Vancouver

A view of the Vancouver skyline from the Harbor!

We left last Friday on our trip to Vancouver!  I didn't do the best job of documenting everything, but I did get some pretty amazing pictures of the city!  I don't have hardly any pictures of just the two of us.  By the time we got all dressed up & ready for dinner every night, taking a picture was the last thing on my mind! 

Every night we had a four course (sometimes more) delicious meal, with beautiful table settings & floral arrangements.  This was from our last dinner at the Vancouver Art Gallery, and it's the only one I thought to take a picture of!  Every night was a new color scheme with amazing flowers! 

Here's a view from our room in the Art Gallery where we had dinner the last night! 

Another picture of our tables at the Art Gallery!  Isn't it gorgeous! 

If you know me at all, you know flying is not my cup of tea!  However, we had four flights total to get there and back, and they were all about a smooth as you could get!  We traveled home with a priest, so I figured we were in good hands!  I even managed to squeeze in a few small, restless naps along the way!

Another view from the top floor of the Art Gallery!

This is a garden just behind the  Art Gallery!

Another view from the Art Gallery balcony!

We had many adventures planned before we ever got there.  One day it was a Sea Safari.  They took us out in these inflatable boats and toured around Howe Sound.  We saw a lot of the native wildlife including sea lions, bald eagles, and many other birds!  Sadly, we didn't get to see any whales!  The Sea Safari was really a smooth boat ride that allowed us to get up close and personal with nature & it's creatures! 

This particular sea lion liked to have his picture taken!

A group of sea lions hanging out on one of the rocky islands!

More sea lions!

This is a fresh water waterfall that flows into the Howe Sound!  It was beautiful! 

Another sea lion

The same waterfall

A shot of Whistler, where the ski/snow events from the 2010 Olympics took place!

This is a $600 million highway that was build in preparation of the 2010 Olympics that links Vancouver to Whistler mountain!  The locals all raved about the improvements that Olympics brought to their city!

The clouds rolled over the mountains into the sound!  It was so peaceful!

We found a pair of bald eagles along our tour!  They say they mate for life!

Here's the only picture of the two of us on the trip!  We had to wear these huge flotation suits for the sea safari!  Aren't we glamorous! 

One of our other adventures was a mountain biking tour of Stanley Park, which is a huge park/forest right in the middle of the city!   Neither one of us had been on a actual bike (that wasn't stationary) in MANY years, so it took us a little while to get comfortable.  We thought it would be about 4 miles, but it turns out by the time we were done it was more like 10!  My butt is still sore!  It was a great way to see the city though! 

Totem poles at the entrance to Stanley Park!

There was a group of totem poles at the entrance of Stanley Park.  This is just one of them!

Craig taking in the view at one of our stops on our bike ride!

Some of the foliage on Beaver Lake which is right in the middle of the forest in Stanley Park!

The Forest in Stanley Park

More trees!

A beaver dam in the middle of Beaver Lake!

Here's a reference picture that shows the size of some of these trees!  This one was obviously one of the biggest, and they say it is thousands of year old!

We arrived in Vancouver early on Friday, so we had some time to kill before our first official event.  We had hear the Vancouver Aquarium was a must-see, so we headed that way!  It was pretty neat to see, but I have to say we are pretty spoiled with the Henry Doorly Zoo right here in our own backyard!

The seawall is a big deal out there...it's a huge walking/biking path that runs all along the shore.  We walked down it on our way to the aquarium, and this is one of the many views we got of the city!

A couple of the little penguins that live at the Aquarium!

Dolphins!

Beluga whales are a big draw at the Aquarium.  Here's a picture I took of one of them through the glass of the underground viewing area.  They were so graceful for being some of the biggest creatures at the aquarium!

I also didn't think to take any pictures of our hotel room!  It was amazing!  We stayed at the Four Seasons in downtown Vancouver, and it was crazy!  The service was wonderful, the rooms were big and beautiful, and the view was great! I think we had house keeping in our rooms every time we left, we had new towels, empty trash cans, etc. 

This is a rooftop of a nearby building to our hotel!  Craig thought it was cool!

Another view from our hotel room! 

I have to tell you about the food!  We had some amazing food while we were there!  Obviously, the seafood was amazing!  We had salmon, sushi, scallop ceviche, jellyfish, and so much more!  I tried to be as adventurous as I could!  We also had about 4 desserts every night!  I actually tried creme brulee for the first time, and it was to die for!   One night after a five course meal, they pedaled in a gelato cart on wheels.  So, along with our creme brulee, citrus salad, and strawberry rhubarb shortcake, we had gelato!  I don't think we had anything that wasn't amazing!  The amazing part it somehow, miraculously I didn't gain a pound while I was gone!  I credit that to being on the go the entire time! 

The flowers around the city were gorgeous!  Many of them were the same type of flowers we have hear, but the environment out there means they all had HUGE blossoms!  It was amazing!

We are all looking forward to the weekend for some quality family time and some rest!  What an amazing gift we were given! I'm sure we'll never be able to take a trip like that again, so we are beyond grateful!