The Long and Windy Road

This is the view from our motel in Lillouet. That is the Fraser River famous for its salmon runs and 10 foot sturgeon.

This is the start of the 80 mile round trip in the wrong direction. The tarmac ran out quite quickly, leaving us with just a dirt track and very steep edges.

Just to show how far down it was. You can just see the windy road running alongside the river.

Having just got ourselves out of trouble, we were treated to nice tarmac covered roads with beautiful waterfalls at the side. Not scary at all!

When we reached Clearwater/Wells Gray KOA, we were glad of this swim. It was surprisingly warm considering we thought it was going to be glacial with mountains surrounding us. We call this photo Swimming in the Rain.

The blogging didn't work that day so we decided to let off steam at the foosball table (that's table football to you and me except theirs had three goalies!)



Reaching Ear Popping Altitude

Leaving Vancouver, it turned to beautiful mountain scenery around us. Our next short stop was Whistler- not having skis/mountain bike/snow board we moved on quite quickly to Lillouet, a small prairie town that was over cast but really hot. It is famous for it's jade mines.

The pictures below are of us at Shannon Falls and Brandywine Falls which, being a short walk from the car park, broke the drive up nicely.

Someone who shall remain nameless snapped a picture of a bears butt.

Got it right this time. We might just put the two pictures together to make a full one.

Doing the Tourist Thing

After a lazy start, we missed breakfast today (luckily this led on to churros and soft pretzels a bit later in the day). We had a short drive to the Capilano Suspension Bridge which they'd made into a tourist attraction. This was the first touristy photo opportunity we came across. Mum and Dad sat in a photo frame with odds and ends around them.

And here's the second...and many more to come!

This isn't tacky at all...
Oh well! We're on holiday. We hope that this is the closest we actually get to a bear.

Spot Sophie on the suspension bridge...
It looked nice and steady until you actually got on it.

We really were in the treetops here. This was the Treetop Adventures walk.

This little cabin had a Gone Birdwatching sign on it...Gone to Lunch is more like it! Mum and Dad took the opportunity to put their feet up.
We can't tell...did Sophie take the picture at a funny angle or is it the cabin about to fall in the pond?

Looking down at the lovely river.

We fell in love with this beautiful hanging basket.

Sophie doing an impression of Dad. Play up Pompey!

Mum added this photo to the collection because she thought it was lovely.

Just to show you how high the suspension bridge is.

This is the cliffwalk. We didn't really leave Mum behind, she eventually caught up after taking several pictures for Japanese tourists.

Mum is catching up! We were nearly on firm ground by this point.

This is a glass floor overhang for the daring, so of course Sophie was special enough to try it out.

Display stand of potted arrangements. You might see a planted arrangement like this in our garden next year.

Looking at the body language, Sophie and the guy next to her seem to have had an argument.

Rainbow Trout at feeding time. They put 300 in the pond each year to encourage the otters to come up and eat them. They also attact osprey.

Suspension Bridge traffic jam due to a theatrical lady who seemed to give up and sit down in the middle of the bridge holding up the queues either way.

On the road again tomorrow. Possibly we'll go to Whistler but the forecast says it's raining so who knows.

As We Loved It

Bard on the Beach was booked up months ago as a birthday present for Sophie. We happened to be researching things to do in Vancouver when Mum happened to come across this Shakespeare Festival and knew Sophie would like it. After a long wait, we weren't disappointed.

We went earlier in the day to collect our tickets and to see what a lovely setting it was in. It was raining in the morning but by the evening it was lovely and warm. The man in the box office warned us to bring warm clothes and blankets as it got chilly in the evenings.

Dad and Sophie stood at the entrance. Believe it or not we were very excited!

Advertising banners across the bridge for Bard on the Beach (the first signs we had that we were in the right area).

Random beaver cookies (how did this picture get in here, Mum?)

This was the opening set for As You Like It with the open air background that showed the Vancouver skyline and the mountains in the distance. The actors came up some stairs, through the gap and onto the stage

This was taken in the interval and the stage shows the beginning of the second half. The trees on stage are full of colourful paper flower love notes from Orlando to Rosalind.

Mum and Dad were pleasantly surprised at how much they ended up enjoying As You Like It. We were tempted to go and see Merchant of Venice on our way back to Seattle at the end of the holiday.

Mango Tango

We were looking forward to getting to Vancouver for the Canadian leg of our road trip! Even though it was only 70 miles, it took us all day to drive from Burlington. There were so many tempting places to stop and look at.

Having had BBQs for the last four or five nights we decided to stop at a very unlikely looking bar/grill/wok place and we were delighted not only with a lovely dinner but with Sophie's first road trip cocktail. This has set such a high standard that all other cocktails will have to live up to.

How to make:

Mango Tango

Lychee liqueur

Mango puree

Frozen citrus juice (Slush Puppy stylee)

Plus one essential straw and one non-essential bay leaf.

We giggled all the way back to the hotel.

We found a hotel on the North Shore of Vancouver. When we actually looked at a map we realised it was completely the wrong direction to Bard on the Beach where we are going tomorrow (but if we hadn't found this hotel, we wouldn't have found the gorgeous cocktail!)

This is our room with the car parked outside.

Saying Goodbye to the Sea

The coffee shop called The Doctor's Office that overlooks where the ferry the comes in. They did great coffee, the best so far in America. Sarah's is still the best ever.

As we left on the ferry we waved goodbye to Friday Harbour and wondered if we'd ever see it again. We had a lovely time on San Juan and would highly recommend it.

We got a little lost on our way to the next location and we ended up at a little beach park which had lots of these birds with their babies; the grass was thick with them.

Looking along the suspension bridge at Deception Pass which had brilliant views in both directions. This is on our way to Ana Cortes (which, by hearing someone official, we realised we'd been pronouncing wrong)