With a quick stop at Starbucks halfway to Vancouver, we arrived mid morning at Stanley Park. We drove through the park until we found parking near the Totem Pole village. We walked the seawall until we reached the area where we could see about 10 totem poles created by Native American artists. Some were created to replace originals now moved to a local museum, others to honor Native American culture and the people/animals important to their culture. They all tell interesting stories. We walked back along another part of the wall, taking in the sprawling Vancouver skyline.
Our next goal was to find parking in downtown Vancouver so we could see the city. We parked in Gastown and went in search of the famous Steam Clock. We approached just as the clock struck noon. The clock blew steam and played a tune and we took pictures of course!
Back at the information booth we acquired suggestions for lunch and directions to Granville Island. The trip involved a bus ride with a very helpful and entertaining bus driver who told us to sit back and relax and he promised to let us know exactly when to get off, then he informed the "people who like to be in control" the exact number of stops until our destination. This got Roger counting because "why waste such good information"???
Granville Market was bustling with shoppers and overflowing with fresh Rainer cherries, blackberries and other yummy looking fruits. Overall however it was quite small. We found the food court and a table inside, safe from the marauding seagulls swiping people's food outdoors. We each found a meal that suited us and then we explored the market and surrounding shops before boarding the bus back to the mainland.
We had just enough time to buzz through Chinatown which took us through a very seedy part of town. Back at the car and then off to the train station, we said our good byes to Roger and Sue. We shared best wishes for a safe and fun remainder of our separate adventures and Tom and I took off to fight the afternoon traffic out of Vancouver.
On the way home we decided to stop at a lake that we had driven past several times when Sue and Roger were with us. We were disappointed that we hadn't stopped sooner as it was a beautiful provincial park with the lake, hiking trails, rock climbing and loads of beautiful photo opportunities off of every path we explored. A lot of diversity in this one small park.
On our way back to Whistler, with sunset near and a cooler evening we decided it would be a good evening for a bear hunt. We drove down a road we had been on earlier in the day. We had been told by a local that he had seen a cub laying on his back on the roadside, eating grass. Worth a try, right? No such luck :(
Back at the condo we spent a quiet and leisurely evening together. We thought about Skyping the grand kids but realized it was July 4th and they were probably all out in search of fireworks!!!
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