Arrived Vancouver

Hello everyone,

This morning we were up early to catch the bus to King Street Station for our Amtrak train to Vancouver. The station was beautiful, and the security guard on duty even told me how to get upstairs so I could check it out from above. He was lovely.

We boarded our train and it was really comfortable. The scenery was cloudy and gloomy but still beautiful. The train ride was meant to take four hours but it ended up taking a bit over five due to some early mechanical issues (loose cables apparently) and then a queue to enter into Vancouver due to some tracks being closed. So we arrived safely about an hour late, and copped an absolute grilling by a stone faced customs officer who asked us many questions about why we were away for so long. It seems to be unusual in Canada just as it was in the USA to have a job and be able to take that much leave. We had to explain what long service leave was. Anyway, she eventually let us in and we boarded a bus towards our hotel.

Here we met Adam and Rhiannon, whom our trip overlapped with for one day as they leave for Whistler tomorrow and arrived in Vancouver a few days ago. We checked in to our hotel (the same hotel as them - it's great!) and then caught an Uber together to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. Here we enjoyed the 137m long and 70m high suspension bridge, which apparently has such strong cables that it can withstand a weight of 90,000 kg which is either two Boeing 747 airplanes or 96 elephants. It was still a bit scary even with this knowledge in mind though as the bridge moved and swayed quite a bit. The view was lovely with beautiful surrounding trees and rushing water. The original bridge was constructed in 1889 and was made of hemp rope and cedar planking, but the one we crossed today is a more modern construction from 1956. In 2006, a huge tree fell onto the bridge overnight after lots of snowfall that winter and the bridge didn't collapse or sustain much damage at all.

Aside from the bridge, we got to do a treetop walk and a clifftop walk as well which were also nice. The four of us then caught a bus back to Downtown Vancouver, where we collected the ashes of Nan and Pa I had brought over with us and have been carrying on the trip so far. We then walked to Stanley Park as per Pa's request and scattered the ashes near the Totem Poles area, around a big tree facing the water. By this time, the clouds that had been around all day had lifted and we were treated to a beautiful blue sky and sunny late afternoon. It was a lovely view, I hope Nan and Pa are happy with the spot we chose. It's going to be strange not having that bag with the containers inside it to carry around, I have already found myself thinking "where are the ashes?" for a moment!

We had dinner at a dumpling place near the hotel and then said our good byes. We are doing a day trip tomorrow to Vancouver Island, and Adam and Rhiannon leave for Whistler.

Love to all
Claire
Xoxox