Our Return To British Columbia

After the festivities in Oregon, we headed up to BC for a few days.   In some ways it was odd to be back. Our old neighborhood has been developed SO MUCH; it's unbelievable how many condos have gone up in the last two years.  And traveling around in the Lower Mainland with a kid is so very different than traveling around with just two adults.  But it was also great to be back.  We got to see lots of friends, which was really wonderful.  We got to visit a few of our old haunts.  We got to eat delicious yogurt :)

We totally forgot to take a photo with the friends we stayed with!  However, even though there's no photo to document our time, it was really nice to spend time with you guys, Dan & Jemma, and to get to know your son more!  Helena sure had fun playing with him & his toys.

 A pizza dinner at Derby Reach was also enjoyed with friends.   

Their daughter was really nice to show Helena the ropes of a McDonald's Playland after dinner!

What we were most looking forward to in BC was getting back onto the hiking trails.  The air smelled so fresh and we were surrounded by deep thick greenery.  I LOVED IT.

Helena seemed to love it all too - looking at the big banana slugs up close...

 

running through rotting tree stumps...

and having a centipede crawl all over her arm were the highlights for her.

Again, being surrounded by forest was amazing.  It was wonderful to look up, way up, and see nothing but leaves and tree trunks and blue sky.

Oh BC, we still love you.

15 games won, not the needed 16

So the Canucks lost. I could write about my frustration with some of the events of the Finals but my husband says I shouldn't. So instead I will share two things about hockey that don't make me angry.

During the Stanley Cup Finals, most Boston Pizza restaurants in British Columbia changed their signs to this:


I don't know why but every time I think of that, I just smile.

As far as I can tell, the face of Hockey Night in Canada is Don Cherry. He is a former hockey player and coach. Besides his good predictions and explanations during the games, he's known for his suit coats. The craziness of the one below is pretty typical.


His suit coats are what first caught my attention when flipping through the channels many Hockey Nights in Canada ago. Then it was weird. Now it makes me laugh.

Well, Vancouver did not win the Stanley Cup in 2011 but I'll be cheering for them to win in 2012. Go Canucks!

The unbelievable has happened.

Watch the video and I'll explain below.



But first, before the explanation, let me tell you a little story. One day during our first year of marriage, John called me at work to say he'd gotten free tickets for a surprise activity that night. He wouldn't tell me what it was but he'd let me guess later. That night we started the drive to downtown St. Paul and the guesses started pouring out: a movie, a musical, a concert, figure skating, etc. At one point I said, "It's not a hockey game, is it? Please, if it's a hockey game I'd rather sit in the car and do my schoolwork." As John wasn't saying yes or no to any of my guesses, it passed. When we arrived at the Xcel Center, I was sure it was figure skating as the jumbotron outside was showing just that. But when we walked in, it was none other than a pro hockey game. That night I occupied myself with people watching.

Back to the video. The video was taken during a game in which the Vancouver Canucks scored in the last few seconds, allowing for an overtime. What you heard was the city's reaction. Now the team has made it to the Stanley Cup finals!

How do the story and video go together? I now call myself a hockey fan, a Vancouver Canucks hockey fan. The unbelievable has happened.

Toronto vs. Vancouver

A question I've been asked many times is:

How do Toronto and Vancouver
compare with each other?

Below are our thoughts. Now mind you that we did not live in downtown Vancouver but rather the Lower Mainland - meaning within the major area - and now we definitely live in downtown Toronto. So the question I'm really answering is "How does Toronto compare with the Lower Mainland of British Columbia?".

1. Vancouver felt very much like the United States. Lots of big box stores. Smoking was not seen everywhere you go and the streets/sidewalks were clean. Public transit was not very good, unless you were right downtown Vancouver and then it was only okay. New, clean, glass skyscrapers make up the city. Toronto has a very European feel to it. Almost all houses are brick. Smoking is everywhere and the city does not have an overall clean feeling. Streetcars, subways, and buses can take you almost anywhere.

2. The weather.

3. Vancouver provides an enjoyment of being outside most places you go. It's basically due to the amazing bounty of varied beauty found in the area, which is the reason why the license plates say "British Columbia - Best Place on Earth". Toronto just doesn't have that feel. No other place I've been has had that feel. Vancouver/British Columbia contains so many different physical features that a person can do practically anything there. Toronto has big city life with a lake & city parks thrown into the mix.

