Canada: exploring the city

I took the sea bus across the ocean from North Vancouver into downtown Vancouver for $2.75.

Alain had previously given me walking directions to some of the more popular streets so I started out in that direction. 

I stumbled across some street entertainers, the best ones were young college aged kids break dancing in the streets. They were incredible! I took a video but of course I don't know how to attach a video to my blog. So you'll have to settle with a photo. 

I walked into The North Face store next to where the brake dancers were and looked around a little. 

I won a large gift card to this company a few years back and I still haven't spent a dime of it. 

I started talking to one of the employees and I asked her if she knew of this ".... days" event near a beach that I was trying to find. She knew exactly what I was talking about and she even had a city map to give me. Things were going perfectly! 

It was called Kitsalino days and it wasn't in a park. It was nothing like what I was picturing. Instead it was a HUGE street fair just up from the English bay beach. The beach was crazy close but after a several hours of walking to the street fair, through the street fair and then knowing how far of a walk I had ahead of me still to get back to the condo, I decided to skip the beach. 

Tom's were not the shoes to wear on this particular day. 

The street fair was full of food vendors, live music, art booths, and unique people. The fair held my attention for about 4 hours before I decided it was to

time to walk back towards the sea bus. 

By the time I arrived to the condo my feet wanted nothing more then to kick back which turned out to be on the bed which meant an early bed time. It was definitely needed. 

Biggest game of Jenga I've ever seen! 

An adorable couple I followed for a block.

Sunday came and I walked around  North Van before going back to the condo to wait for Alain to arrive. When he did he had plans to head out right away and get dinner at whole foods. We then took our chicken and salads and drove to west Vancouver with plans to eat on the beach and watch the end of day port activity as the sun set. It was a perfect end to my weekend.

We filled the rest of my time in BC with Crossfit together, exploring mountain bike trails but not ridding them. A tour of the Lynn canyon trails one evening that ended with is jumping into a water hole on a hot evening. The park was beautiful! 

We explored Stanely park by ridding bikes over the Lions Gate bridge durng rush hour and then we made our way to the sea wall. 

We biked around it being entertained by the beachcombers playing their bongo drums, dancing in drum circles, smoking weed, swimming in the cool waters of the Pacific Ocean and blasting their stereos. 

We stopped at the adult only beach and cooled off in the water before pedalng to the end of the sea wall path where we biked into the city for a sushi dinner. 

After dinner we rode like crazy kids thru the city down to the sea bus. Before boarding Alain showed me where the Olympic torch was lit during the Olympics and we checked out the outside of the convention center and a giant whale make out of what looked like Legos. 

We hiked the famous Gross grinde to the top, several stairs later only to take in an excellent view and take a gondola back to the bottom. 

Typical errands were included during the week with a trip to costco, Canadian tire (reminded me of a GI Joes) and save on food. 

We found a fun Irish pub towards the end of the week where we stopped for drinks and to do some work on my computer. Alain was nice enough to help me upgrade my Mac as much as it could be at its fragile age. 

The view from the trail head of deep cove

On Friday we hiked deep cove in the mid afternoon and hit the city for a nice dinner that night. We dressed up and Alain took me to a place called glowbar that he had never been to either. I rode the sky train for the first time and we walked around around different districts of the city while witnessing the Friday night life. 

Saturday we cleaned the condo for another showing and left for whistler.  We stopped at Shannon falls to hike a lil ways in to see the waterfall and drove by chief rock, a famous rock climbing area. 

Me photo bombing Alain at Shannon falls

As we got closer to Whistler we started looking for a campsite finally finding one by a creek. We set up our tent and drove into whistler with our bikes. 

Walking around the village was first on the agenda and then grabbed lunch and went on a bike ride around lost lake. Did some fairly low key mountain biking as well. 

Gelato and a movie was the plan fir the evening. We went into a market to grab some treats for the movie. Alain introduced me to cheesies (the Canadian version of Cheetos) we saw sex tape with Cameron Diaz which was awesome, totally funny! 

After the movie we went to the DubLinn for really great live music and ciders. I heard, what do we do with the drunken sailor live. It was the first time I heard that song since signing it myself as en elementary school "Hopkins Hummer!"

After all that excitement we headed back to the tent to hit the sack. 

