i keep a diary

August 19, 2010

Summer Visit to British Columbia

Back in March I'd flown out to British Columbia by myself to visit Grant. This time around Meredith and I both booked tickets for a 4-day trip!

Thursday, August 19th

meredith
A little before 8pm, we grabbed our bags and headed downstairs to grab a cab.
mural ˆ meredith
It took forever, but forever but we finally got one.
taxi
me, meredith
Unfortunately, this is the last photo of Meredith and I together on this trip!
taxi ˆ us ˆ me ˆ meredith
me
After arriving at the airport, Meredith checked in at the ticket counter and the person at the counter pointed out that her passport had expired.
airplane ˆ sad ˆ me
me
Saddest reason for having extra-elbow room ever. Solo trip to Vancouver ROUND 2!
airplane ˆ sad ˆ me
Plane movie if there ever was one.
magazine
TA-DA!
flying ˆ tv
I purchased a new camera from one of those vending machines at the airport. Here's a photo of my old camera with my new camera. Farewell, trusty friend.
camera
Totem greeting.
airport ˆ totem pole
3am cab ride over to...
taxi
grant
...Grant & Aki's apartment in Vancouver!
grant

Friday, August 20th

I woke up 9:30am local time the sun streaming through the windows. Last time I'd visited, Grant and I drove straight up to Whistler so this was the first time I was getting to see their new apartment!
apartment
The view of the perfect sunny Friday from their living room!
buildings ˆ vancouver
Their apartment is AWESOME.
apartment
me
Oh, no big deal just having morning coffee on the little back porch.
coffee ˆ vancouver ˆ me
grant
Congrats on the place, Grant & Aki!
coffee ˆ sunglasses ˆ grant
The view from the back porch.
buildings ˆ vancouver
me
I'm the least flexible person in the world. I have to stretch almost every day or my muscles get all short and knotty and sore. Before agreeing to head out to eat, I made Grant endure my weird morning stretching routine. Here's the move I call "old man smoking in Chinatown squat."
stretch ˆ me
grant
Oh, go on.
laugh ˆ grant
Empty lot.
buildings ˆ fence ˆ vancouver
Just a 10 minute walk or so from the apartment is the waterfront.
train
So many interesting things to see on the waterfront.
boat
Cranes everywhere.
buildings
vancover
Vancouver is surreally beautiful. The whole time I was walking around, I felt like I'd been transported to some magical city fifty years in the future.
best ˆ scenic overlook ˆ vancover
grant
We watched pontoon planes land in the harbor over and over.
grant
Daffodil hill.
flower ˆ vancouver
After we'd finished marveling at all the cool houseboats on the waterfront...
boat ˆ vancouver
...we walked over to a nearby bike shop and got ourselves outfitted...
bike
grant, me
...FOR ADVENTURE!
bike ˆ grant ˆ me
grant
There are bike paths everywhere.
bike ˆ grant
grant
So many cool parks.
bike ˆ totem pole ˆ grant
grant
Haha.
bike ˆ grant
grant
Lion's Gate Bridge.
bike ˆ bridge ˆ vancouver ˆ grant
grant
Check out the little pineapple-shaped island in the distance!
bike ˆ grant
grant
Crazy, right?
bike ˆ pineapple ˆ grant
We stopped to take a look at a beautiful stretch of beach because...
beach
grant
...Grant indicated that there were often women sunbathing sans tops! Oh, Canada!
boobs ˆ porno mime ˆ grant
About ninety minutes into our ride...
vancouver
...we decided to dismount, lock up bikes and get a something to eat.
art ˆ statue ˆ vancouver
grant
Just a couple of SUPER MACHO guys having a few manly drinks...
cocktail ˆ grant
grant
...and some light apps.
food ˆ grant
grant, me
Back on the road...
bike ˆ vancouver ˆ grant ˆ me
Just pedaling and snapping away...
bridge ˆ vancouver
grant
...Grant didn't tell me...
bike ˆ grant
...that Epcot's got nothing on Vancouver!
vancouver
The whole city looks like it was designed by someone who spent their entire adolescence playing SimCity, but in a good way.
vancouver
grant
Look out, giant bird!
art ˆ bird ˆ statue ˆ grant
grant
I like this picture.
bike ˆ grant
So pretty and weird.
vancouver
We'd been biking for another hour or so...
bridge
...so we stopped off at some really cool indoor farmer's market near the waterfront somewhere...
grant
...and got freshly made donuts (holyshit)!
donut ˆ sunglasses ˆ grant
A little before seven...
bridge ˆ sunset
grant
...we started biking back to the apt.
bike ˆ grant
So many boats stashed everywhere.
bike ˆ boat ˆ shadow
On our way out later that evening, we passed through the Chinatown market and stopped so that we could fondle...
chinatown
..SWORDS AND KNIVES!
chinatown ˆ knife ˆ sword
Must be 18 to touch! Hahaha.
chinatown ˆ knife ˆ sign ˆ sword
grant
We went to a really nice middle-eastern meal...
food ˆ grant
After dinner, we went to see a band play...
band ˆ crowd
grant, hana
...and met up with Hana & Erin.
grant ˆ hana
Making friends.
strangers
me
With Tia Tequila?
strangers ˆ me
grant, hana
Haha.
coldlamp ˆ grant ˆ hana
On the walk home I admired all the weird, empty-yet-totally-lit indoor-outdoor malls in Chinatown.
chinatown