4. There was a much stronger emphasis of Canada and being Canadian in British Columbia than there is over here in Toronto. Our American citizenship seemed to get a lot of attention, some of it being negative. I attribute part of that to the fact that Toronto is incredibly diverse - to the point that it's supposed to be the most diverse city (with regards to population) in the world - so really, most people are not or do not see themselves as being Canadian at the core. We were watching a news show last night, actually, that said in all of Canada, British Columbians find more of their identity in being Canadian than anywhere else in Canada. So maybe that's part of it too...

5. We heard it in BC and we've heard it out here - Toronto is the place to be if you want to make money. Vancouver is the beautiful place.

6. Where we lived in British Columbia was considered the Bible Belt of Canada. We've realized how true that is now that we're on the East Coast. While new churches were being built or old churches were being renovated in Langley, there are a lot of old, beautiful, empty churches here in Toronto. Some are being renovated and made into expensive condominiums. A great idea for using the buildings but sad that these churches were empty AND another church body couldn't be found to purchase the buildings.

7. Brick is everywhere in Toronto. In the early 20th century, it was actually law that you built with brick! Thus, when you drive around and see a house that is not brick, it really catches your attention. On the other coast, brick was a rarity.

Overall, we like Toronto but really miss British Columbia.

The Canadian Rockies with my Bro

We have made it to Toronto and are settling in. Today is John’s first day of events at the university – orientation! More about Toronto will come as we have thoughts/experiences to share, but for now I’m just going to try to catch up with blogging about the last month.

My brother Rob joined us in Langley right before we started the move. While I worked, John & Rob hiked the Chief. Check out who they visited!

It was my great pleasure to take him & John to Kobe’s Steakhouse for their recent graduations.

The food was delicious and the chefs were entertaining.

After driving for a day, we spent time camping and hiking in Glacier National Park (in BC, not Montana!), Yoho National Park (in BC), and Banff National Park (in AB). They are all located close to each other – really, it’s an amazing area of the world. We traveled through or next to mountains from when we left Langley to until we left Banff. It was incredible; the mountains surrounded us for eleven hours and then all of a sudden, they were absolutely 100% gone.

Natural Bridge in Yoho - Can you see Rob and me?

At Emerald Lake

John was clearly on vacation!

The men took a swim in the glacial Ross Lake. It was cold! The bottom was

surprisingly muddy and hard to walk on without falling in.

Takakkaw Falls in Yoho

Hike at Lake Louise

Plain of Six Glaciers

Lake Agnes

The three of us

Yes, this tree is growing UPSIDE DOWN!

Rob in Johnstone Canyon

Banff National Park

Then it was another day of driving to Billings, Montana, where

we visited John’s cousin Kaylie and her son Sullivan.

One more day of driving and the trip was complete – at least that leg...

A Beautiful Sunset

A few nights ago we were just hanging out, doing stuff around the house, when I looked out the window and saw brilliant pink between the trees. Look what awaited us once we went outside and had a clear view!

Guest Blogger - Katie

I think you have been misinformed about your writers. You may have been led to believe that they are nice, normal Americans currently biding time in Canada, but, as you can see from the attached photo, nice and normal is only a cover for odd and overtly curious.

My Sis's Visit Part Two: Awesome Lower Mainland Parks

Since we're leaving British Columbia soon, I need to take every opportunity to teach you about this area! The Lower Mainland refers to Vancouver and the many surrounding cities. It has a population of about 2.2 million people out of the 4 million in the province. For you Minnesotans, think of the Lower Mainland as the Twin Cities area and British Columbia as Minnesota.

The Lower Mainland has some pretty amazing parks. We experienced two of them with Katie. The first being Campbell Valley Park. It is beautiful, but the best part is you can feed the birds from your hand!


The number of birds looking for food is definitely higher when it's winter, but the three of us were able to find one chickadee that was willing to be brave!


The second park we enjoyed - Stanley Park - is one we've enjoyed multiple times with many visitors, but this time we enjoyed it on bikes! Below you can see Katie and John with the Lions Gate Bridge ahead.


