Getting away to Vancouver, B.C. (Oh! and Seattle too!)

I'm so glad I have my 'partner in crime' who likes to do completely unexpected, random, makes no sense whatsoever stuff with me. . . (and we do it quite often, much to the chagrin of our respective families)



This summer was no exception as we decided to take off in said partner's new car (not even a week old) and get away to Vancouver, Canada.



The car (a Toyota Avalon) came complete with all the bells and whistles (including seat air conditioners!) For the love of Pete--there is nothing like getting a cool blast of air up your bum when you are hot, sweaty, and sticking to the leather seats. But I digress. . .

The most 'interesting' aspect of this car (besides the owner's manual--which read like the 1800 page bill on health care) was the built in GPS system. We lovingly dubbed the car 'Christine'. . . since she was about as possessed as the automobile written about in Stephen King's novel by that name.

No matter WHAT location we typed in for Christine to find--she wanted to take us to either Canby or Kelso Oregon--OR Nampa, Idaho. . . and a myriad of other points in between. (Canby and Nampa were her favorites) We suspected that she had made many secret trysts there with another vehicle (possibly a Lexus) and wanted to get back in the worst way.

We ended up thwarting her attempts to drive us off a bridge in Seattle--as well as take us off road through a corn field in Battle Ground. . . and let's just say that once we GOT safely to Vancouver--she was having a FIELD DAY trying to get us to travel the wrong way down one way streets and up on sidewalks. She was quite feisty--but by the end of the trip, we tamed the beast.

First stop. . . SEATTLE!



We had an absolute blast in Seattle--meeting up with my gal pal's old friends and doing some sight-seeing, dining, touring the underground, kayaking Lake Union, and touring the grounds of the Seattle, Temple:

Smith Corona Building

Looking UP from underground tunnels at the sidewalk on one of Seattle's streets. (It became a skylight for the underground walkways. There were quite a few of them)

This was a lovely toilet and sink facility we found in the 'underground'

The tub looked SO INVITING--we decided to dive right in!

Getting ready to kayak

When you do as much sightseeing, shopping, and dining as we do--you have to carry your own crosswalk sign.

The next photos are of the Seattle Temple, grounds and flowers, as well as some of the monuments. . .

It was truly beautiful and we had such a FABULOUS time. . . but alas! All good things must come to an end and it was time to board Christine and try to navigate our way to our next stop. . . VANCOUVER!

Overlooking Lion's Gate Bridge

There's always time to make room for gelato!

The open air markets with flowers, fresh fish, and produce were lots of fun to visit.

Here's a little salad I threw together for gal pal and I as we went off to eat, read, and lounge in Stanley Park.

One of the highlights of the trip was being able to see the 'Celebration Of Light' during our stay there. The Celebration Of Light is an annual pyro-musical fireworks competition that takes place over English Bay. And we were there to see the U.K. compete. It was AWESOME!





One of the more relaxing things we did was pack up some good reading material and snacks and head out to Granville Island. . . where we roamed and shopped and rested at a park and then took in a local production of Macbeth in the outdoor theater.



It was very fun--although we had a near death experience as we were waylaid by some testy Canadian geese:





And oh, the SHOPPING! Why there was shopping, shopping, and even MORE shopping. We couldn't put a price on the shopping. . . well perhaps we SHOULDN'T put a price on the shopping:

Oh! And THE place to shop was on Robson Street:

After we had our fill of the beaches and city, we decided to do some 'nature stuff'. So we spent a day at Capilano Suspension Bridge and Park. . . and had quite the time among the tree tops.





For an idea and overview of Capilano--click on this LINK and see for yourself. Or look at my pictures that I managed to take when I wasn't screaming or holding on to the handrails:







Now even though I'm kinda skeered of heights, it was refreshing to know that my gal pal was even MORE skeered than I was!



This is looking UP from the ground at one of the big ole' trees in the park. He was so big they decided to give him a worthy name to set him apart from the rest of the trees. They named him 'Doug'. (That should show all those lesser trees!)



And HEY! Wouldn't you know it! Dr. Woods had a weather station right there up in the tree tops! Who is Dr. Woods? you might be asking. I have no idea--and I also have no idea how they even used this 'weather station'. . .

They had all these really cool totems all over the park too:







But trying to get my gal pal to concentrate for just a second, so we could take a photo with some of the natives was nearly impossible. . .



Last, but certainly not least, we were able to take in the Broadway Show 'Les Mis' on our last day there.



Then we cautiously got back in Christine and made our way back to home and hearth--and managed to avoid stops in Boise, Sacramento and Quebec!

The party's over for now. . . but the next one is already in the works. . . Yes indeed, there will be more adventures to follow. . .