Vancouver

Leaving Summerland, we headed down to Vancouver and as we neared Hope we stopped at some old train tunnels from 1913.  The forest by this time had changed to huge moss covered trees.  It was gorgeous!  We went on the walk through the forest to see the tunnels.  They were amazing and even more amazing was the fact that they had been built in 1913.  The scenery was also incredible and we were awed by the beauty.  We also were able to see the salmon in the pools of river between the falls.  They were just resting when we saw them.  Beautiful!

Then we were off to Port Moody near Vancouver to see my Aunty Shirley and her husband Alden.  She is my mother’s younger sister.  It was wonderful to be lovingly welcomed into their home.  We were able to stay over the weekend and were very excited that we were able to see all their children, who are now grown.  We got to see lots of Chris which was great.  He played lots of games with the kids and they loved that.  Matthew and his girlfriend came over for supper one evening and we had a great time getting to know them.  Ramona made the effort to come over twice and visit with us.  It was so nice to chat with her and get to know her better.  She told us all about how she works as a storyboard artist on the cartoon, `Puss in Boots.’  Now the kids want to watch the cartoon and see her work!  She also spent some time chatting with Hannah and coloring with Malaya.  She even drew out some cartoons for them.  

As an outing Shirley and Alden took us to see the Market down by the wharf.  It was bustling with people, yummy food, and interesting things.  We had a great time meandering through the market and even found dragon fruit to take home and enjoy!   We stopped to see the glass sculptor as we walked back.  We were able to see him working on a twisted centerpiece, it was really interesting.  Then we headed home and finished the day with a lovely dinner and swim.    

They also took us down to the houseboats, which were literally houses that floated on the water; they were really neat. 

Alden also took us to a local park with an amazing view of Vancouver.  It was beautiful and the kids got to run and play.

 We had a wonderful time in Vancouver and were sad to go and sad to say good-bye to Canada as well.  We had such an amazing Canadian adventure, one that we will always remember fondly.