Let's talk Vancouver!!!

Is it sad that as Bryan and I approached Vancouver (in our rental car...quick recap - we drove to Vancouver, B.C., from Seattle), I kept thinking "Wow, this is the home of Bachelorette Jillian Harris!!” You know you are way too invested in reality TV shows when you think that approaching what is considered one of the most beautiful places in the world. She still shouldn't had dumped Reid!!! I've moved on, I swear, I've moved on....

All joking aside, I would have also liked to have seen where they hosted the Real World/Road Rules Challenge that is currently airing on MTV, but Bryan seemed to think we had better things to do. So I decided to post some of the pictures from those things!

In the light of day, Vancouver wasn't quite as scary as when we had come in the night before. Bryan and I for some reason (well, the reason was I was reading a map and picked the most direct route to our hotel from the highway) went through a neighborhood the scariest place I have ever been on Earth (and I lived in Downtown Atlanta for a year!). It was especially refreshing that - after I begged Bryan to turn around and take me back to the States -when we did reach our hotel, that the lovely tour books in the hotel room specifically mention staying out of the part of town we came in through (at 9:30 at night -with NO other cars in the road. It was a scene straight out of "28 Days").

But I digress. Vancouver was, in fact, as beautiful as they say.

To the left, here's Bryan and I at the site of the lighting of the Olympic Torch. They actually had a really nice area right around the site of the Opening Ceremony. Very green and well-kept. Check out the mountains behind us - ALL of Vancouver actually has that view!!!

Next, Bryan and I went into Historic Gastown. The main attraction is this steam clock that actually gave me a big thrill when it played a series of musical whistles at Noon. Apparently it does this every hour, but Bryan INSISTED we be there at noon. So we were....on time!!!

Below is me at Stanley Park in front of the amazing Lions Gate. If that sounds familiar, it's because you see the words Lions Gate before your favorite movies. Yes, THAT Lions Gate! Thrilling!!!

Bryan and I at a beach area at Stanley Park. I am fascinated with the Pacific Northwest with respect to being able to look at this massive evergreen scenery complete with mountains and beaches. I was deprived of large doses of the Poconos as a child, give a sister a break.

Bryan was extremely happy to point out a specific mountain, in this case, Grouse Mountain from another part of Stanley Park. Stanley Park was 8 km around (to us Americans, I estimated this to be somewhere around 5.9-ish miles when Bryan asked "Can we walk this?" My answer, "Well, we can run a 10K, I think we can walk 8K!") So walk it we did!

After a day filled with adventures at Stanley Park and an amazing dinner, we got a good night's sleep and were off to take on the "Sea to Sky Highway" the next day. Along the way, we stopped at various scenic viewpoints including the beautiful Shannon Falls (below). However, what you'll notice is I'm consistently either holding an umbrella or standing like some kind of turtle (the reason: I'm FREEZING!!!!).

This is obviously a sexy pose for me, so I kept doing it so that I could minimize the cold air coming anywhere near my neck. Ironic since I decided against packing a scarf (I thought it couldn't possibly be THAT cold!). Check out the Seattle hat...it was cold!!!

Still cold....





But finally, we reached Whistler which is really where the Olympics went down!!!

I'm still not quite sure what this thingie is called, but it's the symbol of the 2010 Olympics (it's EVERYWHERE in Vancouver and on every article of clothing you can find).

Bryan's picture was taken first...I mention this because after my picture with said...rock-person, he was jealous he hadn't executed the fun pose that I had struck for the camera!

Hehe...I'm the rock-person!

Above is the first of a series of pictures from our last day in B.C. Bryan had read about a suspension bridge in Lynn Canyon and was determined to see it rain or shine. Luckily, we finally got some sun!!! Bryan was happy to hang out on the suspension bridge. Me, not so much. (But there is a picture of me on it, scared for my life, for your viewing pleasure. I waited until almost no one was on it to get my picture taken on it...then ran off it as quickly as possible!). There were some crazy kids that were having fun leaping across it. I'm not so much for leaping and shaking on a narrow thing suspended in the air (I don't even like going to the bathroom on an airplane!). But here I am in a hollow tree! These things were everywhere in Vancouver! They were awesome!

I liked Vancouver, but I was definitely happy to see this sign on our way to Portland!!! We had such a great tour of Vancouver, but the real fun was waiting for us in Oregon!

Excited to hear about it? I'm excited to tell you! But you'll have to wait til the next update (I'm gonna aim for tomorrow) to see pictures from the amazing Remington-Hoey Wedding. For now, I need my nightly dose of Dexter. Bryan and I are on Season 2 and loving it!