Travel: Vancouver

Downtown

Vancouver, BC

For my 27th Birthday I was treated to a day exploring about Canada's glassiest city. One afternoon in Vancouver made me wonder why I don't get to Vancouver more often. Summer bike trips along the seawall will most definitely be in order.  Also, Maple Beer from Granville Island Brewery. Get the Maple Beer.  

Travel: Whistler

There is a formula that exists that calculates the ratio of effort to view. By this I mean that it helps determine the best scenic views based on having to exert the least amount of effort to see them. Take for example the Space needle. Effort is very minimal, you take an elavator up all 604 feet. The view is amazing too. So plugging that into the formula and one could say the Space Needle does pretty well. Now take the Oyster Dome hike down off Chuckanut. Like the Needle, the view is great. The San Juans have never looked better than from the peak of the Oyster Dome. However, you have to put in a fair amount of energy to reach said view. Is it a hard hike? no. But is it more energy than going up the space needle elevator? No doubt. So plug that into the formula and unfortunately the Oyster Dome doesn't do so hot. Naturally, this all leads me to Whistler. While strolling about the peaks and ridges of this beautiful mountainous land, Ellen, my Father and I discussed said formula. As it turns out, Whistler does fantastic. The majority of the hiking to get up to the views is just riding a ski lift. The only weight you lose comes from handing over some doller bills in exchange for a lift ticket. You can basically put in no effort and end up at the peak of a very high mountain with 360 degree views of a plethora of Canadian mountains and natural beauty. Are there better views than that from the peak of Whistler? Maybe, I haven't seen them all. All i'm saying is you can be lazier than a football fan on a sunday afternoon in November and still find yourself staring at one of those views kids write home to tell their mothers about.  

Travel: Peak 2 Peak

Whistler, BC

There are a small minority of folks here in Bellingham who are upset with what is coined locally as, "the Canadian Shopper". If you are unfamiliar, hoards of Maple Leafers flea their overtaxed land to come south where the guns are distributed freely because that is our right. They come to spend, buy, purchase and secure. Costco is jammed, the mall is jammed, TJ Maxx is jammed, apparently Wal Mart is jammed. So much so that there was a Facebook page created to honor those shoppers by ridiculously pleading for an American only shopping hour at Costco.  As is the case with the internet, things regarding the site turned ugly. Words were thrown around, people commented in ways they never would face to face, issues that shouldn't be issues were brought up and eventually national news outlets picked up on the story and everything was blown way out of proportion. I say all this because I, unlike some of my red blooded bald eagle loving patriots, have no problems with "the Canadian Shopper". I don't go to the stores they say are overcrowded so I rarely have to deal with this so called nightmare. Instead, I get to live in a city that greatly benefits from the increased tax dollars that we wouldn't have otherwise. I appreciate that our little town is thriving economically when compared to the rest of the state. So, to say thank you, my family and I made a quest north. We wanted to go to this place they call Canada and give back a small portion of the tax revenues our county has been so richly blessed with. Turns out things are way too expensive. Like, Way-To-Expensive. So we altered our plans a bit and took a ride on the longest gondola the world has ever known. The Peak 2 Peak was 20 minutes of amazing. My mom hated it. To be more accurate, she didn't actually go on it. But she would have hated it. 

Travel: Kettle Valley Railway

Kelowna, BC

Myra Canyon/Kettle Valley Railway

Kelowna has more than just a big lake, nice golf courses, perfect summer weather, endless outdoor activities and a vibrant touristy downtown area. It also has a hiking/biking trail converted out of an old railway line up in the hills. No trains or tracks anymore, and a few years ago the old train trestles didn't exist either. They burned down in a massive forest fire. But they were rebuilt, and we walked over them. 

Travel: Kelowna means "Grizzly Bear"

Kelowna, BC

I was in Kelowna this past weekend. A nice little tourist town on Lake Okanagan in British Columbia. We swam, boated, kayaked, hiked, bocce'd, frisbeed, Pacho'd, and generally participated in other things of that nature. The weather was as you would expect it to be in this part of the world during this time of the year; a nice and dry 32 degrees celsius. After such a nice trip, I wanted to find out a little bit more about our 4 hour away neighbors to the North-East. I did some research and found out that 18.5% of Kelowna's residents are of retirement age. Nearly 1/5th of the total population! In addition, in July of 2007, "Wakefest", a wake boarding competition and music festival was canceled due to "general rowdiness". From these facts we can assume that Kelowna has one of the highest percentages of unruly old people in North America.

Congrats to the Johnsons

In order to find summer, I had to travel 4 hours northeast to Kelowna, BC. Turns out, Kelowna in the summer is more like California than anything else. Who knew Canada could be so like California. Ty and Tessa Knew. Or mostly Tessa knew. That's why they got married up there. Which is why I actually went up there. Stayed at this little beauty of a hotel right on lake Okanogan. Great weather. Great trip. Great wedding. Great Couple. Congrats Ty and Tessa. Had a wonderful time celebrating with you!