Rocky Mountain Road Trip Day 11

 Day 11 started with mixed emotions. As we travel eastward, it is more clear than just the dates on the calendar that our trip is coming to a close. We still have some more adventures, so we will not dwell on the future. Before leaving Vancouver, I really wanted to go to the Capilano suspension bridge. We got there bright and early and even so, the crowds were larger than I had anticipated. We crossed the bridge and it was unexpectedly bouncy and swing-y! On the other side we did several interpretive trails, starting with a raptor one. We sat for a show with two raptors. The tourism talks are their side hustle. Their main job is protecting agriculture fields from "pest" birds. They have saved millions of dollars worth of food loss where they work compared to historical yields and comparisons to similar fields without the winged protection. Super interesting talk. 

The crowds at ~10am

We are really high up

Lots of informative panels

The falcon show

We did a treetop walk where suspension bridges and platforms had been constructed high in the trees (with conservation and tree friendly techniques, no trees were harmed in the making of this adventure). Think "Ewok village" and that is what it was like. It was neat, but again, more crowded than I expected. Luckily distancing was pretty much built in to the set up.

Yub-nub

Grandma Capilano tree. Oldest and tallest in this park!

Took this photo for Popeye!

Back on the other side of the bridge was a cliff walk. Great views. We listened to an interpretive guide talk about the differences between grizzlies and black bears and then went and spent some money on some souvenirs at the gift shop. We had mostly been avoiding the gift shops, but perhaps that feeling of impending finality of the trip had an effect on us. After 2.5 hours of exploration, the crowds at the entrance were incredible. We really had made a good choice coming at the opening hour. 

Cliffwalk

Wildlife!

We hopped in the car and headed to Langley. This town just East of Vancouver had a toy store which had been the only request of Lucas. His friend has a large Funko Pop collection and told him of a store, Toy Traders, with the largest selection. Lucas has a phobia of large figurines, taxidermy, and statues. This store was FULL of them! By drawing on years of coping mechanisms and keeping his eyes downcast most of the time, Lucas was able to find his target Lucario Funko Pop and explore some of the store. 

As we continued on our way, I lamented that we couldn't stop at the myriad of fresh fruit stands, but we had a mountain range to drive halfway across! We had some more evidence of last year's forest fires on the way. By evening we had found our hotel in Kelowna. After dinner, the kids went to the hotel pool while I booked our hotel for the next night and tried desperately to find tickets on the Lake Louise shuttle for Day 13. After switching from my phone to Michael's laptop, I was able to find a time slot at noon for the Lake Moraine shuttle. Success!