Vancouver

Finally, we were headed for the coast and beautiful Vancouver! Our drive through this side of the mountains was very scenic – we were fortunate to have missed the wildfires, so we were blessed with clear skies and clean, fresh air on this day. We stopped briefly in Chilliwack for a visit with my cousin, Michele, who moved out west with her husband, Brian, and their two kids many years ago. We chatted on the porch while Chip played with her big dog. Then we got back on the road, so we could sight-see in Vancouver before it got dark.

We arrived in Vancouver late afternoon with the plan to visit Granville Island first. I loved this place in my previous visits to Vancouver for the market, the cute shops, and the talented street performers, and hoped the girls would too. I think they would have spent hours just in the art store! We also had a lot of fun in the music store that was filled with guitars, ukuleles, bongos, and many unique hand instruments. The most unique of all their instruments was the sound cradle. This odd shaped chair had the strings of a harp on the back. The owner played the strings while we took turns sitting in the cradle. The sounds of the strings completely surrounded you while you felt the vibration of the notes through the wood of the chair. It was a wonderful sensory experience! Next, we were entertained by a funny hand balancer who balanced on stacked suitcases while he juggled knives! We did a bit more window shopping in shops that sold yarn, beads, jewellery, and souvenirs before our tummies began to growl.

We already knew where we would have our dinner, so we hopped back in our Flex and did the short drive to Port Coquitlam where we found Orrange Kitchen & Bar. This is the restaurant that my cousin, Brian Orrange, opened a few years ago. Brian is from Sarnia and

one of the things on the menu is “Fries Under The Bridge”, Sarnia-style! I knew that Brian was away, but I still couldn’t pass up the chance to visit his place. We were welcomed like family when I told Brian’s staff who we were. They even let Chip hang out by the patio where he was showered with attention from off-duty staff. The food was delicious, and I loved seeing all the things that I remembered growing up in Brian’s parents’ backyard… Especially the wall of old refrigerator doors that were an homage to the old fridge in their garage always filled with drinks and popsicles. Brian also honoured the memory of his dad Jack, as he was featured as a star on the specials menus.

The sun was setting and we still hadn’t seen downtown, so we decided to take a detour on our way to our AirBnB stop for the night. The one thing the girls and I really wanted to see in Vancouver was the Olympic Cauldron. Our detour took us through Gastown that had very pretty gas lamps and fairy lights along the street of outdoor patios. We drove slowly along Waterfront Road, passed Canada Place, and stopped for a few photos of the torch all lit up in the dark.

It was a long, full day of driving and sightseeing, so it did not take us long to fall asleep in our rental trailer in Delta, close to Tsawwassen, where we would catch the ferry to Vancouver Island the next day….