“Oh, Canada…..” We disembarked from the ferry and headed into
Bellingham. What a beautiful little
town! We had to rearrange our truck bed
to put things back in order. We took our
bike hitch and put the bikes in the back of the bed and moved some things into
the back seat of the truck. That extra
three feet of our hitch/bikes was quite a bit of extra money for the ferry so
we just rearranged to make it work while onboard.
We headed back into Canada,
Vancouver. We were thought we’d drive
around, especially Stanley Park, but then decided to bike around Stanley Park
as they have a wonderful bike trail around the entire park! We encountered a
military demonstration and stopped to be part of their “Canada Day” commemoration,
featuring a uniformed band playing music and a 21-cannon salute at exactly
noon.
We peddled around the park, fast
or slow depending on who we were following.
Some in front weren’t the most secure bicyclists so we had to brake
frequently! Some were passing so fast we
had to watch our bikes so we didn’t become a statistic ourselves of getting knocked
off of our bikes! It was a great day for
biking!! We did about a six-mile loop
although we could have done a “bigger” loop of about 20 some miles but we
thought we’d squeeze in a hike.
Some things really drive me crazy. I have always, for the most part, been a rule
follower. I don’t know why but it drives
some people crazy when I wait for the pedestrian light to be white before crossing
even with zero traffic. I just figure
there are rules for safety and they should be followed. So on our bike journey, there are several
parts where the bike trail intersects with the walking trail and you are
supposed to get off your bike and walk it with the walkers. Some people are apparently born special and don’t
feel those rules apply to them and they just race right through! Some of these trails were very narrow and
right along a big drop-off! One crazy
was actually pulling a toddler in a little cart behind his bike as he barreled
around said narrow turn. Enough of that.
About our hike. We/I decided to hike up Grouse Mountain. It said 1.8 miles so I figured it could be
done easily enough. It had a pretty big
elevation change, but, heck, I figured we’ve done two of those already! WRONG!
I told Andrew next time I suggest something like this to please do an
intervention! It was almost straight up,
rocks and boulders and steps, steep in most places, wet in others. I am a natural klutz so I have to literally
watch each step when the surface is not smooth, so I would look down and then
look up and up and up! People would pass
us/me and be panting. All shapes and
sizes of people attempting this climb today.
But we did it! I am very proud to
say. Andrew walked with me for a while
and then walk ahead a bit to cheer me on.
We encountered many who were on the same pace as us, stepping up and
then resting a bit before attempting more elevation. Then, as the air was cooler and you could actually
see your breath, the bugs started getting really irritating!! More and more people in various shape would
pass or rest. The top garnered the most
amazing view of the city, and a tram ride down. J. We weren’t even allowed to walk down as the
rocks could just slide you down quicker than you planned! They call the trail the Grouse Grind (2800
feet of elevation gain in that 1.8 miles… average 30-degree climb (steep steps).
We headed back to our truck to begin our
journey to Whistler. Vancouver “hosted” the
2010 Winter Olympics but many of the events were held at Whistler. We were “greeted” by the stone mascot, an
Inuksuk, which are the stone “men” that the Inuits would use to mark routes,
messages basically as communication and survival.
We found some parking way out in Lot 5 and
hiked into town. It was very pretty even
these many years after the Olympics.
Restaurants, stores, tons of hotels or other options for spending the
night. We ate dinner at a brewery and
had a Canadian specialty: poutine. Andrew had a burger with his, I had brisket
as part of mine. What exactly is
poutine? It is French fries that are
covered with cheese curds and gravy.
Seriously. J Mine had the added ingredients of onions,
mushrooms, and the beef on top where Andrew’s burger was to the side. It was good, and interesting. I am not sure I’ll
be adding gravy to my fries anytime soon, but perhaps next time I am in Canada
I will partake again.
We wondered around and found a small
bookstore and picked up a few things, were way too full to indulge in ice cream
at Cows (the line was way too long anyway), and then landed up at the Olympic
Plaza where we were entertained by the Vancouver Symphonic Orchestra! I kid you not. There were more people here in this town of
Whistler than we encountered in most of the towns of the last weeks! The orchestra was amazing. Just picture a full orchestra, performing
before thousands on a covered but yet outdoor stage, surrounded by
mountains!
We got back to our truck and called a few
campsites. There aren’t many near
Whistler! Unfortunately for us, this was
a holiday week for Canada AND the United States so the campsites were
completely booked, even for tents, until after Monday. What to do!!
Well, we knew at some point we would possibly have to sleep in our truck
and decided that was the best option. We
were beat from our excursions of the day and so we didn’t want to drive and
look for anything further away that may or may not have an opening. We found a gas station that was open all
night and took care of business and then found an overnight parking lot. It didn’t say we couldn’t be in the vehicle
while it was parked! Parking Lot 5
specified no overnight parking and specifically no sleeping in vehicles. This truck we bought has a full-sized back
seat. It is pretty big so we took the
things out of there, and either put them in the back of the truck or the front
seat and lay our sleeping mats down and went to sleep.
Nighty, night!
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