July 18, 2013 Thursday
Up early to catch the 7:00 AM Transit train to the airport. Trish got up with us and walked us the ten minutes to the train station. No one drives the trains. They are completed automated.
The airport was easy and I got to have my first Starbucks pastry ever. It was as good as everyone had told me it would be. A blueberry scone. So I even managed to get that in at the last minute!
The flight home was over five hours long but there were movies and audio at each seat. Plus, they informed us that we had unwittingly paid for a meal when we purchased a ticket so we were offered some sandwiches and fruit.
Just as we were at the airport we received an email that my best friend’s Mom (Leslie Cross’s Mom, Doris, from Corner Brook, Newfoundland) had taken a turn and was now in palliative care. Mrs. Cross is a very lovely and kind person and I’m thinking about her a lot today.
Natalia picked us up at the airport and now we are back home. Lots to do here as you can imagine! Larry and I are both hoping we get to take the train across Canada again—it was a wonderful experience and pure relaxation! Our home and native land—we’ve now set foot in every province!
July 17, 2013 Wednesday
We had such a nice day today. We relaxed in the morning and then in the afternoon went to the BOSE store, where we watched a promotional video on the new BOSE TV—no wires and a phenomenal built-in BOSE audio system. We stopped at the Apple Store and then went to the Hudson Bay store and bought Trisha a teapot.
The purchasing of the teapot was a bit of an ordeal as the salespersons could not find the exact product, box or skew number for the teapot even though a perfectly good display teapot was sitting right in front of us. We watched for a good half hour as two sales clerks made multiple frenzied and confused trips into various back rooms. They finally allowed us to buy the teapot, albeit they could not allow themselves to part with the proper box and wrapped it in tissue paper for us instead. Shopping in Canada. :-)
Dan came home from a day’s work at the hospital where he had assisted in a course on ultra-sound, which is one of his areas of expertise. (Dan studied ultra-sound for a year in Denver.) Trisha made us an amazing seafood feast and finished it up with homemade chocolate hazelnut cookies. It was an evening to remember. We can’t wait until we got to visit them again.
July 16, evening
We are determined to fit as much into these last few hours as possible. We ate a delicious meal on one of the dozens of outdoor patio restaurants that are just around the corner from Trish and Dan’s apartment. We strolled along and read one menu after another—they are all posted outside—and finally picked one. It was perfect sitting outside and watching the world pass by. A homeless person stopped on the sidewalk at our table and tried to sell us a beautiful bright posy of flowers. I’m not sure where he would have gotten them- big pink Gerber daisies etc.—quite a startling contrast between the vender and the product. I ordered my first fancy drink, a Bellini.
The weather in Vancouver is perfect. No humidity, just a nice temperature for being outdoors and a light breeze. They say they got forty straight days of rain in the winter. But it wasn’t forty days of snow, so how bad can it be! Still, some people say they get a tad depressed during that season.
One more interesting anecdote about today. Larry’s friend, Gerry, had a nice compliment about Larry’s Dad. Larry’s father was Gerry’s coach in Little League, but Gerry’s brother had a different coach. Neither of the brothers were good at baseball. Gerry recalled that Larry’s dad always made sure that Gerry and EVERY player on the team got to play every game. Gerry’s brother, on another team, almost never got to play. Gerry said he has always appreciated that about Larry’s father.
July 16, 2013
This morning we were invited to breakfast with a buddy of Larry’s that he has not seen since high school- Gerry Walsh. Gerry lives in Victoria and he is a lawyer. His job is to travel to the communities of the First Nation people and work on treaties.
Now we are back at Trish and Dan’s. Dan is working until midnight. I’ve just had a delicious glass of BC wine with Trish. The Apple Store and a little supper of seafood is the works for this evening.
Tomorrow is our last day. The whole trip has been a dream.
I’ve discovered something very enlightening about myself and believe it or not it’s resulted in me becoming a morning person. Travelling west into new time zones agrees with me! I gain extra hours of sleep and yet the clock says I’m getting up REALLY early!
July 14 & 15, 2013
Sunday morning- we all got going early and went to Dan and Trish’s church, called “Westside”, located on Granville Island. It was a wonderful service and we are so happy that they are part of such a good church. The music was uplifting and the minister had a really good message. His dress was ‘trendy city casual’ - Larry’s being ‘golf shirt, Khaki casual”. There was a lot of people at the service and it was held in a type of theatre. For communion several people stood at different posts with bread and two goblets, one of wine and one of juice. Folks proceeded up slowly, in any order, while the worship team sang. Each person took a piece of bread, dipped it in the cup of choice, and then went back to their seat. Everything was very well organized and ran smoothly from beginning to end. They have bought a big building in downtown Vancouver and will soon start meeting there.
