Vancouver, Canada

Back in July, we decided that after Bryce finished his internship, we would take a little vacation to spend some quality time together before law school started! Plus, I got to take a few days off and with how stressful work has been, it was perfect timing to get away.

We left Friday after we got everything squared away for the house sitting we were doing for a family in our ward. Then the drive is about six hours, which Bryce did the entire thing! I was extremely grateful because I was so tired from work that I could barely keep my eyes open for most of it.

 

So when we arrived in Vancouver, we found our hotel first and got unpacked. Then it was pretty late in the day so we headed downtown and drove around a bit. The downtown is pretty. It's almost entirely surrounded by water, and has these dramatically steep mountains framing it to the north. We were also impressed the whole time with how many apartment buildings there were in downtown. The entire downtown is high-rise apartment buildings. We gathered that it's attributable to the high taxes and Asian influence. We also went to Stanley Park, which is an island just north of downtown. 

It has a great path that winds around the perimeter of it, and some breathtaking views of the bridges and bay around Vancouver, as well as the city itself. They also had totem poles that I was very adamant about finding.

That night, we went over to the Richmond Night Market, which is a suburb just south of Vancouver that's known for it's asian population. We watched a street performer do some juggling and comedy, and then got a bunch of pork buns too. 

Saturday, we took the ferry out to Victoria and decided to use the buses instead of taking our car. We first took the bus to downtown Victoria to see the Parliamentary building and the Empress hotel. It's a very pretty city, just on the southern tip of the island and facing out to the water.

I loved these bush whales! And Bryce trying to kiss Free Willy.

After we had checked out the downtown, we took another bus up to Butchart Gardens. We were both really impressed with the gardens. 

These were the sunken gardens and so beautiful!

Bryce said this was his favorite tree.

The Japanese gardens were very green and pretty.  And yoga was clearly the most appropriate poses for our pictures!

Then we hopped on another bus and took the ferry back to Vancouver.

We got home kind of late, but still made it up to Gastown. From all the traveling and walking, we found food pretty quickly because it is best to keep Brittany fed:) And the thing that we were craving and found were fish and chips! 

Sunday, we woke up early and went to the local English ward. There was a really nice family we talked to us and we went up to Whistler. It was such a pretty drive! I was surprised by how Yosemite-like it was, with the granite and trees. But a lot more forested. 

We stopped at two huge waterfalls that were amazing!

When we made it up to Whistler, we were actually both so tired that we immediately pulled into an underground parking garage and fell asleep. We had fun walking around a bit and checking out a dirtbiking competition.

The 2010 Winter Olympics were held here so it reminded us of Park City a lot.

We came back to Vancouver and had "the best southeastern asian food in Vancouver." That meant fried chicken wings for me. What a great idea! 

Monday, we checked out Granville island, which was a combination of a farmers market, random stores, and fun food places. We decided on the crepes! Then we decided it was time to head out. Crossing the border took an hour, which threw off our estimation of when we would be hitting Seattle...Hello rush hour! But we enjoyed the time together all the same!

I really wanted to come home with a lifetime supply of maple cookies, however, I couldn't find the right brand. These we found at the grocery store, but they weren't quite the real thing. Next time, I am going to do my research and find out where to buy the real ones!