Day 31

We started off the day at a quaint creperie for breakfast, preparing us for a full day in Vancouver (hopefully better than the night before).

We rented a tandem bike (yes, we did… and there is a picture to prove it!) and we biked a 6 mile loop of Stanley Park (northwest of downtown). It was beautiful.

As for riding tandem… it made us quite the spectacle! We had people laughing at us whenever we had to stop or start up (those are the most difficult parts of riding tandem!). Other than that, we made a pretty good team. We actually took part in a race, against a 45-year-old man and his 5-year-old son! I have to say, I think they beat us! You can see from the picture below, just how delightfully competitive the boy was! He kept emploring his dad to go faster and turning to us to say, “we’re beating you!”. It was great fun!

The next competition was Donna vs. another 5-year-old. She took the spray gun in the water park from the boy and then turned it on him, as he fled the scene! This water park is a kid’s summertime dream come true! There was also a walk-through kid-dryer that helped the parents dry their soaked children.

Other sights seen in our tour were totem poles made by First Nations (what we call Native Americans), rocks balanced precariously on the shore, and great views of the surrounding areas.

We biked further, going about double the distance of what we intended, but were able to see much more of Vancouver. So much fun!

After turning in the bikes, our next adventure took us to the Capilano Suspension Bridge in North Vancouver. The park was a bit pricey to get in, so we made sure to make the most of our money and see it all! It was like a miniature theme park, all workers were dressed up in 1800s attire and there were many activities (and over-priced foods) around (exactly what you would expect at a theme park!). Corey made some friends, who told him just how hard it was to make this bridge back in the 1800s.

The suspension bridge is 450 feet long and strong enough to hold over 1300 average-sized people! It is 230 feet above the river (which is about chest-height on the Statue of Liberty).

We have never been on a suspension bridge so large! Stepping onto the bridge, they warn not to rock or make the bridge sway, but kids and adults alike can’t help themselves when faced with such temptation (no, it was not us that made it rock!). Below is a picture representing how much you move if you do not hold on!

Other parts of this park warned us of “extreme nature” as we entered into the tree-dwellings reminiscent of the Ewok’s village in “Return of the Jedi”.

Recovering from the already full day of activity, Donna was ready for a nap. Corey led us to a picturesque location just outside of Lighthouse Park in North Vancouver. While Donna was napping a large family of 10 with their professional photographer decided the location just 5 feet from the napping wife was the perfect place for a photo shoot! Even with the distraction, Donna is a professional-napper and it didn’t phase her or keep her from a solid nap. Waking up refreshed, Corey took a few photos—playing around with the tri-pod and timer! (the picture right below shows where the family was doing their loud photo-shoot by this anchor and Donna was napping under the tree in the right of the picture)

Continuing with the Vancouver tour, our next stop landed us at Granville Island (just south of downtown) around dinnertime. We were welcomed onto the Island by Ralph Shaw and his one-man band, singing and playing his Ukulele.

On this Island there is a great public market that is indoors and has a multitude of food and grocery booths. We made it there just 30 minutes before closing—just in time to get a quick look and bite to eat. Wishing we could have seen more, we sadly left the market as they locked up, and decided to cheer ourselves up.

There were beautiful flowers on this island as well as larger-than-life leaves!

The solution to our need of being cheered up was to go to the largest gelato store in the world (so we think). They had 218 flavors of gelato on site!

They had some old and new favorites as well as some very odd not-so-favorites. Examples of the odd flavors are: apple cheddar (that actually had shredded cheese in the mixture), pear gorgonzola blue cheese, balsamic vinaigrette, wild fennel, corn (yes, with pieces of corn!), and curry! Crazy! We stuck with more normal gelato flavors.

Our hotel was MUCH different than our hostel experience. Clean, nice, not in a sketchy neighborhood. The one funny little thing in the hotel was a picture of a cartoon ladybug that discussed how the little buggers are frequent in the area, and if you step on one, releasing an unpleasant odor, and are "uncomfortable", you are to call the help desk! Funny!

Next stop Eugene Oregon!