Dan drove us to the airport where we got on a big bus for the ferry to Victoria. The ferry is really nice and we walked around and enjoyed the fresh air for an hour and a half. Then on to the bus again and in about a half an hour we were in Victoria. We walked about ten minutes and arrived at our nice hotel.
The hotel is the Regent and I must say, we have finally caught up to our girls! When they would go to Ottawa for the races they always made a big deal about there being white terry cotton robes in the rooms—they would take pictures of themselves lounging around. Well, our room had ROBES!
Victoria is a city that does not get winter, and for that reason I’m sure it’s a wonderful place to live. We decided not to go to the most famous garden as it meant a bus ride quite a distance away and would have taken the whole day. We went instead to Beacon Hill Park and that was very lovely. We did a lot of walking, which we both enjoyed, and when we needed a rest we took in the IMAX movie on Ernest Shackleton. I always enjoy an IMAX.
In the evening we boarded a boat and went whale watching. There were about 50 school children on board and they were very excited and keen to see the whales. The tour guides apologized for the big school group but I assured them that, being a teacher, I had a high tolerance level for kids! (They were all very well behaved.) We saw three whales sporting in the distance. The boat was not allowed too close. The guides knew the whales and said that one of them had lived to be 110 years old. They were killer whales, technically this type of fish is a dolphin but because of the size it is categorized as a whale. It was a beautiful evening, warm and calm. We were out for three hours and the captain and first mate were very friendly and conversational. One of their navigational tools was the iPad.
In Victoria harbor at the time there was a huge yacht called the Invictus. The word in the street was that it belonged to someone from Microsoft. There was also a Carnival Cruise ship in the harbor and I was picturing Jane and Doug Flack on it going to Alaska!
We had a great day and walked for miles, which is just what I need. My new sneakers and sandals have been very comfortable-purchased at “The Walking Store” in Syracuse -especially for this trip!
July 13, 2013
Today we slowed down a bit and didn’t go off for another bike ride, opting instead for a brief walk to Tim Horton’s.
For lunch Dan and Trisha treated us to a massive meal of sushi.They wanted us to experience the full spectrum as we are rather behind in this genre. It was wonderful. I had no idea. It consisted of raw tuna, raw salmon, shredded radish, prawns, ginger root, and some teriyaki salmon and chicken “just in case”. Trish showed me how to use chopsticks and I watched Dan, who was especially slick at it, and after a while I could pick up a grain of rice with them!
Now they are all off to a movie. This evening we are looking forward to meeting up with Rebecca and Rachel for dinner. Tomorrow morning we are going to Trish and Dan’s church, and then Larry and I forge off on our own to Victoria. I’ve been hearing about Victoria all my life and will finally get to experience it for real. I think it’s all about flowers and English tearooms, which pretty much defines me.
July 12, 2013
Larry and I got off to an early start so we could rent our bikes and go riding before our trip to Whistler. Trish was off to her daily exercise class- it’s an exercise class with a bar as in ballet. She had mentioned it on her Facebook one time (bar class) and I thought she was taking a class to become a bartender, which I was thinking would have been a first for our family.
I haven’t been on a bike for a long time—maybe thirty years if you can believe that. I used to love bike riding. We went quite a long piece—all on a safe path with no cars—even the pedestrians have their own walking areas. It’s all paved or brick and very wide. I have never seen such a progressive city for biking and walking as Vancouver—it goes on for miles. We pedaled to Stanley Park and then had to head back—but that would be great ride around the park for another day. Two raccoons ambled by in the park. We biked for an hour and a half. I felt like I owned Vancouver. You can smell the fishiness and seaweed all along the coast and the air is soft like Cape Breton. Larry commented that he wonders why everyone in Canada doesn’t live in Vancouver.
Around noon we started off for Squamish and Whistler. Trish and Dan had just come back from a mountaineering course in the mountains of Squamish and they were able to point out where they had been. The park and waterfall (Shannon Falls) are beautiful. Then on to Whistler where Patricia and Dan ski all winter. Because they have a season pass they got a good discount for us for on the gondola.
First point—Patricia insists we are pronouncing it wrong. Larry and I both say gon-DO-la, and Trish said we really should be saying GON-do- la. I looked it up and it has both pronunciations. But we are trying to remember to pronounce it the way Trish said we should.
The gondola was quite a lengthy ride and we changed to different sized ones at four or five different stops. It was really a wonderful experience. I pretty much have gotten past the fear factor and now am just more like “relatively uncomfortable”, kind of like when I fly. I’m really glad I went.
Something that we were surprised to learn- the “Phil Bridgman” type take their mountain bikes up on the ski lifts and then they zoom down rocky dirt paths. (Dr. Dan reports that this particular group of people take up a significant part of his day in the hospital emergency room.) We could watch them bumping along from our gondala. (GON-do-la.) We noticed that one biker was stopped so we leaned over to check it out. The biker was just a few yards from an enormous black bear! The bear was ignoring him—at least for the minute—we continued to pass by overhead and have no idea how it all played out in the end!
