| Recently, we took a day trip to enjoy springtime in Vancouver, Canada. While we took Flat Stanley along, we also wanted to take some time for ourselves. The weather was great and the opportunities for pictures and video were wonderful. We stopped at Peace Arch Park and checked on the various gardens there. They are building a new Port of Entry facility there, so construction dust was everywhere. It was a bit early for many of the plants, but some Rhodie's were starting to bloom. Our main focus in Vancouver was Stanley Park. There are many features to the park including gardens and a huge lagoon. We had many nature photo opportunities there, including all kinds of wildlife. From flowers to squirrels to swans and ducks, our cameras were kept busy. Inside the park is a very old, elegant restaurant called “The Fish House”. There was some information about it on the Internet, so we went looking for it for lunch. Going in about 1:30 in the afternoon, we were beyond the lunch crowd and just before Tea Time. The food was delicious and the service wonderful. Take the time to eat there if you visit the park. We also stopped by the Vancouver Planetarium. We had been there for a show many years ago and loved the facility. A show was starting within 10 minutes of our arrival, so we decided to take that in. The show was centered around local Indian culture as it involved the sky. It was interesting and we were glad we stayed for it. As we were getting pictures for Flat Stanley, we had the opportunity to drive around the downtown area quite a bit. They are in a building boom including construction of a light rail system. Coming back home we crossed the border into the United States at Blaine and were a little surprised at the closer inspection we got. The Border Patrol even opened the rear door and checked the back compartment, wanting to know what was in the box back there (a blanket, road flares, paper towels, gloves, etc.). We had our passports, so identification was not a problem. On the way home we got off the 5 freeway at Mount Vernon to check out the Tulip farms. The Skaggit Valley tulip festival is just starting. We were not impressed with the fields this year. There were very few tulip fields and they were not blooming yet. It almost looked like the late spring had many farmers just as frustrated. Last year had a lot more flowers. We enjoy the Vancouver area and the many features from sightseeing to shopping that are there. We will go back again. Click here to see the Vancouver trip pictures. |