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!

Rocky Mountain Road Trip Day 10

 Today was our urban hiking day! It is the day that earned us the most steps and kilometers travelled by foot. Michael had several places he wanted to see. We started with Stanley Park. I'm not sure what Michael was expecting, but it certainly did not match with my expectations. We parked for the day at the Southwest corner of the park and started to walk around the Seawall. Michael's sheer frustration became quickly clear as his intention had been to be in a more urban environment and not ANOTHER nature walk! Michael had planned a quick in and out to cross the park off his bucket list, not to circumnavigate the whole park. We compromised and chose a path that cut straight across the park as I really wanted to see the Totem poles.

Beach time at Stanley park

Exploring a natural cave. David would make a great feral kid.

Michael still losing his mind that we are still in a forest instead of the concrete jungle he prefers.

Lily pads

Vancouver skyline the way I always remember it.

We then made our way into the city proper. As we walked along the harbourfront we came across filming of some sort. We continued in to the city as we all gaped at some of the more interesting architecture. A quick pitstop at A&W for lunch was our first fast food of the trip! Then we made it to Fly Over Canada. A multi-media immersive ride that Michael had been planning for weeks. Situated right next to the Disney cruise ship, this ride offers the opportunity to experience Canada in eight minutes. Amusement park like chairs lift and tilt into a 20 m spherical screen for a full 360 immersive feel. Wind, mist, and scents complete the experience. Going in with lower expectations, it was actually pretty cool. Michael, who had rather high expectations, was not disappointed.

Cool new building. Unfinished on the other side.

Bought the souvenir photo!

We continued East towards gastown. We found the steam powered clock. We also found police running with significant fire power, police dogs, and yells to clear the area. We ducked into a nearby store for a few minutes. By the time we came out, all the commotion was over. Not entirely sure what we had wandered into the middle of, but as far as we know, everything turned out well in the end. 

We continued walking south. We saw one of the homeless encampments and took a turn Westward. We passed by the old and the new public library. Chris and I had fond memories of visiting Chris's friend Ian in February of 1999 and we had taken a photo at that library. An old school photo, with film that we had to wait weeks to be developed! 

The new library

The old library

The old picture of the old library.

We turned west here, window shopping as we passed the shopping district. We saw the residential school memorial set up at St. Peter's Fireside Church, as well as some Black Lives Matter installations.

After more than 6 hours of walking over 15 km across Vancouver, we had looped back to Stanley Park. Later that evening we met up with ex-roommate Ian and his son for dinner in North Vancouver. We walked down to the waterfront and strolled down memory lane. Chris was super happy. His favourite thing in the whole world is getting together with old friends!

Michael was super happy. Even though he didn't cross everything off his list, he got to visit Vancouver!