Wrap Me Up in Bubble Wrap!

It has been a rough couple of weeks. I'm ready to say wrap me up in bubble wrap and leave me be until a Democrat is in The White House. 

There are two forces at play in the moment. The one is #45 becoming #47. It truly is worse than feared, especially since his supporters are still cheering for him. I do not see a way out of this mess. With strokes of his magic pen he has undone sixty years of hard won rights, and continues to blame the messes he creates on everyone else. His handling of the first air crash since 2009 is embarrassing at best. It is making me pause before boarding a flight, and I really enjoy flying.

The second is I have had a series of falls. Each totally understandable, but as I found a few years ago when I had a series of explainable falls, it messes with your head and seems to make more happen.

Two weeks ago it was misjudging a curb following a snowfall. Fortunately, I landed in a soft patch of newly fallen snow.

Then I slipped on ice during a hike.

Then my bicycle veered off the sidewalk and into a patch of soft ferns when I looked up at a giant tree in the middle of the sidewalk. I completely missed the tree.

Each time I stood up and brushed myself off. The bicycle accident was a bit embarrassing as a car filled with helpful Canadians stopped to make sure I was okay. They wanted to take me to safety (I was in a park), give me water, and nurture me. I wondered if they were part of the Royal Mounties. Instead I hopped back on my iron horse and rode for another ten miles.

Today's fall was the most painful of all. While at The Rink I put one foot in front of the other to do a simple crossover and my wheels got intertwined. There I went BOOM on the wood roller rink floor. Three older men surrounded me and came to my rescue. The leader, Irvin, gave me a lesson on falling (immediately bend your knees so you don't fall as far). They helped me up and sent me on my way. 

But ouch! My right knee has a bruise. My left hand's wrist guard took a brunt of the fall and later snapped. As it was about 25 years old (how did that happen?), I was grateful I wore it, otherwise my wrist would have likely broken in the fall and I'd be in worse shape.

The day had already been off to a rough start -- Ashley had a flat tire; I had to hurry back for an appointment with a car dealer in Pennsylvania that got cancelled. 

The afternoon was spent on a soft bed surrounded by pillows.

Being wrapped in bubble wrap would be even safer.

Vancouver Day 5: Lynn Canyon

On Saturday we pulled the car out of the parking lot for a hike in Lynn Canyon. Janie, a local librarian who is originally from Canada, recommended Lynn Canyon over Capilano. Both have suspension bridges, but Lynn Canyon's is free and overall less touristy.

If you have a car, Lynn Canyon is easy to get to. Without one, Capilano is the way to go because it provides a free bus every 30 minutes when the park is open.

In hindsight, we should have gone midweek. It ended up taking us nearly twice as long to get there, and about three times as long to return to the hotel. There was the extra traffic, plus lots of road construction. Yes, on a Saturday there were active road construction sites.

On the way we realized we were within a couple of blocks from MEC -- Mountain Equipment Company, Canada's version of REI (the store where Don works). Don wanted to visit the store, but it's location was just far enough from the CBD (Central Business District) we did not make it on foot. We paid to park in their underground lot and headed upstairs. By eyeball estimates, the 2-story MEC flagship store at 62,000 square feet appears to be four times the size of the one floor Princeton REI. They have a rock climbing wall to check out gear before purchasing it, and a section for ski equipment and swimwear, and a larger bicycle department. He recognized much of the merchandise from his store, but said the MEC store gave more shelf space to each item.

Arriving at Lynn Canyon we got the last parking spot. Yay! Later we noticed another lot, but that one appeared to be just as full. Imagine what the place must be like in the other seasons.

We stayed about 90 minutes and hiked about two hours. On the one hand, it was easy hiking because many of the trails were covered in boardwalks so there were few places to trip over tree roots and rocks (I still managed to do so, but did not fall this time). However, as a canyon there were many steps to climb down then up. It was a good workout.

We noticed many families. As we were leaving we saw a multi-generational family with a 30-something man carrying a walker for his grandmother as she tried to navigate the narrow suspension bridge with her cane. We kept going. She was surrounded by about five family members. There was nothing we could do help. More power to her, but the trail is not that easy.

Just before crossing the bridge there is a sign memorializing Jacquie. The 19-year old died while sunbathing a couple of weeks before my 13th birthday. I felt a kinship with her. How does someone die from sunbathing? Sure, long-term one could develop skin cancer and die, but then there would not be a memorial. A quick Google search found the story as written by the sister of one of Jacquie's best friends. Lynn Canyon is a major teen hangout spot. Despite the many signs, teens jump from great heights into the 30 foot pool to cool off on a summer day. On that fateful day, Jacquie was not diving, she was, literally, sunbathing when her friend heard a great sounds and noticed a rock rolling down the canyon onto her back. She was instantly killed. So much promise.

Once across the suspension bridge (our third for the trip), we were faced with a decision: left or right? We went right and crossed the river again on a flat bridge at Twin Falls, which took us through a street to a less impressive path back to the suspension bridge.

Our second time across we went to the left and hiked to the turquoise water in the 30 foot pool. This side was a lot more crowded with multi-generational families speaking a wide variety of foreign languages. Made me realize it was the first time on this trip I've heard a language other than English.

Here are some pictures from our hike:

Back in Downtown we had a mini-farewell tour to Vancouver. We ate a late lunch at the Steamworks Brew Pub where we ate lunch on our first day. I felt like an expert when I directed the table next to me on how to find the ladies' room. We sat next to the giant picture windows facing the train tracks -- sent some pictures to Dad.

Returned to Granville Island, and walked back across the Burrard Street Bridge.

Dinner at a Thai Away, a Thai Restaurant around the corner from our hotel. Based on the space set up for a queue in front of the restaurant we were lucky to get a table without a wait. Next time we have made a note to book an online reservation first.