Saturday, August 21st

The next morning, we woke up and headed right back into Chinatown!
chinatown
grant, me
...we strolled around...
grant ˆ me
Vancouver has trolley cars...
vancouver
...and we also got to see the Jack Chow Insurance building; one of the skinniest buildings in the world.
sign
grant
We stopped by an awesome...
grant
...Chinese garden in the middle of the city!
park
It had a large pond in the middle...
park
...filled with Koi.
koi
Awesome.
chinatown ˆ park ˆ vancouver
grant
After the park, we headed over to the subway (translink?)...
subway platform ˆ grant
...and headed over to Bandidas for an amazing...
sign
grant, hana
...Mexican brunch with Hana!
brunch ˆ grant ˆ hana
OMG.
brunch ˆ food
grant, me
Then later that afternoon, we caught the bus up to Whistler!
bus ˆ grant ˆ me
Least scenic drive ever!
clouds
We arrived in Whistler Village a little past 7:30.
whistler
We hung out at the apartment and watched a TV show about people who are sexually excited by balloons popping. It made us both feel...
balloons ˆ tv ˆ wtf
grant
...like this.
couch ˆ uncomfortable ˆ grant
Luckily, we found some crazy wacky 80s movie that was on to cleanse the bad taste. I don't remember what it was called, but it had lots of hijinks...
tv
...and random boobies sprinkled liberally throughout.
boobs ˆ tv
Scandalized ladies! (Isn't that the lady that played the grandma in Happy Gilmore on the left?)
tv
Every 80s movie worth anything has an obligatory girls shower scene!
naked ˆ tv

Sunday, August 22nd

grant
On Sunday morning we woke up...
kitchen ˆ whistler ˆ grant
aki
...and had breakfast with Aki before she went off to work for the day!
coffee ˆ kitchen ˆ aki
grant
Hot licks.
guitar ˆ grant
Grant's super-cool wall decoration he made out of string and nails!
art
Neato, right?
art ˆ close up
Later we headed out to grab brunch at Grant's favorite spot in town.
whistler
Whistler looks totally different in the summer!
bridge ˆ flower
grant
Nothing is better than when you're a little overtired and things get silly. Hahaha.
laugh ˆ grant
The food was incredible! I got the Eggs Florentine...
brunch ˆ food
...and Grant got the stuffed French Toast and we went splitsies.
brunch ˆ food ˆ french toast
Another perfect day! It's really neat to watch the clouds roll down the face of the mountain.
clouds ˆ whistler
After Aki had finished up with work for the afternoon, we drove twenty minutes down to Pemberton...
driving
...to check out Nairn Falls park!
park ˆ sign
grant
The path up to the falls winds through the pines...
hiking ˆ grant
...next to rushing river of jade-hued glacier melt!
river
Oh, and here's the view behind the river.
scenic overlook
aki
Getting closer to the top!
hiking ˆ aki
Ariolimax columbianus! (Ok, ok, banana slug)
bugs
grant
The path leads up to...
hiking ˆ grant
aki, grant
...a platform that overlooks a few of the waterfalls!
aki ˆ grant
grant, me
So relaxed and natural!
sign ˆ grant ˆ me
The photos don't really manage to capture the strange tint of the water because it's carrying sediment from the glacier!
river
After the park we drove over to...
driving ˆ river
...North Arm Farm to get something to eat!
sign
We were greeting in by a handsome pair of chocolate labs hanging out.
dogs
aki, grant
Headed in.
aki ˆ grant
After picking out our snacks in the market, we walked out back...
barn
aki, grant
...and enjoyed the view!
picnic ˆ scenic overlook ˆ aki ˆ grant
Enjoyed homemade peanut butter cookies, biscuits and purple-potato salad!
food ˆ treats
aki, grant
They had a swing set with really long chains. It was surreal to swing back and forth in front of the huge mountains.
best ˆ swings ˆ aki ˆ grant
grant
They also had a massive tire swing!
swings ˆ tire ˆ grant
We drove home through a sun shower...
driving ˆ rain
...listening to a podcast of This American Life.
ipod
The rain didn't last long and there was a rainbow afterwards!
driving ˆ rainbow
Grant and I had an early matinee of some classy cinema...
movie ˆ tickets
grant
...and afterwards headed over to a hotel to meet up with Matt and his friends. We headed out back to enjoy the hot tub...
hot tub ˆ grant
...and work on our dramatic pool entrances.
dive ˆ swim
matt walker
Excellent form!
action shot ˆ dive ˆ matt walker
aki, grant
Back at the homestead that evening, Grant whipped up...
kitchen ˆ aki ˆ grant
grant
...some kind of English dessert that was cookies, fruit and cream. It was awesome.
dessert ˆ grant

