The two boys had already had their spring break and Mom had to work, so Evie and I decided to go see Grandpa in the Pacific Northwest.
We arrived late on Thursday, March 29 so we will start our travelog on Friday, March 31.
We stayed in a hotel near the Seattle Airport and got on the road early. We realized Evie's hoody collection wouldn't suffice for the weather we found so our first stop was a Target to get her a windbreaker. Once that was done, we made a bee-line for the Olympic Peninsula.
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| Tacoma Narrows Bridge |
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| Shipyard at Bremerton |
Most of our time spent on the Peninsula was on a Byway
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| Crescent Lake alongside Route 101 |
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| We arrive in Forks! |
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| Bella's truck |
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| Bella Swan's house |
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| Mongolian Beef at the Golden Gate |
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| Evie at First Beach in La Push, WA |
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| I dip my toes in the Pacific |
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| Evie awaits the arrival of Jacob in La Push, WA |
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| A wee bit of driftwood |
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| I make it look a bit smaller |
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| The ravens have taken over from the seagulls |
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| Hard to tell from here but some of these waves were at least 15 feet |
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| Our official Spring Break 2012 photo |
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| A gnarly root |
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| We found a bigger piece of driftwood |
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| This duck (?) didn't fare too well |
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| Evie videos inside the big tree |
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| I think Evie wants to move in |
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| Evie continues her running commentary for her video log |
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| Yep, it's a big one |
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| Evie's jungle gym |
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| Raven romping in the sea foam |
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| Panoramic of First Beach, La Push, WA |
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| Another part of First Beach, La Push, WA |
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| Another part of First Beach |
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| Near a small waterfall off Sol Duc Road, off US-101 |
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| The little waterfall off Sol Duc Road |
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| Sol Duc Road got a bit of snow |
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| Evie explores the snow at the trail head to Sol Duc Falls near Hot Springs |
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| Looking east on Crescent Lake |
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| Crescent Lake with US-101 to the right |
We got checked-in with a bit of day light left and caught up with the rest of the world. Went down the big stairs and had dinner, then an early night as we needed to get to the ferry in the AM. I, of course, didn't read the fine print on the ferry ticket and we had just started eating breakfast when I called the ferry and they told me we had 5 minutes to get there or lose our spot. We got there quick and then waited half an hour...
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| Port Angeles, WA from just outside our hotel |
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| Bye-bye Port Angeles and the Olympic Peninsula |
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| Evie all toasty warm inside the Coho Ferry |
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| We hope the captain sees this |
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| That's some No Smoking sign |
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| Coming up to Victoria Harbour |
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| For Uncle Mark - some police boats |
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| Some of the floating homes in Victoria Harbour |
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| Evie sees her first float plane |
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| An odd shaped floating home |
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| More floating homes |
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| Even more - Seattle had some on Union Lake but it was a gated community so we couldn't get close |
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| I think I found my old cell phone |
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| A friendly ducky |
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| The beginning of the TransCanada Highway in Beacon Hill Park, Victoria, BC. |
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| Terry Fox Memorial in Beacon Hill Park, Victoria |
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| Fan Tan Alley - Canada's narrowest street
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| Evie fits better than I do
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| Gates of Harmonious Interest in Chinatown, Victoria
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| Entrance to Fan Tan Alley
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| Scenic Lookout on the Malahat, heading to Grandpa's
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We made our base at Grandpa's and not-so-very-early set our course north. We were heading to Coombs and Cathedral Grove
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| A raven outside Grandpa's house |
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| Looking east toward the Juan de Fuca Strait |
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| Train trestle on Cameron Lake |
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| Cameron Lake with Hwy 4 (Alberni Highway) to the right |
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| No goats until May |
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| At Cathedral Grove in MacMillan Provincial Park
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| Cathedral Grove - area that describes the wind storm that took out many of the ancient trees in 1997 |
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| Evie in the gap |
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| Lots of the downed trees in Cathedral Grove
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| Moss covered trees. We have kudzu, the northwest has moss. |
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| Looking up and out of the Grove
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| Evie goes exploring in West Cameron Creek
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| Evie the tree hugger |
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| Big hollow tree |
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| Evie is moving in |
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| One of the taller trees in the grove |
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| Tranquil scene in the Grove
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| Two biggies |
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| Snuggled between a tree and a living knot
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| In front of the biggest tree in the Grove
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| A big, big day for Evie
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Chemainus and Cowichan Bay today.
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| Waterwheel Park in Chemainus, BC. Good place to start our tour of the murals |
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| Waterwheel Park in Chemainus, BC
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| One of a few carved animals lurking in the trees
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| Carved eagle in Waterwheel Park, Chemainus
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| Carved bear in Waterwheel park, Chemainus. The entire park has lights strung throughout the trees. Must be quite a sight when they are all lit up
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| One of the original murals, it now has a special place in Chemainus. We have an original poster from Expo 86 |
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| "Loggin with Oxen" and "Steam Donkey at Work" murals - Chemainus, BC |
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| Grandpa shows us how it's done
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| Carved bench on the streets of Chemainus, BC |
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| Sculpture - "The Older Generation" - in Chemainus, BC
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| "World in Motion" mural - Chemainus, BC |
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| Spot the Grandpa
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| "The Lone Scout" depicting Edward (Shige) Yoshida in 1939 |
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| "Chemainus - The War Years - Circa 1915"
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| Unusual house down on the lower part of town
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| Finally - Fish & Chips! At the Rock Cod Cafe
In Cowichan Bay - they didn't disappoint |
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| All aglow with a full tummy of fish & chips. |
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| At the Cowichan Bay Maritime Centre
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| A sporty little runner in the Cowichan Bay Maritime Centre. |
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| A fixer-upper for Grandpa. |
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| Float homes at the Bluenose in Cowichan Bay.
