More Details

Since that delicious and relaxed I-just-got-back-from-vacation feeling is beginning to wear off, I thought I had better finish this post before the fun details flitt from my head. So, as promised, details under the correct headings:

Vancouver's Stanley Park / Aquarium

I loved that this park is a HUGE area right outside of the city. It was within walking distance of our hotel and we had a good time exploring it. Something we noticed about Vancouver was that "touristy" areas were also local areas. Yes, there were plenty of tourists in the park, but it looked like several locals as well - there were areas to bike, run, play cricket, picnic and beach. We also were impressed with the Aquarium which had a really interesting section devoted to the sea life of British Columbia. It was interesting to me because I had never associated the frigid waters of BC with colorful sea life. It was so beautiful to see the anemones, star fish and other species which live in this part of the world.

Capilano suspension bridge

Not being a huge fan of heights or walking on shaky items, I wasn't really sure I would like this tourist attraction in North Vancouver. However, I found the whole park to be really well done. There were a variety of wooded areas with huge old trees. The signage telling about the variety trees and the environment were tasteful and educational. Actually, the suspension bridge was really just an interesting way to get to the rest of the park. There was nothing scary about walking across it, although I was definitely unsteady on my feet.

The difference between a Bloody Mary and a Caesar
Okay, I guess I should have known this from my Canadian cousins, but I didn't realize that Bloody Mary's are not common in Canada. What do you people do for morning drinking occasions? Evidently, what they do is whip up a couple of Ceasars. This drink is made of clamato rather than from V8 or tomato juice. When this was explained to us at brunch one morning, I immediately passed. I remember reading somewhere that clamato has large amounts of MSG it and already being dehydrated from consuming large amounts of coffee and beer, but no water, I wasn't about to mess with a MSG incident on vacation. No such bells went off for Chris, but they should have because clamato is made of tomatoes and clam juice and the poor boy is allergic to shellfish. I failed to mention this before he ordered one, but I watched him closely and he was fine. So either, he isn't all that allergic or there isn't enough clam for him react to in clamato. One takeaway, we have from the drink is the yummy rim of celery salt and pepper. Yummy idea for the next tailgating Saturday.

Meltdown on a Moped
Let me take this opportunity to explain, for those of you who don't know me, I am not mechanically inclined. I seem to have trouble communicating with machines. So that's the preface of this little incident.

We took a ferry from near Bellingham, WA to Friday Harbour, a cute little touristy sea town. (Side note here: don't you love how all coastal areas seem to take on the same feeling of nostalgia and odd characters around each bin? I do, in fact, my dream for several years was to chuck it all and move to Key West.) As we were exploring the little town, Chris mentioned wanting to rent mopeds and cruise around. I wasn't too into this idea, but thought what the heck, I'll try it. He pointed out that 14 year-old boys regularly ride these things and they're no big deal. Uh huh. So up the hill we trek, fill out paperwork releasing the company of all responsibility and are fitted for helmets. I couldn't really see out of my helmet, but whatever, on the moped I hop where I learn the route we will be taking includes 45 mph roads and the bikes only go 35 mph. Getting a little nervous now. The instructions are barked rather quickly, clutch here, throttle here, front brakes left, back brakes right, don't use the front alone, don't use the back with the throttle (or something like that). Getting a little more nervous now. Next we learned how to kick start the engines, which consisted of me gently stepping on a lever or hitting it too hard. I couldn't find a happy medium. Getting frustrated and nervous now. Okay, bike started, now practice going through the parking lot. Couldn't so much do that without taking off like a bullet and then not remembering how to brake. Now getting nervous, frustrated and pissed. Instructor now just getting nervous. Try the whole throttling thing again, no such luck. Now almost in tears. Shout to Chris, "I'm not doing this" and I run off. I think they were pretty glad to see me go.

Lummi Facial
We stayed at an Indian casino in Bellingham run by the Lummi Nation. The spa at this little place was great and after the whole moped thing I really needed some chill time. For my money, a facial is the best spa value. You get a fair amount of massage along with great skin, who can beat that?

Why it is probably a good idea to go ahead and spring the extra $30 for the GPS in the rental car
I'm not going to explain this one too much, just take my word for it.