oh Canada!
just thinking about writing about Vancouver makes me tired. in all honesty, it was beautiful, really beautiful but there were logistics we weren’t expecting and the kids had a hard week. we all did. and we were all tired. unfortunate, but true.
a lot of the logistics could’ve been foreseen or managed had we PLANNED to go to Vancouver. but this trip ended up being a last minute decision ("we’re so close! it’s only 3 hours from here!") at 8pm on a Saturday night with a departure of Sunday morning.
first things first, at the Canadian border they had a hard time believing that we weren’t moving to Canada (since everything we own we were towing). and we were promptly greeted by a text from our cell service provider as we crossed the border that during our time in Canada our texts would be free, our calls would cost us $.20/minute and we were receive LOW-SPEED data at no additional charge. no problem except that we use our phones for all of our navigation…and we watched our map view immediately go blank (the map that was guiding us to our RV park.) now, this low-speed data ended up being enough to allow us to mostly navigate our day trips, thankfully. but we could do little else, save it take us ALL OUR TIME.
ok, we’re rolling with it. we get to our RV park. spots are super small, but private. this place has a playground, indoor pool and hot tub, laundry and trails right outside the door. and it’s clean and well kept. the only catch is the “free wifi” they advertised is really some weird system where you get 6 hours of wifi a day, but not all at once, either in 2 hours increments every 4 hours, or 30 minute increments every 2 hours. ?????????? also getting logged in wasn’t reliable and it wasn’t fast. again, not the end of the world except that Ben has to be online every morning M-F. frustrating.
ANYWHO. we also didn’t see/meet that many native Canadians. everyone in Vancouver is foreign. which was really cool and diverse, but it is such a melting pot of culture that I don’t feel like I got the “Canada” vibe? not sure what I was expecting since it's big city. (although confession: I didn’t know anything about Vancouver going in except that Danielle LaPorte lives there!)
the first couple of days here we had rain, and we needed to settle and be home anyway. when we ventured out the first time, we took public transit into the city. this is a fun way to get to really see a place when you’re not driving/navigating or on the streets. their Sky Train track runs above the streets, so you get an awesome view of everything. our park was in Burnaby, so we took the train to downtown Vancouver, waterfront station.
from there, you can take the SeaBus across to North Vancouver and get a great view of both shores that way. it was awesome. (did you see my video posted on Instagram & Facebook?)
on the North Van side, you land at a 3 story mall, essentially. we stopped for amazing pizza and ice cream before we headed home.
our next outing was to Stanley Park. it wasn’t raining this day but ended up being really windy. also the kids were tired and whiny. we played at a couple of the playgrounds, Ben walked the marina side, we drove Park Drive and found a spot for one more tide-pooling session, but overall, I could’ve spent many more hours exploring here. many many more.
we also watching a HUGE ocean liner head out, loaded down with shipping containers. the pictures don’t do the boat size justice at all.
our last big outing was to the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge. this trip was a total success. kids were great, loved the hike, the bridges and the waterfalls. everyone was present and delighted.
after that, we spent a day cleaning up from the rain, getting stocked up (groceries!) and ready to head back into the states and East. little did I know, at the border they would search our trailer and take all of my just-purchased fruits and vegetables. literally everything but the bananas (my avocados!!). pictured below: daily shenanigans ;)
grateful for the experience but good riddance. another time, Canada, another time.
peace,
xo
