(no subject)
More Vancouver updates here! :D
So Sunday morning we got up really early and headed over to Vancouver Island! OMG, it was so awesome to be on a ferry again. It was a really nice ride out there! Gorgeous weather for most of the way, although we hit a wicked fog about halfway across. By the end it was so thick that they had to blow the horn every two minutes, and stop and look around every ten minutes. And of course, when we got there, they had trouble with the ramp and we all had to sit on the car deck for like 20 minutes before they could unload. Doh!
We got off the ferry in Nanaimo and headed down to the waterfront shops. That was a gorgeous little harbor! A very nice view of the surrounding islands. And lots of jellyfish. :P After that, we drove down the highway a bit more and then stopped in Chemainus to look around. They have big murals all over the place there - very cool! We wandered down to a little beach there and kicked back on a bench. We spent a good 45 minutes there just watching the water and relaxing. So much so that we were all about ready to fall asleep! Finally we headed back to the car, and finished the drive to Victoria. It was a looong drive and we were all drowsy... we had to have random conversations to stay awake. And Ronon TOTALLY needs to have a band. And John needs to skate through the halls of Atlantis and get caught by a fake-stern-but-really-amused Elizabeth.
Aaaaaaanyways, we finally made it to Victoria and found a garage by the waterfront with free parking on Sundays. Wheee! We saw the Empress hotel and the legislature building, both of which are absolutely GORGEOUS. We stopped to pick up some McDonalds, which we took down to Beacon Hill Park on the very southern tip of the island. You can see Washington right across the channel, Olympic Mountains and everything. We sat there for a long time on the beach and watched the sunset. FANTASTIC sight! It set so quickly, and it was such a gorgeous day that the colors were spectacular. And reflecting off all the little pools along the beach? Let's just say I was in photographer heaven.
We headed back up to the "Victoria" ferry terminal (which is actually like a half hour away) after that and caught the last ferry back to Vancouver. It was loooong and in the dark we were all so tired and drowsy. And the kids area of the ferry was playing some kids show with scary costume characters. Eep!
I slept in this morning while Fi went to work... and apparently I missed seeing Torri while I was sleeping. DOH! *sigh* At least I got a good night's sleep! I needed that. So this afternoon I headed out to Stanley Park to visit the Vancouver Aquarium!
OMG, I'd forgotten how awesome that place is! Absolutely wonderful exhibits. And dolphins, eeeee! And belugas! XD I really loved how fun and educational all their shows were - it was such an awesome change of pace from SeaWorld's marketing-oriented crap! Yes, I took lots of photos there. :P Imaq was awesome about posing for me, and Laverne and Spinnaker are so energetic that their show was a blast to watch and photograph.
After I headed out, I wandered through the trails in Stanley Park for awhile. I went down to Beaver Lake... it's so hard to imagine that that silent and natural of a place is in the middle of a big city! Fi called to say she was getting off work soon, so I hiked back to my car and started my drive home. While I was winding through the park, I saw everyone pulled over to the side of the road, looking at something in the inlet. When I glanced over, I saw that some sort of shipping accident (never did find out exactly what it was, but it involved one of the BIG ones) had taken place by the Lions Gate Bridge. Glad I was taking the other exit out of the park!
Of course, I was able to navigate myself almost all the way back to Fi's place... only to forget which house it was. :P So I called her and found that she wasn't quite home anyways, so I picked her up and we went over to Dairy Queen for dinner. Then a pit stop to pick up some beer, and we headed back. We wandered down to the beach for the evening and sat and chatted there for a long time til it got really cold. So we walked back and settled in to watch a Wicked video. OMG, Julia Murney is my theater girlfriend. Seriously. Girl can ACT. :P
So Sunday morning we got up really early and headed over to Vancouver Island! OMG, it was so awesome to be on a ferry again. It was a really nice ride out there! Gorgeous weather for most of the way, although we hit a wicked fog about halfway across. By the end it was so thick that they had to blow the horn every two minutes, and stop and look around every ten minutes. And of course, when we got there, they had trouble with the ramp and we all had to sit on the car deck for like 20 minutes before they could unload. Doh!
We got off the ferry in Nanaimo and headed down to the waterfront shops. That was a gorgeous little harbor! A very nice view of the surrounding islands. And lots of jellyfish. :P After that, we drove down the highway a bit more and then stopped in Chemainus to look around. They have big murals all over the place there - very cool! We wandered down to a little beach there and kicked back on a bench. We spent a good 45 minutes there just watching the water and relaxing. So much so that we were all about ready to fall asleep! Finally we headed back to the car, and finished the drive to Victoria. It was a looong drive and we were all drowsy... we had to have random conversations to stay awake. And Ronon TOTALLY needs to have a band. And John needs to skate through the halls of Atlantis and get caught by a fake-stern-but-really-amused Elizabeth.
Aaaaaaanyways, we finally made it to Victoria and found a garage by the waterfront with free parking on Sundays. Wheee! We saw the Empress hotel and the legislature building, both of which are absolutely GORGEOUS. We stopped to pick up some McDonalds, which we took down to Beacon Hill Park on the very southern tip of the island. You can see Washington right across the channel, Olympic Mountains and everything. We sat there for a long time on the beach and watched the sunset. FANTASTIC sight! It set so quickly, and it was such a gorgeous day that the colors were spectacular. And reflecting off all the little pools along the beach? Let's just say I was in photographer heaven.
We headed back up to the "Victoria" ferry terminal (which is actually like a half hour away) after that and caught the last ferry back to Vancouver. It was loooong and in the dark we were all so tired and drowsy. And the kids area of the ferry was playing some kids show with scary costume characters. Eep!
I slept in this morning while Fi went to work... and apparently I missed seeing Torri while I was sleeping. DOH! *sigh* At least I got a good night's sleep! I needed that. So this afternoon I headed out to Stanley Park to visit the Vancouver Aquarium!
OMG, I'd forgotten how awesome that place is! Absolutely wonderful exhibits. And dolphins, eeeee! And belugas! XD I really loved how fun and educational all their shows were - it was such an awesome change of pace from SeaWorld's marketing-oriented crap! Yes, I took lots of photos there. :P Imaq was awesome about posing for me, and Laverne and Spinnaker are so energetic that their show was a blast to watch and photograph.
After I headed out, I wandered through the trails in Stanley Park for awhile. I went down to Beaver Lake... it's so hard to imagine that that silent and natural of a place is in the middle of a big city! Fi called to say she was getting off work soon, so I hiked back to my car and started my drive home. While I was winding through the park, I saw everyone pulled over to the side of the road, looking at something in the inlet. When I glanced over, I saw that some sort of shipping accident (never did find out exactly what it was, but it involved one of the BIG ones) had taken place by the Lions Gate Bridge. Glad I was taking the other exit out of the park!
Of course, I was able to navigate myself almost all the way back to Fi's place... only to forget which house it was. :P So I called her and found that she wasn't quite home anyways, so I picked her up and we went over to Dairy Queen for dinner. Then a pit stop to pick up some beer, and we headed back. We wandered down to the beach for the evening and sat and chatted there for a long time til it got really cold. So we walked back and settled in to watch a Wicked video. OMG, Julia Murney is my theater girlfriend. Seriously. Girl can ACT. :P