Liquid Sunshine

Vancouver, British Columbia

On our first full day in Vancouver, the boys got up at 4.  It was BRUTAL!  But, we were expecting it, and that is why we went out a few days early.  We kept them quiet in the hotel for a couple of hours and then went in search of some breakfast.  We wound up at the hotel restaurant and then set out on our day.  We decided to head to Grouse Mountain for the morning.  The bus left at 9am from Canada Place, we walked around the piers to see the cruise ships getting ready to leave again.

The pier looked like this EVERY.SINGLE.MORNING.  It was amazing!

We had purchased an Alpine Family pass before we left home, so we hopped on the first shuttle to the Mountain.  It was a dark, gray morning and got darker and grayer as we got higher.  At the tram station, it was misty and did not get any better throughout the day.  Our bus driver kept talking about the people who were going to the mountain for the run and reminded the rest of us that it might be a little crowded up there.

(Aside - Apparently there was a charity run that morning called the Grouse Grind.  People ran up over 2500 steps to the top of the mountain.  Once you started, you had to keep going....there were too many people to turn around.  Course record is about 29 minutes, but most people take an hour and a half.)

We were ahead of the runners, so we took the tram up and started checking things out.

As good tourists, we started with the movie in the Visitor's Center.  It was about the two grizzly bears that live on the mountain.  After the movie, we decided to go try and find them.  We got to their habitat and couldn't see ANYTHING.  We found some people pointing and wandered over to check it out.

No, the lens doesn't need cleaned....that's what it looked like out there.  And, yes, that is snow.

The bear got up and started walking around, so we walked in the direction he was going.  He found his friend and they started to put on a show for everyone.  They were like puppies doing tricks for food.  They came to the fence, sat, and looked at the people.   (Maybe they thought WE were a mid morning snack!)

Doesn't it look like he is licking Jeffrey's ear??

Thankfully, my husband did not document the next moment, when the bear made a weird bear sound and I jumped and ran moved a little further from the fence.

We found a money pit restaurant for lunch and then went back out into the liquid sunshine for the Grouse Mountain Lumberjack Show.  It was cold and wet and everyone had to stand because the bleachers were wet.  It was totally worth it.  The show was super cute....and so were the lumberjacks.   :)  At one point, they looked for the youngest person in the audience.  It was Joshua.  We won a "hare chair."   (Jeffrey carried that chair around for the rest of the day....like a badge of honor.)

Cute show....cute lumberjack..... 

The hare chair

By then, everyone was cold and wet, so we took the tram back down the mountain (full of runners who had made it up the mountain) and headed back into town for the Vancouver Trolley Tour.  

We had planned to use the first day on the trolley (we bought 2 days) to get on and off to check things out.  There is a miniature railroad in Stanley Park, so we decided to make that the first stop.  The trolley driver dropped us off right in the parking lot, with directions to the closest trolley stop for afterward.  We got to the gate only to find out that it was closed.  (Insert whining and sad faces here....from Russ....the kids were bummed too.)  Someone else (with a local cell phone) called the information number and it was closed because of the rainy weather.  We walked back to the rose garden to catch the trolley.

The next place of interest was the totem poles in Stanley Park.  We got back off the trolley to see them.

We had some time to kill, so we walked down to the seawall, where Joshua saw a lighthouse.  We took a leisurely stroll to check it out.

The leisurely stroll made us miss the trolley, so we got to hang out with a bunch of kids on their Grad Night.  (It's a lot like our Prom...they were all dressed up, taking pictures, drinking from flasks, and smoking cigars....wholesome teenager fun.)

(Editor's note.....the seawall in Vancouver is AMAZING!  Every time I looked at it, my legs just itched to run.  It was flat, paved goodness that wound around Vancouver for about 20 miles.  It had beautiful views that could never get old!)

When the trolley finally came, we finished the last 80 minutes of the 90 minute tour.  We saw some neat art...which is all over Vancouver.  

The Laughing Men....getting any closer might have weirded me out.

A crab....keeper of the harbor.

The Lion's Gate Bridge.  We will go UNDER this on the ship

By the time we go back to Canada Place, it was dinner time.  Everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) was tired and hungry, and cranky.  We found a food court on the way back to the hotel and ate dinner at McDonald's.  It wasn't any better in Canada.