Oot and Aboot

 When it comes to my vacations and road trips, I'm a planner. I like to have an itinerary and know what we will be doing each day. But sometimes plans change and when that happens, we usually end up with something even better.

A famous and very popular suspension bridge in Vancouver crosses the Capilano River. We had originally planned to skip this attraction and go to the Lynn Canyon suspension bridge instead. Lynn Canyon is not as well known and the entrance cost is more affordable. But the website recommended that if you were going by car, to arrive early to get a parking spot. Our plans changed when we did not get up early enough to ensure that we'd find a parking space.

Capilano Suspension Bridge Park has a free shuttle from Canada Place, and we could purchase our tickets for a specific time, so we forked over the big bucks and made a new plan for the day which included going to Capilano later in the day when the crowds are typically not as bad. That left us a bit of the morning and mid-day to do something else.

Joe commented that he was surprised there was no museum in our plans. My son knows me so well! So we decided on the Maritime Museum and that was our first stop of the day. The museum is situated on one of the many points along the various waterways in the city. The view from the front of the museum is gorgeous with the city skyline off to the right, mountains and trees straight ahead and the ocean to your left. With a grassy park in front, there were people sitting and just enjoying the view.

The Maritime Museum is very proud to have the St. Roch which is the first ship to sail the Northwest Passage from west to east as well as the first ship to circumnavigate North America. We were able to climb aboard the schooner and explore the tight quarters and sections of the ship as well as read about the voyages it took through the Arctic to get to the other side of the continent. During the first voyage, the ship took two years to make it across because it was trapped in ice through two winters. The crew was dependent on the Inuit guides to help them not only navigate the passage but also survive the cold and hunger. Other interesting exhibits included the history of rum running during prohibition in both Canada and the U.S. Even the washroom (aka restroom) had placards with quotes and info about toilet use on board the ship. Only the captain had an actual toilet. The rest of the crew relieved themselves over the side. Okay, let's move along.

David is a fan of many shows that are filmed in Vancouver. So our next stop was one of those locations. Vancouver City Hall is the Central City Police Station in The Flash. It has a big statue outside the building of George Vancouver, a British explorer of the area.

It was just about time to catch the shuttle to Capilano, so we drove over to Canada Place. Canada Place is on the waterfront and includes the cruise terminal, a convention center, Fly Over Canada, a hotel, and more. We hopped on the shuttle and took the 20 minute trip into the mountains to Capilano. The main feature is the suspension bridge that spans 450 feet across the canyon where the Capilano river

is 230 feet below. After walking across the swinging bridge, my legs were wobbly and weak. On the other side of the bridge are other trails and activities like the Treetops Adventure where we climbed up a bunch stairs to the top of towering trees and then walked on much smaller suspension bridges from tree to tree. David commented it was like Disney's Redwood Creek Challenge Trail for adults. The Nature's Edge trail took us down into the canyon and the Cliffwalk was just what it sounds like. Needless to say, there were lots of stairs, but the views were beautiful.

I was exhausted when we returned to our Airbnb around 8:00 pm. I started this post but postponed finishing it until the morning. Today is Burnaby Village and celebrating Canada Day.

My son, David also writes a blog if you are interested in another perspective. You can read it at Favorite's Son Spiel