Vancouver, BC

Here’s the deal: If you ever get the chance to go to Vancouver you should do it. Maybe you could make up a reason to go there. It is amazing. It has all the trappings of any large US city with the beauty of Canada.

And the diversity is astounding. We talked to Australians and Canadians, saw so many different Asian folks, black peeps, Indians; heard French, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, English and more that I didn’t even recognize. No worry about looking like a tourist here. Just about everyone had a camera and map. I would live here, for sure.

We started the day off by sleeping a little late. Driving through 3 time zones in 5 days will wear a person out! Grace was falling asleep sitting up this morning. After that we took a drive to Stanley Park and got completely lost. The girl at the front desk made it sound so easy, but once we hit downtown Vancouver all the lanes got mixed up with bike lanes and bus lanes (buses run on cables here, making them even cooler!) that we drove around for a bit before we finally found it. It was worth it, though. It was crazy to be in the middle of downtown one minute and surrounded by some of the deepest greens next to the ocean the next. We stopped and looked at some authentic totem poles in the park. The boys really loved reading about each different one.

Lion’s Gate Bridge

This is what we rode to the top!

We rode through this to the top!

When we got to the top it was cold and misty! We grabbed some lunch inside and made the discovery of a lifetime: Pork Poutine! French fries with some kind of cheese, pulled pork and gravy. It. Was. Awesome. We explored the top of the mountain for awhile and found these little guys:

Oh, and don’t forget this!

Yep, that’s snow! The boys were in heaven! Despite my warning them about getting wet (because then they’d be colder), they did not want to get off the snow! Sam said he was gonna marry it. Weirdo.

Mostly family pic. . .

In front of a bear carved out of a tree

Going down the mountain was a little scarier. We could actually see how far up it was compared to a river down below and the city in front of the mountain.

The Bridge!

The view from the Bridge

In the forest

In the treetop adventure: bridges linking trees together. Pretty cool!

 And at last, the grand finale. . .