Some Firsts

It is 51 degrees this morning. Yup. My Florida readers are probably jealous of that temperature. Then again, maybe not. I had always been told by Bruce that temperatures that we find cold in the South, don't feel the same in the North, and by golly, he's right. A sweater will suffice, that is until it begins raining, but I'm not going anywhere today if I can help it because, frankly, my body is a mess. But, we'll get to that shortly.

I USED TRANSIT LAST WEEK!! Twice no less. What have I been waiting for, you ask? I thought it would be much more difficult than it actually is. In fact, I even loaded my Compass card all by myself which also proved to be far easier than I was imagining. SCORE!

Where did I go on transit? Queen Elizabeth Park, a place I had read about several years ago but didn't have time to visit when I was a tourist. Now, I have no excuse. Although it isn't very far, it is more than I can walk without dying. Dramatic, yes, truth, another affirmative.

The Yaletown Roundhouse station is but four or so blocks away, so gathering my confidence, I walked down the flights of stairs, found my platform, with the train arriving within minutes. And off we went with my stop being W. King Edward.

The train will take you all the way to the airport in the Southern route and to Waterfront Station in the more Northern route. Loads of you know, or have seen, Waterfront Station as it is quite near the cruise ship ports. Coming up out of a transit station is always interesting unless you have done it many times before. In this instance, I knew I needed to head S. so using Beth's advice to look to the mountains as North I began my walk along Cambie Street. I must have looked full of confidence because a young couple asked me directions to the park! Telling them I was going there myself we began walking together and what a joy that turned out to be. Finnish newlyweds who are traveling for three months in North America as their honeymoon, they were friendly, and with the aid of his phone we made our way to the park with ease.

Once we got through the huge tree portion we were delighted to come to this beautiful spot.

We walked up the slope to a lovely bridge overlook.

Then we turned our attention to finding the spot that overlooks the city. We came to this place which was great, but I knew there must be another spot that was better, mostly because I had already looked up images from the park.

Amazingly enough, we had the same Olympus OMD!! We traded lenses for a few photographs! He used my zoom lens, and I used their fast lens to take a photograph of the two of them. Their packs look so good because they have only just begun their journey earlier in the week.

After having a lovely chat fest, we parted ways as they were going to the Biosphere, and I needed to use the restroom, a continuing theme you may have noticed. Once that was accomplished I continued my roaming. Voila!

The larger marker describes the garden below, transformed from the rock quarry it once was to a beautiful formal garden that I will visit in the future. As well, the sign on the bottom left was one of about five that described which mountain you were viewing, as well as their elevation. Here's a little closer look using my zoom lens.

For the most part you see the vast majority of folks using their phones instead of a formal camera.

My wandering continued; this scene totally reminded me of Disney! What do you think?

The biosphere contains a tropical rain forest, as well as BIRDS, however, I skipped it on this visit as I'd read somewhere it is a good place to go when the rains begin.  There is a lovely plaza behind the sphere, with a dancing water fountain, as well as an Henry Moore sculpture.

Pretty awesome, right? Here's a primer on the park should you care to know more. Apparently this is a very popular place for weddings, and why not? Gorgeous in every way. This bride had long copper hair on one side, and a shaved head on the other. Wonder what she'll think of that in about twenty years?

Just the other day I was saying to Bruce that Canadians know a lot more about America than is true the reverse. One reason is they have many of our television programs, as well as products, whereas we have almost none of that in America. That said, I knew zero about the politics of Canada, and even less so about their continuing ties to Britain and the Queen. They have not forgotten her though, having named the park after her, and honoring her with this plaque.  For the curious amongst you, here's some info on the relationship of the Queen with Canada.

After another trip to the restroom, and I meandered on. As I mentioned, this former rock quarry was mined, if you will, for rock to build the streets of Vancouver in the 1930's, until such time as this man had a vision.

Aside from the pits and grades, you would never know that it had a former life. Love in the Rain is the name of this art piece placed here in 2016.

Some folks just don't read the signs, or so it seems, as there are clear instructions NOT to attach the locks to the umbrellas.

Here is the lovely bridge I mentioned earlier. See it in the distance?

There is a waterfall,

and another plaque. Have you ever heard of this brave man before? I had not. It makes you wonder how many folks did the same that have not gained notoriety.

One of the best pieces of sculpture is back on the cityscape summit. So clever! Called Photo Session, it was a gift to the park in 1984.

I will say, they may have plaques, but not quite enough directional signage for me, as I began wondering how best to get back to Cambie Street. While looking for some to ask directions,  I came across something that I have seen once before but could not get much of a shot of; a black squirrel is in the tree on the left. I think this is just the second squirrel I've seen while being here. Sort of like birds, mostly hidden I suppose.

If you can imagine, once I found my way to the street, beginning the few blocks back to the transit station, who should I meet up with but the Finnish couple! It was nice having company on the journey back towards home. They were headed to Waterfront Station where they would be catching a train to Seattle for the next part of their adventure.

It all sounds pretty glamorous and care free doesn't it? Some of it has been, but there have been struggles which I will just touch on as I know you've probably read quite enough.

• I have a cold sore for the first time in years. When you've had a household as long as we have, when things like this happen you are prepared. In this case it meant a walk to the drugstore for medicine that was a little too late to do much good.
• We still have no heating or cooling because the young woman who was to manage this situation relied solely on emails, not following up when she heard nothing. When Bruce's boss came to town I flipped out about it; suffice it to say that Bruce is now handling it, although even he cannot work miracles in Canada. He has been told they have to build it with a time frame of eight weeks! 
• It was only last week that our health insurance was sorted out. Turns out because Bruce is being paid in American dollars, we had to have an international policy which, although should have been sorted out before we got here, was not. Now it is, and that's a good thing.
• I woke up Saturday morning thinking something did not feel right but I carried on. Sunday morning carrying on was not an option. Turns out all those trips I've been making to the bathroom were due to a bladder infection---a first for me, so I didn't connect the dots. Fortunately that walk in clinic is close by and open on Sunday. Bruce drove me there, and within about forty five minutes I had a prescription for an antibiotic that I hope will clear this up. My life will be much easier not having to hunt down a bathroom every forty five minutes or so! 

I wonder if that antibiotic will help my sore feet?

yours truly,

Gail