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| Boats and float homes at the Bluenose in Cowichan Bay, BC. |
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| The Miscellaneous Tool Gate in Cowichan Bay.
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| World's Largest Hockey Stick, in Duncan, BC. Another first for us from Expo 86. |
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| A quiet day today.
A trip into Victoria to see Aunt Audrey and a tour downtown for a bit of sightseeing and shopping. |
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| Lunch with Audrey at the Oak Bay Bistro. |
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| Grandpa was handing out hundreds. |
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| Silly seals. The one on the right always swam upside down. It only turned over to get a treat. Oak Bay Marina. |
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They are not shy! |
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| The first time they surfaced, it scared Evie. We thought she'd jump off the other side of the dock. |
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| My turn to give them some fish. |
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| The white one would not approach but it would slap the water until you gave it some fish. |
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| Downtown Victoria for some shopping.
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| Back in Cobble Hill. Fine dining - Island style!
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| Left Vancouver Island via ferry from Departure Bay to Horseshoe Bay, then Grouse Mountain and Capilano Bridge, then find us a Swiss Chalet! |
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| Waiting for the ferry at Departure Bay. Left is heading to Horseshoe Bay (West Vancouver), right is heading to Tsawwassen (South Vancouver). Neither is very full.
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| Tsawwassen ferry next to us.
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| Evie grabbed a window seat. |
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| We are on the Queen of Oak Bay.
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| Fishing vessel out in the Strait. |
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| Bye-bye Vancouver Island. |
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| Out there somewhere in the Georgian Strait.
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| Evie catches a refreshing breeze on the Lido Deck.
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| Tanning on the fore deck with ferry heading back to the Island. |
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| Vancouver way in the distance.
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| Vancouver over on the right.
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| Looking north in the Strait of Georgia.
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| On the Grouse Mountain Skyride looking down on Vancouver. |
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| Evie was dreading the temperature and the snow on the mountain but put on a happy face. |
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| Brr... Looking up the mountain from the gondola. |
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| On top of Grouse Mountain. |
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| Sleigh ride on top of Grouse Mountain. |
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| These are actually pretty tall carvings. Snow base is about 5m. |
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| Heading in for hot chocolate and hot apple cider. |
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| Red lift - blue wasn't in operation today. |
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| Someone left a little snowman. |
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| Evie and the snowmen. |
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| Ah, some nice hot apple cider. |
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| Here we are at Capilano. No snow! |
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| At the park at Capilano Bridge. |
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| On the bridge.
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| Looking back over at the Cliff Walk. We'll go there later. |
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| Who's afraid of heights!? Plus, Evie was shaking the bridge. |
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| Up in the Tree Top Walk.
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| Up in the Tree Top Walk.
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| Up in the Tree Top Walk. |
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| Observation spot carved out of downed tree.
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| Grandma Capilano (about 200ft tall). |
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| Evie, the totem.
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| Hugging trees again. |
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| Heading over to the Cliff Walk.
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| Looking down river from the bridge.
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| It's not often you get Capilano Bridge to yourself...
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Heading down onto the Cliff Walk.
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| On the Cliff Walk.
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| Cliff Walk from above (it really is circular).
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| Nothing but air under there... (about sa 300 ft drop).
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| Made it to the big city! |
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| Our view of downtown Vancouver. |
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| Ah, Swiss Chalet! Bring on the dipping sauce.
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| Vancouver! Driving, walking and SkyTrain... |
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| At Cafe Crepe for breakfast.
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| At Cafe Crepe for breakfast. |
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| Lions Gate Bridge from Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC. |
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| Evie at Prospect Point - Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC. |
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Hollow Tree, Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC.
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| Third Beach, Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC. |
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| Evie at Third Beach. |
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| Evie at Third Beach. I stitched in another picture after. |
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| Canada Place, Vancouver, BC. |
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| Seaplanes off Canada Place. |
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| Back at Canada Place after 26 years. |
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| Vancouver Harbour at Canada Place. |
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| Harbour Air Seaplanes. |
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| Olympic Torch at the Vancouver Convention Centre. |
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| Evie at the Olympic Torch. |
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| Olympic Torch detail. |
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| Digital Orca by Douglas Coupland (2010). |
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| Evie at the Digital Orca. |
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| Millennium Gate in Chinatown, Vancouver, BC.
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| Evie gets her noodles at Jade Dynasty in Chinatown, Vancouver, BC. |
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| Dad gets his Dim Sum - Sticky Rice, Har Gow, Shuimai (later), cha siu bao and radish cakes (later). |
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| Lights in Chinatown. |
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| Old Gastown, Vancouver, BC. |
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| Steam Clock in Gastown, Vancouver, BC. |
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Evie at the Steam Clock.
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| Inner workings of the Steam Clock. |
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| More of Gastown and the Steam Clock. |
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| Close-up of the Steam Clock - Evie wouldn't let me wait the 5 minutes for it to go off but we could here it a block away. |
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| Memorial for those of CP Rail who served in WW I and II. |
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| From the SkyTrain: Science World sphere (from Expo 86). |
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| From the SkyTrain: Queesborough Bridge |
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| From the SkyTrain: BC Place and Rogers Arena, Vancouver, BC. |
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| Old Bank of Nova Scotia, Vancouver, BC. |
