Around Town

As I mentioned in my previous post, we had a great time with Grammy and Pa while they were here. We wanted to make sure that they got to see a good bit of Vancouver, especially since it's such an amazing city. So, after Christmas weekend, we decided to go exploring. On Boxing Day, we took them down to the waterfront area to show them the sights there. It was a yucky, rainy day, but we've learned that here in Vancouver, you just push through the yuck.

Here are Grammy and Pa with the kiddos in front of the Olympic cauldron. (Notice that Abe has his new "lookers" around his neck. You might know them as binoculars.)

The kids insisted that we take Grammy and Pa across the bay on the Seabus. They made sure that we ate beavertails while we were at the Quay.

The seaplanes, the barges, the waterfront, the mountains...they never get old!

The next couple of days, we stayed in. We had sick kiddos and the rain was bad, even for Vancouver. We didn't do much more than walk to the theater across the street for their Toonie Tuesday showing of The Adventures of Tin Tin. Because of the rain and the sickness, we decided that we were going to rent a car so that we could get around town faster and drier and actually see some things for the last 1/2 of the week. It was a great use of the money and we are so glad that we did it! I packed my purse full of tylenol, advil, and mucinex, and we hit the road!

For our first stop, we headed over to Lynn Canyon. This had been my favorite of all of our previous Vancouver explorations. The old growth forests, waterfalls, and suspension bridge got the same sort of "wow" from Grammy and Pa that we had given them!

Here are Grammy and Pa on the suspension bridge.

Hiking just a bit, trying to find an alternative path around the muck!

Grammy and Abby, trying to stay warm!

The amazing thing about having the car was how fast we could cover ground. We were able to go straight from the canyon down to Stanley Park in just 20 minutes or so. This would have taken us well over an hour on public transportation, and then we would have had to walk a BUNCH to see what we saw in just 90 minutes.

Here they are in front of the totem poles!

The big girls at Prospect Point. Notice the huge barge behind them?

Me and my honey!

The next day, we decided to branch out and go to a place we hadn't been to before. So, we headed out of the city to Fort Langley, which is considered the "Birthplace of British Columbia." It's actually a historic park, sort of like Williamsburg on a smaller scale. We really loved it because the interpreters really engaged us, you could touch everything, and there were lots of history bits that we had never heard during our other explorations. Because the history of BC centers around the fur trade, it was all new to us.

Here's Isaac, trying on a beaver hat. Did you know that beaver was once the standard of currency in BC?

These are Hudson Bay blankets, which were one of the main things that were traded to the aboriginal people in exchange for the beaver pelts. They were "priced" by weight of the wool and those small lines on the side of the blanket indicated the cost. That green one has 4 lines, so it would have cost 4 beaver pelts.

Here we are, attempting to assemble a bucket in the cooperage. We learned that things were shipped in barrels as opposed to boxes for a very practical reason...

they could be rolled to the ships rather than carried!

Here's Lizzy participating in a Fur Trading wedding. She's presenting a gift to the couple. We enjoyed talking with the gal on the far right after the wedding was over. She is from a country that borders our new homeland!

Ft. Langley

Our 3rd and final day with the car was definitely my favorite. It was New Year's Eve, the weather was forecasted to be clear, and we wanted to do something fun. We decided to drive the Sea to Sky Highway up to Squamish and Whistler. Let me just say, it did not disappoint!

I spent the summer before Ryan and I married in Alaska as a student summer missionary and ever since, I've been looking for something as majestic. Ryan took me to Colorado and, while it was beautiful, it wasn't Alaska. We went to Yosemite, again, amazing, but not Alaska. Finally, after years of searching, on New Year's Eve, I looked at Ryan and said, "I think I can honestly say, this is as beautiful as what I saw in Alaska." He agreed it was the most majestic place he'd ever seen.

This was our first stop, just outside of Squamish. This is Shannon Falls.

The whole crew, at the falls.

From the falls we drove to Brackendale, where the Bald Eagles are currently nesting. For the last several years, it's had the highest bald eagle count in North America. We didn't watch too long, because it was cold, but we did count 6 eagles and we even caught this one soaring around and then diving down to fish. Unbelievable!

This was the view to our back as we faced the eagles. That is one intimidating looking mountain. Can you imagine being on the top of that thing? Yeah, neither can I.

From there, we headed North toward Whistler where we planned to stop at Brandywine Falls. As we made our way, the snow became thicker and thicker around us. The bad thing was, when we got there, the park was closed for the winter. The gates were locked up. The good thing was, the snow was so high, we were able to park on the side of the road, walk on in, right over the top of the gates. We headed right down the path (it was obvious many others had gone before us.) I think my dad was pretty convinced we'd lost our ever-loving minds, but that didn't keep him from following us. When we were safely back in the car I assured him that if he'd hang with us we'd either keep him young or send him to an early grave!

So happy to be tromping through the snow!

This kid was sopping wet by the time we got him back to the car, but he had a blast!

Cheese!

We made it to the falls! It was extremely different from the first fall we saw, it was much more powerful!

What's not to love about a snowy forest overlooking an incredible waterfall?

A final pose before we turned the car south and headed home!