We ate supper on a nice patio and stopped at some great lookouts on the way home. Trish and Dan know the name of every mountain and are intimately acquainted with some of the highest ones—covering the gamut from mountaineering and hiking to skiing. Trish gets all this love of adventure from me. (haha!) The Sea to Sky road is beautiful and had been totally improved for the Olympics. It was a wonderful day.
July 10 and 11
Dan and Trish met us at the train station and now we are settled into their lovely home. They have a beautiful little patio with lots of comfortable seating that is directly outside our bedroom. Everything is really lovely here in Vancouver- a perfect temperature for walking and a very friendly environment. Trish and Dan are situated within minutes of parks, waterways, bike paths, convenient shops and restaurants. The front of their apartment is a huge window practically touching the sidewalk so it’s very interesting to watch all the activity. It makes you feel like you are almost outside with everyone. We went in a little tugboat to Granville Island market and had seafood for lunch. I had mussel and clam soup with cilantro and mint leaves floating in it. (I’m training myself to like cilantro. ) We had a nice walk-about and really got a flavor of the city. It’s very relaxed and engaging. Lots of folks riding bikes, sitting on blankets in the parks, moms with strollers and small children- quite different from the frantic Toronto streets teeming with their sophisticated busy people.
Today, July 11, I decided that my clothes were looking a bit old and behind the times. Larry got his trusty maps apps up and running and we walked a couple of miles to my favorite Canadian store, Reitmans. I had quite an enjoyable hour there. Larry was a bit worried I wouldn’t have room in the suitcase but I told him I could just throw some of my old stuff away-haha- problem solved. Remember, I live in a little village, hours from any sort of mall.
Right now Trish is pouring over some delectable looking cookbooks- we are going to be treated to a delicious halibut supper when Dan gets home from work.
I think the next thing on the agenda is Larry’s swim in the Pacific.
July 9, 2013
We were up early to catch the 7:22 train to Vancouver. It is a beautiful sunny day. Our first stop today was Jasper, where we restocked our Canadian KitKat candy bars. (Larry and I both love them and even though we never see each other eat one—suddenly the bag will be mysteriously empty!) The train stopped for just over an hour. We enjoyed a walk-about but I must say Banff has us spoiled for scenery. I’m not sure many places can measure up to Banff for strategically- placed mountains!
The train ride is so enjoyable. Some of the scenery is spectacular, but a lot of it is similar to the forested mountains down east. We saw an elk grazing beside the railway tracks. Larry and I spend our day on the last railcar which has a look-off dome. It’s cool because when the engineers up front see wildlife they radio it back to our car so we can get our cameras ready.
It’s nice that we get to eat our meals with Rebecca and Rachel. We enjoy meeting new people, but a bit less pressure when you get to eat with family!
The train moves more slowly through this part of the country and I actually got a book out of the suitcase for a while. Most of the time we just look out at the passing views and vistas. I had trout for supper. It was my nod to the brook trout of Cape Breton. They are enjoying a stress-free summer without Larry around to terrorize them.
July 8, 2013
We are spending the day of rest and relaxation in Edmonton at Rebecca’s until we hook up with the train for Vancouver tomorrow. It’s great to have a day to reorganize our suitcases and stroll around the streets here. We popped into Tim Horton’s a couple of times and walked to a Canadian Tire where Larry bought something to fix Rebecca’s towel rack. It was good walk and we arrived home just in time to avoid a mini- storm.
We nearly jumped out of our skins upon hearing a huge bolt of thunder. Next thing we look out the window and the tree outside is being pelted with hail-stones the size of gumballs.We rarely experience anything like that in Canton, NY. We spent the rest of the afternoon sitting with Emma, Rebecca’s little Siamese cat, who, of course, took a particular shine to Larry.
In the evening we met Larry’s nephew, Jacob MacDowell, and another friend of ours, Zack Terbeek, for dinner at a restaurant. It was great to catch up. Jacob is skilled in welding and pipe-fitting and works almost every day of the week with hardly any vacation. He said he likes it that way! He also catches huge fish and takes in great concerts. I could tell that both guys don’t miss many bands that pass through Edmonton.
A bit about Zack for all you out there that know him, or thought you did. I must say he has really acquired the city look- let’s just say he was very sharp-looking and well put together from head to toe. We were more used to his Khaki casual side when we knew him in Canton. Plus, he now eats more than one type of salad dressing! Who knew! Zack works for a big American company that builds transmission lines.
Now we are back home and ready to get on the train for Vancouver first thing tomorrow morning. Rebecca and Rachel are coming with us for this part of the journey. Their plan is to spend a relaxing few days in a hotel with a roof- top pool and spa.