The End of the Long and Winding Road

This is a view from Granville Island and the Granville Bridge.  This is a unique market area with lots of shops and fresh food booths.   The highpoint for us was the Granville Island Brewing Company.   We had a brewery tour and tasted 3 of their beers.   We also did some more exploring of the city and ended the day with dinner at Mahoney and Sons Irish pub and a visit to the Museum of Anthropology on the University of BC campus.   It was a long day, but a good way to end our vacation.   Our flight leaves at 9:00 tomorrow morning, so we will be up bright and early.   We are tired, but content with all we did in the wonderful corner of the world.  

So, until the next Noll adventure, we bid you all farewell.

Bob and Deb

Vancouver: Here We Come!

Here we are, just about to hop on the Sky Train to head down to the center of Vancouver.   We are staying at a suburb called Richmond.   It is out near the airport.   We figured this would be convenient for getting to our Winnipeg flight on Wednesday morning.   When we got here the sun was trying its best to peek out, so we just headed to do some exploring.

First stop was Stanley Park.  Even though it was sort of cold and windy, there were no raindrops! Totem poles are big here in this part of Canada.  They hold lots of meaning for the First Nations people.    The other picture is taken along the seawall looking back toward the city.   This seawall runs for miles around the city.   You can literally walk/bike/run etc the entire way around.

After we grabbed some fish and chips (a senior special-$5 for more fish and fries than we could finish!) we decided to just stroll back toward the waterfront.   Did some window shopping and and ended up back down by Canada Place.  It is the area where the cruise ships dock.   Looks like big white sails.   The area is so pretty.    We finally made our way to Gastown, one of the oldest parts of the city.   This is where the famous steam clock is found.

Looking forward to our full day tomorrow.

Hugs to Everyone,

Bob and Deb

Good Bye Victoria

Our last full day in Victoria was a relaxing and leisurely one.   There is a sign in front of the hotel across the street from us that says, "Night is for sleeping, day is for resting".   That was our motto today.    We went to church early and then strolled around the harbor and ended up back at the Helm's for a little rest.   Then off again to explore the park where this picture was taken.   It is called Beacon Hill Park.   So peaceful and lovely.   The flowers and plants are quite amazing.   Apparently it is mild enough all year around that many things don't die.   There always seems to be something in bloom according to the locals.   After our park stroll we headed back for lunch with much anticipation because we thought we were going to be able to see the Packers.   Only apparently local channels can choose which games they broadcast and the locals decided they wanted to broadcast the Seattle game instead.   Guess it makes sense with Seattle so close, but sure was frustrating for Bob!   He kept checking online and watching the updates on the tv.  It looked like they won handily according to the last we saw.   We did get to see most of the Brewers game so that was fun.   After supper we took another stroll along the harbor area and back to our inn.   We are making our plans for the long journey back to Vancouver.   We are hoping to time it better tomorrow so that we can leave here around 9:30 and still  make it to our hotel in Vancouver by around 1:30.    The weather is supposed to be awful tomorrow, so we are not sure whether we will head into the city  or not.   Guess we will see what the day brings.   Sad to say good bye to this lovely city.   We have enjoyed our relaxing stay.

Toodles,

Bob and Deb

To Evan and Emily

Hi Evan and Emily,

This is to try and answer your question about what makes the water so aqua.   This picture shows a little bit of that, but nothing like it looks in person.   It is so amazing.  There were areas where the water was so aqua that it almost hurt your eyes!   As we understand it, the water has that color because it comes from melting glaciers.  There are glaciers all around this area and when they melt, the water contains small particles that have been picked up by the glacier.   Then when the light hits the water, this is the color that gets reflected to our eyes.   It is just so beautiful!  What a great question you had.  You will have to go online and see if we got the answer correct!

We love you,

Grandma and Grandpa

Hello Victoria

We actually intended for this all to be one post, but we were too quick on the "publish" trigger!

Anyway, here we are in Victoria.   We arrived in Vancouver this morning at 9:00.   Our train ride from Jasper was a bit of a disappointment.  Not the train ride, but the views.   It was so cloudy, foggy, and rainy that we could hardly tell we were in the mountains!   Can't do much about the weather when you are traveling, so we made the best of it and had fun on the train anyway.   We got to the Helm's Inn here in Victoria after rides on the Skytrain, bus, ferry, and bus.   Only took 7 hours!   It was surely worth the trip.   The Helm's is wonderful.   We dropped our bags off and then headed to the nearby grocery store.   You can see we enjoyed beer and pizza as we watched the Badgers play  Nebraska.   Yea, Bucky!   Even scurried out during halftime to get the picture below.   It is one of legislative buildings right down on the inner harbor here in Victoria.   What a beautiful city!   We will have a good weather day tomorrow, so we plan to make the best use of our time that we can.  We will surely have some great things to share tomorrow.   Bob thinks life is pretty good right now.   He was able to follow the Brewers victory online as we cruised on the ferry today, he is enjoying the Badgers romp over Nebraska right now, and just checked the paper to make sure we can catch the Packers tomorrow.   Doesn't get any better than this-traveling and Wisconsin sports combined.

Good night to everyone back home.  

Bob and Deb

A Dedication from Jasper and Hello to Victoria

This last Jasper memory is dedicated to our good friends, Roger and Marsha.   They were supposed to be with us on this trip and when cancer reared its ugly head, they ended up having to cancel their plans.   We have missed their company and have felt so bad that they are missing this wonderful trip. So, Rog and Marsha-here's to you.   We had this beer,  burger, and that gigantic cone-looking thing filled with sweet potato fries all in your honor.   And Marsha, we are very proud at your strong will and determination to beat this thing!  We are checking things out and hopefully we will get to experience this all again next fall.