Pushing Boundaries

Before leaving Washington, we spent two days in Canada.  None of us had been before, so we were all excited to cross the border.  We decided against taking the motor home into Canada.  There were too many restrictions on items not allowed into the country, and being that we’re traveling in our house, we're carrying most of the restricted items.  Most produce, some meats, and even dog food aren’t permitted to cross the border.  It just felt like a hassle, so we opted to camp 8 miles from the border and make day trips across.

 
To our children, we talked up the fact that we were leaving the USA and going to a different country.  We shouldn’t have.  The kids were so disappointed that Canada looked just like the USA.  “I can’t tell the difference,” was all they kept saying.  We were able to point out that all the road signs were labeled using the metric system.  It took some mental gymnastics to translate kilometers to miles, and liters into gallons at the gas stations.  I'm sure there's an app for that, but because of international data rates we didn't even Google the difference.

Vancouver from Granville Island.  Paddle boarders were everywhere making me jealous.

Day one in Canada was spent in Vancouver.  My, what a cool city.  Quite by accident, we immediately stumbled on the Gastown Steam Clock.  A steam powered clock that whistles a nifty tune on every hour.  It was originally built to cover a steam grate, to prevent homeless people from sleeping there during cold weather.  Now, it's a popular landmark that commands crowds of people every hour waiting for the steam powered whistles. 
 
From there, we hung out in the eclectic Granville Island, situated on False Creek directly across from Vancouver's downtown peninsula.  We had lunch by the water, listened to the street musicians on every corner, and browsed the artsy shops. 

The market was beautiful - everything looked so bright and yummy.

Lunch by the water, overlooking downtown Vancouver.  Is that food hanging out of CBR's mouth?  Good pictures are impossible.

When in Canada, you must drink Canada Dry.

The kids were entertained by a pigeon that kept flying into my face as I was taking this picture.

Since he was a baby, my little CBR has soothed himself by rubbing his silk baby blanket between his fingers.  He has this habit of sucking on his tongue as he rubs the blanket.  I don’t know, I guess the tongue thing happened when I took his pacifier away.  Regardless, he still does it . . . but only when he touches something silk, thus reminding him of his blanket.  He’s very good about leaving his beloved blanket in bed during the day, but if he should find something . . . ANYTHING . . . that remotely feels like his blanket, he unconsciously begins rubbing it in his fingers and sucking his tongue.  Billie Jean has a very soft coat, and we’ve frequently noticed him even rubbing her hair between his fingers while sucking his tongue.  Without even knowing he’s doing it, he finds silky things everywhere.  It truly is something of an obsession.  We tease him about becoming a “silk expert” when he grows up.  Yes, I’m going somewhere with this story.  I say all this to lead up to our delight upon finding the Silk Weaving Studio.

As a joke, we pointed out the store to CBR, not really intending to go inside.  CBR went to the window and was instantly seduced by the lovely silk inside.  He's rubbing his fingers together just looking inside . . . so, we went in.

This place was sooooo cool.  They had several looms, some manual, and some computerized.  There was a lady weaving silk scarves -- all the kids were mesmerized.  She was so kind to them, and explained every detail of what she was doing.

This was so neat.  This lady had studied textiles in school.  CER was so enchanted with her every move, and is now begging for weaving lessons.

 
They even had their own silk worms.  We got to watch them, and learn about how they wrap themselves in their cocoons of silk.  The silk should be white, but they had received a hybrid worm that was producing this bright yellow silk.  It was the most educational boutique. 

Silk worms - some encapsulated in their cocoons.  I didn't know they had wings. 

They were chasing bubbles while we parents enjoyed the best street musicians ever.

Later that day we toured the Capilano Suspension Bridge.  This 450' bridge dangles 230' over the Capilano River, under the canopy of the massive trees in a rainforest.

Look at the size of the cables on this bridge.  It was hard to get a picture because of the bouncing and swaying.

 

The newest addition to the suspension system.  This bridge is hanging entirely from that mounting on the rock.

 
We learned so much about the types of trees, and the habitat they provide for many animals, the role of water and how to conserve it, and how the trees obtain 40% of their daily nourishment from the fog alone.  Who knew?  The kids loved being ushered from tree-house to tree-house by this intelligent bridge system. 

The newest suspension bridge had a glass bottom.

Capilano Canyon Rainforest.

Day two in Canada took us to Vancouver Island.  We called it “public transportation day”, because we took the ferry over to the island, then took buses throughout the day to get all around the island.  The ferry was an interesting experience.  It’s set up like a small airport.  Once aboard, you had an hour and a half ride to Vancouver Island.  There were shops, and kids play areas, and beautiful views of the sea lions swimming throughout the waters outside.

We're sailing!!!!!

Me and my best friend.

The kids loved riding “upstairs” in the double decker public transport bus.  We took the bus straight to downtown Victoria, which lets you off at the epicenter of the action.

British Columbia Parliament building, downtown Victoria, Vancouver Island.

The famous Empress Hotel.  Is anybody else confused by the over-sized goblin shrubs on either side of the entryway to the hotel?  They look haunted.

Waterfront on the Vancouver Island harbor.  I loved watching the float planes land.  You can see two landing above.

We ate lunch by the waterfront.  It was so hot outside!  We had one chair positioned in the shade, and we all took turns rotating into it for some relief from the sun.  Our waitress probably thought we were nuts.

After lunch we strolled the streets and got ice cream.  While the exchange rate was only a slight difference during our visit, we were surprised at the number of tiny fees tacked onto each credit card transaction.  A “cross the border fee”, and “currency conversion fees, all in addition to the difference in the exchange rate.  Best to just pay in cash.

Them.

Passed out on a passenger packed un-airconditioned public transit bus.

Overall, this area of the Pacific Northwest has to be some of the most charming we’ve seen.  Besides having Thai food, ice cream, and donut shops on every corner, we really enjoyed the people, and the lifestyles here.  I hope our travels bring us back to "Vancougar" (that's what the kids called it) someday.