September, 2023

Look up, up, up to the top of the giant fir trees in Vancouver’s Stanley Park, and forget that you’re in the middle of one of the most vibrant cities in the world.  Vancouver is a city built with thoughtfulness – built to protect the water, the creatures that live in the water, the landscape, the rain forest, the indigenous people who worshipped the natural elements that nourished them.  

Driving from Seattle to Vancouver on a rainy, misty day, we feel as if we have travelled from one planet to another.  From the brown hills of Arizona, dotted with saguaros and cholla, to mountains poking up through the clouds, and trees tall enough to be skyscrapers anywhere else, we congratulate ourselves for finding the perfect place to escape the extreme heat of the Southwest this year.

Once again, my husband, Ron, and I were adventuring with daughter, Nancy, and son-in-law, Mike.  Despite being nearly 30 years younger, they are perfect travel companions.  We have similar interests so it’s easy to find things to do. Also, they are happy to find a supermarket, shop and let everyone eat whatever they want for breakfast and dinner.  We usually found a pub for lunch to ensure Ron could get fish and chips – his standby order.

Nancy would be happy having her own travel agency. She loves the planning, the logistics, the searching for activities and places to see, and even making reservations at VRBOs anywhere in the world.  We were smart enough to purchase tickets to go whale watching before we left.  We wanted to take the ferry over to Victoria, but every one going on our free days was already sold out.  We’ll know better next time.  

The Seattle airport was a genuine nightmare.  I think we were there on a Saturday which is the worst day to be there because that is changeover day for all the cruise ships going to Alaska.  Another blip we won’t repeat.  Once we obtained our rental car and programmed the GPS for our home-away-from-home, we were soon out of the city and surrounded by gorgeous scenery.

In about 2 hours we arrived at the Canadian border.  We all had our passports out, handed them to Nancy, who was driving, and she handed them to the border inspector.  This woman had a few questions for us: do you have any plants in the car? No. Any alcohol? No. Any tobacco products? No. Until Ron spoke up and said he had six packs of cigarettes in his suitcase.  Uh oh.  Now there was a problem.  Since Nan had just automatically said there was no tobacco in the car, and Ron had just basically called that a lie, we were told to park the car, leave the keys in it, and go inside.

Once inside, we sat in a row like children outside the principal’s office wondering what came next.  I thought the whole thing was stupid (and probably said so) since all they had to do was ask Ron to open his bag and show them. But, of course, those suspicious minds thought, “and what else have you lied about?” And, once again, I was angry that Ron’s smoking addiction was causing me some inconvenience.  After about 30-40 minutes, we were called into the office and informed that the background checks on each of us was complete and we were free to go.  Background checks? Good grief. Ron confirmed later that someone had indeed been in his suitcase. We all hoped that that was the excitement for this trip.

We arrived at our house, situated in a very, very upscale neighborhood with some modern, contemporary homes situated on professionally landscaped properties.  We were surprised to find our house had a sunken living room, something we quickly learned to navigate around since stepping off the ledge would certainly result in broken bones!  The interior was similar to being on a sailboat. The walls and ceiling were teak, and the floor was wood tile. Here’s a photo: 

Just a few blocks from the house was a lovely street with a wonderful grocery store.  Not only could we find our favorite foods, but they had an amazing assortment of ready-to-eat meals and entrees.  We rarely ate out since we could choose whatever we had a taste for at the store which saved money.

As we drove around Vancouver, I was impressed with the choices in restaurants available that reflected the many cultures we encountered.  Vancouver is truly a melting pot – people from every corner of the world have made their way here and offer their unique cultural gifts to all. I couldn’t help but wonder how the Canadians manage their immigration policy. 

Granville island hosts an enormous market where you can find every fruit and vegetable imaginable, beautiful art objects created by local artisans, baked treats, chocolate, as well as a food court to die for.  I wish I could go there every day for a week.

Since we are a family interested in science, we had to go to the Science Museum and also to the Maritime Museum, both of which I recommend.  Part of the charm is that you can take a water taxi to both.  I loved the water-centric nature of Vancouver.

We drove to Whistler, a pedestrian village 78 miles north of Vancouver, hoping to ride the Peak 2 Peak gondola up the mountain where the 2010 Winter Olympics alpine, luge, and bobsled events were held.  It started raining pretty heavily, though, and they shut down the tram.  We did manage to have a delicious lunch in the local Irish Pub.

The highlight of our trip may have been the whale watching excursion.  Apparently, whales have their home territory, so in season, they can almost always be found in the same general area.  The tour boats and guides know the names of each one, and can talk about the whale moms and babies just as if we were in a petting zoo at home in Phoenix.  It was windy and wet, but we were outfitted with rain gear and life jackets, so were always safe, even if we looked ridiculous.

All in all, this was one of my top 3 trips of my life.  Although Vancouver is expensive, I would  love to live there, or at least spend months exploring and enjoying the PNW.