It's a week since we left Banchory and headed across the pond. The flights went well and there was no pain at all in downgrading our flights this year to World Traveller Plus.
We arrived at Vancouver airport early evening Canadian time and got through Customs etc fairly quickly and picked up a cab to take us to our hotel downtown. Nice room - junior suite. The hotel's bar was closed so we walked round the corner to a little tapas bar for a quick bite and a couple of beers before heading for bed. After all, it was now well past 5 am body clock time.
Our time in Vancouver was fairly limited so we thought the best thing for us to do was to go on one of the hop-on, hop-off tourist buses. We got off in Stanley Park, which is Vancouver's green lung - larger even than Central Park, NYC. We posed at the totem poles:
We walked for a bit, just to get our legs working again, and then picked up the bus back to Canada Place. By now it was lunchtime and we headed for a place that had been recommended to us. There's more detail of this - and all our other beer and food stops - on my Ale blog (
http://iansaleadventures.blogspot.com/), so I'll try not to repeat myself on this blog - and I'll try to only use photos that haven't already appeared on any of my many other blogs - or Facebook.
Back on the bus in the afternoon, we headed for Granville Island where we went on an interesting walking tour. It's a former industrial site that has largely been converted in to a modern, funky, artistic centre all round the large public market - with one exception - the concrete factory is still there, but even it has undergone an artistic make-over:
We passed what they call float houses:
Apparently much sought after, their market value is in millions.
After completing the tour on the last bus, we had dinner with Fred. Who's he, you might ask? Well, listen very carefully. Jo's sister Mary is married to Brian, whose brother is David and he's married to Sherie, whose father is Fred, who lives in Vancouver. Got it?
Fred is now 85 but still very sprightly and we had a lovely evening with him. He took us to his favourite Chinese restaurant, did all the ordering and even paid the bill. Try as I might, he wouldn't let me pick up the tab. He ordered crab, prawns, scallops, chicken and noodles - tons of everything - and he eats like a sparrow! We made a valiant attempt to get through it, but I don't think Fred was too worried as he picked up the leftovers in a box. He even drove us back to our hotel.
We had only met Fred once before - he came to Scotland for Julie's wedding back in the early 90's, and he, Brian and David came up to Banchory for a game of golf. They all stayed at the Tor-na-Coille hotel and I remember on the Thursday evening, I took them to the folk club upstairs in the loft at Scott Skinner's. It's a very small room and this was in the days before smoking was banned in pubs in Scotland. It didn't take long for Fred to be literally smoked out - he couldn't take the choking atmosphere and went back to the hotel. We told him it's safe to come back to Scotland now!
On Friday, we initially planned to go back and do the interactive experience at Canada Place, then head for Vancouver Island in the afternoon, but, in the end, we just opted to catch an earlier bus/ferry. The journey was easy - once you get to the bus station and load your bags on, that's it - the bus takes you all the way to the ferry terminal (45 mins away) and straight on to the ferry and off the other end and in to the very pretty little city of Victoria, capital of British Columbia.
The weather was improving by the hour and the water was like a millpond for the ferry crossing, which passes through narrow channels between small islands - very pretty:
It was a good decision to catch an earlier ferry as we arrived at our hotel at the peak of the day. The hotel's location is stunning and there's a lovely coastal walk just outside - and, would you believe it, a lovely brewpub along the way (actually, the receptionist told us about it).
Our receptionist was hyper - so much so that we thought that we must have been on Candid Camera - everything was "awesome" in a high pitched voice. Jo was quietly giggling away, but I had to try and keep a straight face - at least until we got our keys.
The coastal trail was lovely and there was plenty of activity on the water - sea planes coming and going, little water taxis everywhere with a backdrop of snow-capped mountains and a cruise ship had just arrived:
After refreshments at the brewpub, we continued on the trail and came across this strange sculpture:
On Saturday, the plan was to catch the bus to Butchart Gardens and we spent a couple of hours walking round there - delightful place:
We took the bus back about lunchtime and walked back to our hotel from the drop-off point. We have to cross a strange-looking bridge to get over to the Delta Victoria Ocean Pointe:
The counterweight looks like a dog's head - note the eyes and ears.
We went to the spa and had a quick swim before dinner.
On Sunday morning we were awake early, so headed back down for a swim, sauna and hot-tub before breakfast and packing. Our 2 flights from Victoria to Medford went pretty well, although we skirted a thunderstorm as we approached Medford. The temperatures have been unseasonably high in Southern Oregon - 4 days in a row were, in old money, over 100 F, which hasn't happened here so early for half a century. Thankfully, it's cooled down a bit today (Wednesday) - mid 80's now - much more pleasant.
Lucy met us at the airport and drove us back to Grants Pass, where we met up with some strange-looking Lesinas - especially Cade, who has shot up and also lost a ton of weight - and, of course, he sounds different now! Scott, too, has lost some weight after his recent operations.
There's a new (to us) Jeep in the garage as well:
Meet the rest of the Lesinas:
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| Holly - not quite as lively as last year |
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| Buster |
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| Tina |
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| Bugs |
That's enough for now - got to go and pick up Braeden - I'm on the school runs this week - until they finish next Wednesday. Jo and I have just been chilling this week after a hectic few days in Canada - although I did manage a reasonable cycle this morning.
