Weekend Snow

Not long after waking on Saturday morning, it began to snow. At first Bruce was skeptical, thinking it really wasn't snowing, however, eventually he conceded that, indeed, it was snowing, albeit not very much. Well, enough for me anyway; I just love watching it fall.

Neither rain, nor snow seems to keep the dragon boat teams from practicing.

Zarita suffered from the flu this past week, so Bruce wanted to visit her job to see how things were going. You know who went along for the ride. Before we went to West Vancouver, Bruce needed to pick up his computer from the office where I saw this in their lunchroom. Go Canada Go is the theme, and that they have done. To date they have 17 medals whereas the US has 10!

The job is along the waterfront adjacent to an area called Ambleside which seems fitting as there is a walkway running all along the water. While he went inside, I did just that, ambled along the water.

As you can see, the sky was a bit gloomy, however, I was not the only one ambling. People seem to take walks here in any kind of weather,  or at least that is my observation. The photo above is facing East with Stanley Park on the right hand side and the tall buildings of Burnaby in the far distance.  By now the snow had long gone, or at least alongside the water. The building below, now an art gallery, once housed the ferry station where, beginning in the early 1900's, ferry service across Burrard Inlet was offered.

The ferry was the only means of transportation between the mainland and West Vancouver, that is until the Guinness family came to town. This link gives you a little bit of the history of what is called The British Properties and how the Lionsgate bridge came to be. What is most astonishing, at least to me, is seeing the beginning of the little video when the men are clearing the land using axes and the like. What back breaking work that must have been!

So, I have shown you many views of the mountains from Stanley Park when they are shrouded in fog and now I know what it looks like up close. The new Earls is opening in the stacked building on the right.

With the mountain behind it, that is all cloud cover in the top half of the photo. A few weeks ago I picked up a brochure at the Vancouver Tourist office about Grouse Mountain, the favorite place for locals to ski. (During the 2010 Olympics, the Today Show did their broadcasts from there) Bruce came across it and suggested we go there after our visit to the job site as we were to be on the North Shore anyway. Perfect! I'm always up for an adventure. We never actually got there because we pulled off of Capilano Road into the parking lot of Capilano River Regional Park and never left. Oh my goodness was it beautiful!

Bruce was still in the car reporting to Zarita when I walked up a short set of steps to discover magic. Not knowing what to expect, I was seriously blown away by the view and this was just the start!

When a full on rainbow suddenly appeared, I actually called Bruce and told him to meet me ASAP, as I did not want to turn my back on the scene.

Even from this vantage point, we could hear the roar of dammed water, the Capilano River, which is the source of the drinking water in Vancouver. I used the term we because by now Bruce was with me, marveling at the mountains, the clouds, the rainbow...

Making our way to the dam, well it was a spectacular scene as well.

We began walking towards what looked like a path down to the water and while it wasn't quite as low as the level of the river, it was quite the hike for two old folks like us. There were ferns, waterfalls, downed giant trees,

and moss, moss, and more moss. Looking at this photograph of myself, I honestly hardly recognize this woman. Yikes!!

Although it was chilly, this was in the middle of the afternoon with the expected increase in temperature you would expect for that time of day.

The moss growing everywhere was simply astonishing to me, however, this is an urban rainforest, so I guess that it is to be expected.

We made it down to the viewing platform,

which is as far as we went, not having a map to guide us further. As you can imagine, the sound of the water was really something. There is a fish hatchery in sight from this platform, however, with intermittent rain and darkness fast approaching, we did not go there.

And now, to climb back up! There were some stairs however most of the time we walked on well maintained wide trails. Because I am such a slow walker, while Bruce answered a text from Steve, I got going up the hill, thus, Bruce is playing catch up.

I would point out that the trail marker on the right points you onto a trail leading to Ambleside Park! I can't imagine how you get there from where we were, but I don't question professionals. For the most part anyway. :)

Once home we took it very easy, watching the Olympics and staying warm inside as the temperature was dropping once again. Here's two pieces of good news--the days are getting significantly longer, and it SNOWED again overnight!

Not a ton where we are, but oh my goodness, when the sun came up, look at the beauty across the water!

How awesome is that? Not long after I took the above photo, I got a shower, dressed, and walked to Urban Fare to buy some pastries. We probably could have had toast, however,  it was a good excuse for me to get out with my camera. Walking past David Lamm Park, I had to be very careful on the icy sidewalk because I was not wearing my boots. I started to say, see I'm learning, but that would only be a half truth wouldn't it?

Someone getting creative in the park.

Don't ask me why I am drawn to empty swings because I have no answer to that question.

Safely home, this sight warmed my heart.

I was not wearing my serious boots because, a. I was ready for church, and b. I wrongly assumed all of the sidewalks would be salted. Neither of these two things happened. Much to my surprise, the Chinese New Year parade was on this very Sunday, beginning at 11. We went to that instead.

A more colorful experience than I can remember seeing for a very long time that deserves a post of its own, coming soon from my little space on the world wide web.

yours truly,

Gail