at a sketchy place in Chinatown for $4 and were too scared to ask for more so we found another place which was supposedly Chinese but had Japanese game shows on the TV. I swear a guy won by eating some kind of sketchy sushi.

2) Went to Coit Tower and had a nice foggy view of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. Really, if John hadn't known the layout of the city I wouldn't have been able to tell what anything was. It was soo foggy. And windy. Crazy hill walking is made even crazier when the wind is pushing you back down!

3)Saw the famous sea lions at Pier 39, as the sun was setting. I think I could have stayed and watch them for a lot longer if it hadn't gotten dark so quickly.

4) Ate a chocolate pecan concoction from a ghirardelli shop.

5) Smelled awesome sourdough bread at some famous bakery but did not get any because it was crazy crowded. (I bought some at the airport though!)

6) Rode the street car back to our hostel.

7) Ended up in the ghetto the next day while trying to find REI. One would think it would be in the shopping district where the North Face is, but no. It's in the ghetto. We turned around before finding it, but it's there somewhere. Every homeless person in San Fransisco is mentally unstable. In Baltimore thugs will shoot you for crack, but in SF they'll stab you because they think you're Elvis.

So, I covered the basic SF stuff. I wish I had more time, but it was cool. Except the ghetto part.

Leaving John at the airport was crazy sad. I think he even teared up for a split second. My flight home sucked as I got stuck in Denver due to a thunderstorm and didn't get home until like 4am.