SUNDAY,
JULY 27:
We both
slept surprisingly well last night. I
took advantage of the knowledge that we knew we weren’t going anywhere this
morning to sleep in late. Bill was up
earlier and read, then walked over to Tim Horton’s (a Canadian rival to
Starbucks) to pick up some donuts, muffins, & coffee (our coffee maker
didn’t have enough juice to operate).
So we had
a relaxing morning – needed after yesterday!
I even got WiFi! I never expected
that . . . I just was curious to see if networks were available, and up popped
WalMart’s Guest network. No password
needed, and came in strong as a bell! So
was able to get a few things accomplished there.
About
1:00 we drove over to the campground.
Got our assigned site and got set up.
Nice site; very nice campground.
Then we
drove into Vancouver, or, more accurately, North Vancouver. We wanted to get a feel for how greater Vancouver is laid out without going into Vancouver proper. Needless to say,
was a much easier drive today than yesterday, without the RV, so Bill was able
to enjoy some of the stunning beauty of the Sea to Sky Hwy.
Drove up to the Capilano area. The main attraction here is the Capilano Bridge,
a swinging footbridge. Actually, it’s a
“compound” which houses the bridge (about 450 feet across the Capilano River
gorge), some gardens, some nature trails, a birds of prey exhibit. We’d have liked to have wandered about the
grounds, but weren’t really interested in walking the bridge (especially me
with my fear of heights), and it was going to cost around $70 for the two of
us. So we passed.
Instead, we walked up the road a ways to a
trail which led to a salmon hatchery. The trail went through an absolutely
lovely classic Northwest forest – full of stately Western Cedars and Western
Hemlocks, as well as ferns and other cool-loving flora. Really, really pretty. And so, so fragrant! 
Led to a stream and small waterfall, and then to
the hatchery.
The Visitors Center in the hatchery was very well
done and educational, and in a wonderful architecturally acclaimed
building. Got to watch the salmon trying
to swim up the fish ladders – saw a few make their heroic leaps, ever closer to
their deaths.
We were
pretty hungry by now, but were in the dilemma of being in a city renowned for
its restaurants, yet not knowing where a single one was located or how to get
to it. We did know that we didn’t want
to try and negotiate downtown Vancouver traffic on our first day here! So we just sort of played it by instinct and
ended up on Marine Drive. It soon led us
to an area of store-front small shops and restaurants in North Vancouver. Bill found a place to park the truck, and we
got out and walked along, and spotted a small Chinese restaurant. So we settled on that. It appeared to be genuinely Chinese, as we
were the only non-Asians there! The food
was good, and the service was warm.
Brought home some of their signature fried rice to have later.
We continued westward on Marine Drive into
West Vancouver, a mostly residential, very affluent suburb. The road itself became very winding, just two
lane, but with gorgeous scenery around nearly every bend. It led us by a couple of spectacular views of
the bay, with some ships anchored there (presumably ocean-bound).
It also led us through some very lovely neighborhoods
in West Vancouver, where there are multi-million dollar homes tucked hidden away
on almost every winding little street off of Marine Drive, or perched high on
the hillsides overlooking it. Totally
lovely for me, but again, Bill had to concentrate on driving.
Arrived
home at dusk. Walked Pappy, unwound a
little. Did a little research on our
next destination, Victoria.
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