It's such a beautiful ride, as the gorgeous forest is on your left and the ocean is on your right!

My Sis's Visit Part One: Squamish

My sister Katie came and spent five days with us last week. It was a wonderful time with her - wish you hadn't had to leave, Katie.

The weekend was spent up in Squamish, a town located at the end of the famous Sea to Sky Highway. Hanging above the city is this monolith:


The Stewamus Chief. We've hiked it previously, but as it's our favorite hike in the area, we were glad Katie wanted to head to the top! Of course, to get to the top, we had to start at the bottom:


The first 15 feet, what you see above, look really intimidating, but it's not like that the entire way. The first half involves steep hiking, and then you get to more variety:


Check out the view from the top, though. The 2 1/2 hour climb is completely worth it!


Of course after enjoying the view, there's nothing like enjoying a nap!


The next day we kept waiting to see if it was going to rain, a common occurrence over the last three weeks, except for Saturday. We waited, we debated, we ate fish and chips, and finally decided to go for it - rent a boat in Howe Sound and enjoy the islands! Of course as we were climbing in the boat it started to sprinkle. Yet, it stopped and we had a great time.


Our fearless captain and our great visitor


One interesting thing we saw was this:


a retired Canadian navy vessel, measuring over 300 feet long, that is going to be sunk right there in Howe Sound! The hope is it will help marine life and, of course, provide more interesting scuba diving in the area.

31 days of being vegetarians (at home)

Meatless May has gone well. No meat was cooked in our house all month long! We have eaten meat, however, but only when we've gone over to someone else's house or gone to a restaurant.

One of the best parts of the month was using a new cookbook:


"Vij's" is a world-famous Indian restaurant located in Vancouver. I had seen and browsed this cookbook many times in the local bookstores, but May was the month that it was my turn to check the book out of the library! I've made three vegetarian dishes - Long Green Beans and New Potatoes in Mustard Seed Curry, Coconut Curried Vegetables, and Cumin Basmati Rice - from the cookbook so far, and I'm looking forward to making both veggie and meat dishes from it in the future.

But using the cookbook was only one of the best parts of the month. Another awesome part was going to Vij's with friends. Even though we got there before the restaurant opened, we didn't get a seat immediately because of all the people! So, if you don't get a seat right away, you are welcome to order drinks and sample appetizers! Yum. Our meal was delish - I had marinated and grilled sablefish and zucchini in a mango-reduction curry. Then, when we were all done, I tried to be brave and asked Vikram Vij - the man who owns the restaurant, the man who started it 16 years ago as a little 14-seater cafe, and the man who created almost all the recipes with his wife - if Sam and I could have our picture with him. He said yes.


It was a great meal and a great night, and May was a great month.

Banana Slug Up Close and Personal

One of the first West Coast bugs we saw was a banana slug with my siblings in Golden Ears Provincial Park. We have seen many of them since then. Yet, we had never seen anything like this until John went hiking this weekend with our friend Dan (whose voice you will hear on the video).

The City of Victoria

Let's get back to British Columbia basics.


The blue peg is where we live.
The red peg is the city of Vancouver.
The island to the west of Vancouver is Vancouver Island.
The green peg is the city of Victoria.

Do you feel knowledgeable?

Here's a bit more for your noggin. Vancouver Island is near the San Juan islands in Washington. Victoria is the capitol of British Columbia and is a city that is described as being British.

Now that you are geographically intelligent about this area of North America, read on. We went to Victoria this past weekend because John was presenting a paper at the Regional SBL Conference. To get to Vancouver Island, you take a ferry.


Victoria is most famous for the following:

Butchart Gardens


Tea, High Tea, Tea Shoppes, Tea You-Fill-in-the-Blank


The Empress Hotel


Parliament at Night

What I did with my friend Sam while the others were at the conference:

Climbed Mount Finlayson, where at the top you can see Victoria, the mainland (what I'm pointing to), the Olympic Peninsula of Washington, and the far-reaching Pacific Ocean

Took part in a protest at the Capitol against Norwegian Salmon Farms

A should-be major highlight of any trip to Victoria:

A walk along the huge jetty in the Juan de Fuca Strait
(Olympic Mountains in the background)

Wow, now you know a lot about Victoria!