Because families have SO many inside jokes
The saying goes that pictures don’t capture the true beauty of what the photographer is seeing. It’s true. Rugged, drastic, subtle, immense, massive, majestic, are just some of the words so far. dmc
At VanDusen gardens, it’s pollinating season. We discovered many species of pollinators, but this one stood out. Bigger than a honey bee but smaller than a bumble bee. What stood out was its beautiful colors. I was practically nose to nose with it. dmc
Current location, at 10:30am PST
Thermal Spa is the ticket for melting all the muscle soreness and pain away from the beginning of this trip. Warm thermal chairs and a super jetted hot tub is available as an upgrade which we’re glad we took.
So far the food has been good. First dinner in main dining was an Alaskan crab, scallop and shrimp cocktail, veal piccata, and a native Alaskan berry tart. I’m all about tasting the local flavors and supporting the small businesses that made them. dmc
It’s about 3:45 in the afternoon here and we’ve spent the whole day preparing for this moment. Pushing away from port is a big deal wrought with checks and double checks. Winding our way through line after line, we are now settled in our room, took a nap, had a bite to eat and are now waiting for them to push away from Vancouver and into the wild exotic frontier, inside passages, and ancestral waters of Alaska & First Nations of Canada.
Vancouver was nice but it’s too small for all that is expected of it. Like London, it’s grown out of its’ intention and now there are aerial cranes and construction everywhere trying to catch up to growth. Had to be shuttled right through the city to get to the Port. Once there, it was hard for the bus to park. People and traffic everywhere.
Now, we can look forward to some RnR a first night steak dinner and a thermal spa. The dramatic views are clouded by fog and thick over cast clouds. It’s chilly of course. We never thought to bring gloves and I can feel arthritis in my hands. dmc
An in-between events kinda day, getting the car dropped off, a shuttle to the cruise ship port, and boarding. Shoving off at 4:00pm PST.
Alaska or bust!
Made one more visit to the waterfront for dinner, and stumbled into the first ever White Rock Night Market. There was live music, food trucks, local artist’s works, and what seemed like half the population of the Vancouver area, all having a great time. Quite the event, these will happen on the last Friday of the month through September.
Took a drive south and since we’re only five minutes from the border, went to see The Peace Arch. From its website: “The Peace Arch, the only international gateway ever erected in the interest of peace among nations, was constructed on the boundary between Blaine, Washington and Douglas, British Columbia. The Peace Arch was dedicated in 1921 by Washington businessman and philanthropist, Sam Hill, to celebrate the existing century of peace between two great nations, the United States and Canada.”
Side note: the Arch sits right on the international border. Once past the Arch, we were on U.S. soil. There’s a turn around before the U.S. Border Checkpoint, which we took, of course. Which means we then hit the Canada Border Checkpoint, without badging into the U.S. I guess we were a couple without a country for a few minutes.
Always have your passports with you when out and about in foreign lands, kids.