It was a great trip. We hope to return in a different season and do some more exploring.

 

Vancouver Day 4: Biking around Stanley Park

One of the biggest selling points of choosing to stay at The Burrard is it has ten bicycles to borrow. When I shared this with a friend, he said "what is the likelihood you will go biking in January?" I reminded him he doesn't know Don.

Friday's forecast was a very un-Vancouver-like sunny, 42 degrees. Even if we borrowed the bicycles for an hour, it was still worth a try.

Don being Don, insisted we pick up the bicycles first thing in the morning lest they are all borrowed and we have to make new plans. A great plan on a spring, summer, or fall day, but it was still January and the hotel seemed pretty empty. I think we were the first people to borrow bicycles. At the end of our ride, most (if not all) were still available.

Thanks to Google maps, we found a wide alleyway leading from across the street from our hotel directly downhill to Stanley Park. Don is an avid cyclist. I have a fear or riding in traffic. At home I'm good on our side streets that lead to trails, but I rarely venture onto roads with traffic lights and merging traffic.

We left before our daily stop at Café Elysian, but found Delaney's just before entering the park. Delaney's feels like a neighborhood café where the barista knows what you want the moment you step in the door and hands it to you as you walk up to pay. Friends sit at tables catching up on the goss. I loved the repurposed antiques, giving it a homey feel. I enjoy Café Elysian, but it feels sterile compared with Delaney's. 

Stanley Park is a 400-hectare urban park in the middle of Vancouver, akin to NYC's 340-hectare Central Park. The 10-kilometer (6.2 mile) Seawall loop is one of Vancouver's top destinations. As this part of Vancouver is a peninsula, almost all parts have waterfront views. The trick, though, for cyclists is that you are only allowed to pedal in one direction. We entered by A-Maze-Ing Laugher, a 2009 bronze statue Yue Minjun, a Chinese artist, created for the 2009-2011 Biennial held in Vancouver. Simply looking at the 14 men all with Yue Minjun's face laughing is enough to make the most cynical person smile. We couldn't figure out how to enter, or which direction we were supposed to travel, when we were immediately faced with a sign saying No Bicycles. We asked a local, who is not a cyclist, and he sent us down a busy street with a bike lane to catch it someplace else.

We ended up on a detour that took us up trails pitted with tree roots, and detours due to trees being cut down. Made me more fully appreciate the sign I saw near the Laughing Men statue (as the locals call it) that asked people to stop the logging and Save Stanley Park. The detour took us to a sidewalk. As I pointed to an extremely large tree the path went around, I went too close to the edge and landed in a fern marking the third time I fell in week. The fern provided a soft landing, but it was downhill so the bike and I rolled a bit. An SUV with three kind Canadians stopped to offer to take me someplace safe. I brushed off my ego and continued the ride.

The loggers pointed us further downhill to the seawall loop where we quickly identified the correct direction (clockwise). 

The actual path feels like a figure-8 as it passes a lagoon on the right, a few tiny beaches, a lighthouse, and ducks under the Lion's Gate Bridge as it hugs the cliff to the right. Very picturesque. So picturesque, Don lined up at least 15 photo spots with our borrowed bicycles to make a 2026 calendar (or a March to February 2025 one). The pictures in this post are all ones I took, similar ones will make the calendar. There were many people walking it and running -- both of which are allowed in either direction. Most cyclists were tourists like us. I imagine other times of the year it is packed. We did have some icy patches to contend with. Researching the loop as I write this a few weeks after our trip, the website says parts of the path are closed due to ice. I'm not surprised since last week it snowed in downtown Vancouver.

We met a family on holiday from Brisbane. Their accents sounded so much like Jo and Andrew, I nearly asked if they were from Brisbane. We joked about doing a house swap. Well, they were joking and I was serious. Their house comes with tw teenagers. Ours comes with a 22-year old. The wife and I had a long chat, long enough her husband called to make sure she was okay. She reminded me at our age four years is really not that long. She looked worried for us, and recognizes she has the privilege  of tuning him out. She emphasized the rest of the world is not in favor of T. There are kind people in the world. 

Taken by our new Brisbie friends 

A tiny detour off the path in the Brockton Point section of Stanley Park are nine totem poles. They were created between 1961 and 2009. Remembering from the talk at Capilano Suspension Bridge that the art of creating totem poles was banned until 1951, and that totem poles take years to create, makes the 1961 totem pole even more special. A true gift. 

Lots of selfies taken on the trip

More views after the totem poles.

Girl in a Wetsuit is modeled after the Little Mermaid
statue in Copenhagen

We reached the end of the trail but decided to go a little further. The path continued near where we took the aquabus to Granville Island. We rode 12.5 miles before stopping for lunch, and another .75 miles afterwards. Don's GPS says we were out for six hours, and rode for two of them. Much of the rest of the time was spent enjoying the scenery and taking pictures.

Bike rack in memory of an cyclist
who enjoyed touring around the globe

Sign of spring

We finished the outing with a lunch stop for salad. The evening was spent with a trip to the Lindt store for dark mint chocolate truffles (we were told by someone in the Princeton store that the shops in Canada get the good dark chocolate) and a cup of decadent dark hot chocolate, a stop in Gastown for a souvenir Don was thinking about, and the I Fly Canada movie. The I Fly series is just like Soarin' Over California at Disneyland, but over Canada instead. Felt overpriced to me, but as it was the off-season we did not have to wait to see it. In line we met a woman from Prince George (eight to ten hours north of Vancouver) who said she last came here with her dad just before he died suddenly. She was planning to cry through the movie thinking of him. She stayed for I Fly Hawaii, but we left for diner at our new favorite restaurant (Burgoo).