We slept tell 10am and had veggies, crackers and dip for breakfast. We washed ourselves off in the brisk water of the fast flowing river next to our tent. I snuck over to the bank, hiding behind a tree I took some funny photos of Alain bathing himself. 

Yep! That's me ALL decked out! 

We hit whistler for downhill mountain bike riding. 3 rounds for me! Holy crap I have a new appreciation for that sport! Alain bought me a trial pass to take the lift up with our bikes. I crashed on my second down hill trail! It freaked me out and Alain was so sweet, he was in front of me and didn't see me take the spill but saw me on the ground. He came running at me in a panic making sure I was okay. I was totally embarrassed. 

That was an intermidate trail I crashed on and the first trail was a beginners so I opted for my last and 3rd ride to be on the big fiber trail again.  

The view from the top of the lift

after my 3 rides we decided to have lunch at the GLC where Alain had a discount. We ordered a massive pile of nachos and I talked to Alain about the rest of the day and convinced him to go hit a few trails without me so he could go at his own speed and I'd chill inside while he continued on. And that's what happened.

Alain and I being cf monkeys at Whistler

I took the Bolt bus home Monday morning. It was my first experience on this bus but I has heard a lot of great things about it. I loved it! Friendly driver, electric outlets, reclining seats that were covered in a pleather and wifi. 

Immigration at the boarder went fast. We all got off the bus with our luggage and went inside to show our passports and answear whatever questions we needed to. I went on to meet up with my dear friend AJ (Alissa) from my days at OCAC (Oregon college of art and craft). She lived on one of the islands near the San Juan islands in Washington. I stayed with her for 2 nights before taking the grey hound (not as nice as the bolt bus!) back to Portland. 

The Canadian adventures.

Remember the Canadian I met my first day in Bali? We were instantly drawn to each other being the only white people in the hotel we were stuck at. It was the Balinease "silent day" holiday and neither he (Alain) or I were supposed to end up at that hotel. We both had reservations at other hotels but our taxi drivers didn't take us to them. So Alain and I met and we traveled off and on together for a month before parting ways. 

He sent this to me on his drive to Oregon.

I flew to Thailand at the end of April and he headed to Hong Kong. 

Eventually I ended up back in Oregon and he had already made it back to Canada. 

We were messaging one day over FB and it notified him of my current location so he knew I was back in Tigard, OR. and the conversation quickly changed to him asking when I wanted to come visit Canada. He suggested I fly up for a week or 2 and then I could catch a ride back with him to Oregon. He had never been to my state and was eager to explore!

I wasn't ready to leave Oregon just yet, I was enjoying the weather and my family/friends to much so I declined the offer to go to Vancouver BC. I told him I'd think about traveling to see him in the fall. 

Regardless of my plans, Alain came to Oregon on July 27th. He drove thru some of the worst Friday traffic taking him 14 hours! It normally only takes 5. 

I told him I was going camping that weekend with friends and he was welcome to join otherwise id catch up with him after the weekend. 

Camping of course was the way to go! He drove from Vancouver BC straight to Detroit Lake, OR. arriving around midnight. 

It was so good to see him! It wasn't Bali but it was close enough. 

Our first picture together in Oregon.

He stayed for 13 days and had the best Oregon tour guide ever! Me! 

We camped 2 weekends in a row at Detroit lake, he went to Crossfit with me, became good friends with a few of my people, had a whirlwind tour of all parts of Portland, we took a drive out to yamhill county (oregon's wine country) where we did some wine tasting, olive oil, salts and vinegar tasting too! We stopped at Red Hills market on our way back for some delicious sandwiches and drinks.

Experiencing a fresh raspberry smoothie from Burgerville. 

We also ventured into the bend, Redmond, and Powell butte area. We mountain biked, visited with family friends of mine, saw an artist friend, hit up a brewery and biked the trails along the Deschutes river. We hiked smith rock and tested the terrain for bouldering. 

Overlooking monkey face in the smith rock state park. 

On our way back to Portland we went over my. Hood so he could check out timberline lodge and see our famous mountain up close and personal. He was fascinated by it. It's not like the mountains they have in Canada. And he experienced his first American 4th of July with me at the lake. 

At Mt. Hood

Myself, Alain, & Lindsey trying out our 4th of July decorations! 

Wed July 9th came and I found myself in Alain's truck heading back to Canada with him. 

My travels continue...

