The initial reason for my return was to attend a conference in Vancouver, which turned out to be a city that absolutely fascinated me – from their environmentally conscious transportation systems to the beautiful landscape to the cosmopolitan international makeup of the city.
view of the mountains from the airplane
Seafront
the running path along the seafront
not a sign typically found in the middle of a city
The City
clouds coming down
Gaslamp District - just blocks away from Vancouver's skidrow (that I accidentally stumbled upon)
Fascinating Transportation
pilot program to close a lane for bike paths
most buses were electric or hybrid
it wasn't uncommon to see multiple hybrid cars in a row - 100% of the taxis were hybrids
some Vancouverites don't even walk across the crosswalk - they run (while dribbling a ball?)
...but some walk
Granville Island Public Market
Grouse Mountain
on my solo trek to Dam Mountain - bear scat? wolf scat? dog scat? I took it as a warning, but kept on going...until I ran into a Slovak couple that had just seen a black bear...I turned around and descended the mountain with them
Stanley Park
Despite the cloudy day, I rented a bike and headed to Stanley Park.
SEATTLE
I continued down to Seattle for my second-to-last weekend to meet up with my great friends, Nicole (San Francisco) and Allison (Minneapolis) - we stayed with Nicole's friends, Chad and Justin and their adorable newly adopted daughter, Lauren!
the 45 minute line to enter the U.S. on the Friday of Candian Thanksgiving weekend - they go to the U.S. to shop and return for their Thanksgiving meal on Monday
Nicole, Alyson and Lauren (2.0)
pinball bar
Seattle Public Library
Seattle Public Market
the first Starbucks
Nicole, our litttle babushka
Alyson, playing mom
pretty farmer's market flowers
Alyson admiring the Space Needle
After 2 full days of rain, all we had to do was go 15 minutes one way or the other of Seattle for perfectly blue skies - I took a little detour on my way back to Vancouver into a state park on Camano Island.
also happened to stop for some fresh apple cider
view from Justin's apartment in Vancouver on my last night
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