Well, we finally made it back to Canada after many years and a lot of planning. We are going to repeat some routes we did on a motorcycle trip back in ’06 and are going to spend more time in the places we blew through the first time. After a brief customs stop, only a few questions asked of us, including if we had guns on board, Sallie just showed the agent her arms, then we were on our way. (HAHA)
Our first city stop was Vancouver British Columbia. The RV park we stayed at was in West Vancouver just at the base of the Lions Bridge, so it was close to the city and an easy launching point for our adventures. On Victoria Day weekend, we went to an old fishing and salmon canning town called Steveston. We took a tour of the towns cannery and learned a little about how BC’s canning industry developed. We then spent the evening on Granville Island, shopping at the famous public market looking at all the fresh fruits and vegetables, rows and rows of candy and food stands, fresh fish and meats, and had a nice dinner with the Vancouver skyline as the background.
The next day we had to go to the Roots Outlet for Sallie, shopped on Robson Drive, checked out the souvenir shops in Chinatown, then inadvertently walked down a scary side street of street folks to the Gastown area. We met up with a Gastown painter we bought a tile from our first visit so long ago. We saw the Gastown Steam Clock again and “people watched” having a coffee on the avenue.
We left a whole day to spend in the crown jewel of the city, Stanley Park. An urban sanctuary 405 hectares (1,000 acre) big that has tennis courts, a pool, golf course, totem poles, mini steam train, beaches, gardens, and miles of biking/hiking trails. We biked the perimeter, 9 kilometers (6 miles), seeing the different beaches, sites along the Burrard Inlet, the Brockton Point Lighthouse and city views. We had lunch at the totem pole exhibit overlooking the cruise ships at Canada Place.
We left the best for last, the Capilano Suspension Brigde. This is a fun 137 metre (450 foot) bridge that sways 70 metres (230 feet) above the rushing Capilano River. They added a Cliffwalk bridge that extends in a “U” shape off the side of the mountain, that was a total rush to walk on. The treetop adventure walk was so beautiful and took us through a series of tree to tree bridges.
We are excited to spend time in new cities and adventures during our BC and Alberta visits.
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