Monday, August 23rd

We woke up to another perfect day of sunny weather on Monday!
clouds
Got some breakfast around the corner from the apartment...
whistler
grant
...mmm, home fries.
brunch ˆ food ˆ grant
And then we decided to take the gondola...
...up to the top of the mountain to do some hiking!
gondola ˆ whistler
It was so strange to see what all the trails look like without snow.
gondola ˆ whistler
Crazy to think that summer snowcapped mountains may not be around much longer.
View of the valley below!
Down at the foot of the mountain, it was in the mid 80s. At the top, it was in the 40s! It was fine with the sun shining, but when the clouds rolled in...
grant
...we decided we should probably get some hot chocolates before setting out into the wild.
grant
Into the fray!
hiking
Wow.
hiking
grant
The views are just unbelievable.
hiking ˆ grant
Really neat to see all the plants and wildflowers that thrive in snow's absence.
hiking
grant
Grant up top.
hiking ˆ whistler ˆ grant
grant, me
Hahah.
sunglasses ˆ grant ˆ me
With the sun almost entirely blotted out up at the peak...
whistler
grant, me
...we were both starting to regret our decision to wear shorts.
cold ˆ nervous ˆ grant ˆ me
The temperature was much better as we started walking down a bit.
hiking ˆ whistler
Breathtaking views everywhere.
hiking ˆ whistler
Wildflowers and mountains.
flower ˆ hiking ˆ whistler
At the bottom of this big hill...
...there was a pond...
hiking ˆ lake ˆ whistler
grant
...with a wooden foot path around it.
best ˆ hiking ˆ scenic overlook ˆ whistler ˆ grant
We followed the stream down the mountain for a while.
hiking ˆ scenic overlook
We hiked over to the Peak2Peak gondola and took a ride over to the other mountain peak.
gondola
grant, me
Buddies.
gondola ˆ grant ˆ me
Flowers.
flower
grant
A little after 2pm, we decided to head back.
grant
This was the first time I'd ever ridden a chairlift DOWN the mountain. Weird!
feet
me
We met up with Aki and decided to bike over to a nearby park with...
bike ˆ sunglasses ˆ me
aki, grant
...two bikes between the three of us!
bike ˆ aki ˆ grant
aki, grant
Haha. Grant is really good at riding a bike with another person on it!
bike ˆ aki ˆ grant
aki, grant, me
Auto timer!
bike ˆ bridge ˆ aki ˆ grant ˆ me
The park we went to was beautiful! A huge grass lawn in front of a lake in front of mountains.
grass ˆ park ˆ whistler
Following behind!
aki, grant
We set our bikes by the lake and got our frisbee on!
bike ˆ grass ˆ lake ˆ park ˆ whistler ˆ aki ˆ grant
aki, grant
Around 3:30pm, we biked back so I could catch the 4pm bus back into Vancouver!
bike ˆ aki ˆ grant
grant, me
Thanks so much for having me again, Grant & Aki! I had an amazing time!
grant ˆ me
Airport bound.
bus ˆ driving
Nothing better than a scenic bus ride.
bus ˆ driving
So pretty.
scenic overlook
Airport arrival.
airport ˆ driving
me
Excited to be...
me
...homeward bound!
airplane ˆ flying ˆ wing
Nothing like spending a week in nature to make your home look like garbage! Haha. I still love you, New York Shit-tay!
driving ˆ nyc ˆ skyline

4 comments

  • tcf16december 29, 2012

    Awesome pics! Em must have been mega sad and angry when she got to the airport. Argh!
    Also, you probably didn't mean to leave your italics on?

    • tcf16december 29, 2012

      Meant Mer, not Em! oops.

    • brian battjerdecember 29, 2012

      Yeah, she was gutted when they pointed out it had expired. (Thanks for letting me know about the italics, just fixed it.)

  • buzzgirldecember 31, 2012

    So, Grant has homes in both Vancouver and Whistler?

    Living large.