I have been to whistler once about 12 years ago or more and it was a whirlwind of a weekend trip! Within that trip I drove thru Vancouver BC but that was it, a quick drive thru. 

This time around I'd have a local tour guide and a place to stay. 

However on the day we left our plans changed a bit. Alain had a family emergency come up and he was going to have to drive to Calgary the next day (thur.), leaving me to travel alone until he returned on Sunday evening. I wasn't expecting to travel alone again, so soon. I also didn't realize traveling alone was something I personally needed to wrap my head around before doing. I had done it and enjoyed it so well not long ago. I think I was just really looking forward to the set plan with Alain and bummed he was leaving. 

Originally the first weekend was going to be spent on Vancouver island. He has a friend or 2 there that we would have stayed with. There was a concert series happening and we had free tickets to it, The Naked and Famous was one of the many bands playing. Victoria was another location on the island that we would have seen and I was looking forward to. 

I was still able to go there on my own and now looking back on it maybe I should have tried to put things together to do so. I could have couch surfed but many people told me the transportation to get there and back would be a pain and expensive and I was a little discouraged by hearing that. 

I don't regret kicking it around North Van. though.

The condo is for sale and was going to have an open house on Saturday. Some light cleaning was needed and as Alain didn't have time, it was the least I could do. 

The evening view from the condo.

I finally left the house around 5 and half way down the hill one of my sandals broke! Awesome! Those suckers only lasted me 3 months! I bought them in Bali but they weren't even knock offs! They cost more then my cheap Hawaiian sandals that have lasted forever! 

Sad face! 

Once I was back out on the road again, this time wearing my Tom's, I started meeting people. First I met a girl (Lexi) working at a store upstairs in the market near the waterfront. She's around my age and she told me how she met a guy in Belize whose from North Dakota and they have been seeing each other since January. She told me this after hearing I was from Oregon and visiting a Canadian I had met in Bali.

We had similar stories I suppose. 

Then I had an interesting run in, turning into a much to long conversation with a 56 yr old musician/homeless man who insisted on walking with me for a bit. That was okay at first but got awkward real fast when he asked if he could give me a hug and a kiss! 

WTF!? Umm NO! 

He was a nice guy but got way to comfortable with our conversation! He also told me what a sweet heart I was and then he said, I'm even kind of looking at your heart right now. As I caught him trying to look down my shirt! I wrapped that conversation up real fast and walked off. 

I wondered by the waterfront board walk catching the end of a free outdoor yoga class.

Yoga on the water by lululemon.

I stopped in at cafe Tao on the corner of Rodgers and Esplanade just to see what they had. It's an organic and raw foods cafe and market that used to be a Starbucks. One of the girls working there chatted it up with me, filling me in on all the good things to try on the menu. I told her id come back and try the crepes that she and a customer highly recommended but before I left she insisted I take 4 different little raw food deserts out of their case to take home and try. Super nice of her!

She told me there's another smaller grocery store up from the IGA that I could shop at but I couldn't find it. 

I kind of made it a mission to seek out all the grocery stores in my area and find the cheapest prices. I'm wired like that, yes! But, Canadian grocery prices are definitely higher then Oregon's prices! Noticeably different and as I find myself craving some greens, I see the price of spinach and think, heck no! I'll wait tell I'm home! 

I did end up finding other grocery stores but really the prices didn't vary by much. Something I did kind of like was how the store described the chickens living situation on the tags for eggs.
It could make you feel guilty for which eggs you chose to buy, real easy! Or you could have the outlook my dad has and read those tags and think, "who cares! Their job is to lay eggs!" This coming from the man who has farm fresh eggs on a daily basis from his pretty lil hens. 

"Hens in cages, behaviors restricted"

I found a Crossfit box within walking distance from the condo. About a 45min walk. It was CF Lions and I decided I needed to get outside and in a gym, around people. So I went on that Friday night. 

When the WOD (workout of the day) was over Chris, the owner and his wife offered me a ride back to the condo. They live a street away from where I was staying. 

Chris told me about some event going on in what sounded like a park up from a beach, on Saturday. Something "days" but I asked him 3 times to repeat the name of it and I still couldn't retain the information. So I went back to the condo and tried to research it. No luck. 

An map of Vancouver BC

Saturday morning came and I ran the vacume thru the condo one more time, showered and decided to skip cf and head across the ocean to downtown Vancouver. 

I was determined to find the event I was told about.