Doing the Tourist Thing!

L-R Tina, Shania, Brenden & Jeff

My niece (Tina, seen above L.) and her family from St. Paul, Alberta, planned their summer holidays for the west coast.  They arrived on Monday afternoon. Tina is my middle sister's youngest daughter.

The pier @ White Rock Beach.

Yesterday proved to be a perfect day to do a day trip into White Rock and the beach, the city of Vancouver, Stanley Park, Canada Place and a traipse through Granville Island.

Canada Place on the Vancouver waterfront. 

We could not ask for better weather.  The temperature hovered around 20-22 degrees, a typical west coast slight breeze and not a cloud in the sky.  Vancouver, to the initiated,  is truly a beautiful city and yesterday's jaunt did not disappoint.

Most typical scene in the harbour.  Float planes are common here.

With so many small outposts and small fishing communities dotted along the British Columbia coastline, float planes are a lifeline for the transport of people, goods, services and medical evacuations.

The 'sails' @ Canada Place shone bright in the morning sun.

Canada Place is a cruise ship facility.  It can berth 4-5 ships at one time. We were thrilled to find one smaller cruise ship berthed.  

This ship - as with all who navigate these waters in the summer - carry passengers on cruises to and from Alaska.

The brand new Vancouver Convention Centre was the headquarters for CTV-TV, NBC-TV, TSN and ESPN Sports, and other numerous broadcasters from around the world, during the 2010 broadcast of the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

I spent time in this building during the Olympics.  This was our headquarters too. I was producing TV content for the IOC - International Olympics Committee.  It was a wonderful experience.

Flags flying high and mighty following Canada Day celebrations (our 144th birthday) this past July 1, 2011.

Taken from Prospect Point, in Stanley Park, the Lions Gate Bridge that leads West Vancouver City residents to the downtown core of Vancouver City.

Brenden and Jeff on the lookout @ Prospect Point.  The City of West Vancouver in the background.

Following a nice foray into Stanley Park, we drove through the Vancouver beaches area and made our way to the 'famed' Granville Island. 

Making our way through the crowd, this public market is a draw for tourists and locals alike.  The sights, sounds and smells are welcoming.  The fresh 'catch of the day' (salmon, halibut, cod), shellfish, fruits and vegetables are for the looking and taking here.  It's a great place to enjoy lunch too.

And we did just that!  With so many food choices, it takes circling around a few times to decide what foods to order.

Brenden settled for Italian (pizza, that is) and the rest of us chose Mexican fare.

Yum!.....no one is talking here!  The food must be good!

With a much needed lunch completed, we walked around the island for a bit and checked out some of the stores in the area.

Shania, in one store looking at stuff!

Brenden and Jeff in a sports store.

Brenden is a star quarterback for the St. Paul Lions football club.  Although he lives in the province of Alberta with two very good CFL - Canadian Football League - teams (the Edmonton Eskimos and the Calgary Stampeders), he is a big fan of the BC Lions.  He was looking for a team hat or jersey.  He found a special BC Lions key 'thingamabob' and was thrilled with that purchase.

So, following a long day of hard sightseeing, Shania chose a quiet sun soaked spot on the back deck for some 'zzzzz's'  and sun.

Late in the afternoon, Jeanette took Shania and Tina to a local berry farm to select a fresh blueberry pie for desert following our bar-b-q.

Tina chose some fresh, homemade blueberry ice cream to top off the pie pieces.  It was good!

With all of the running around over for the day, we relaxed in the sun.

The family will be heading over to White Rock beach today.  I will be leaving shortly on a 6-7 hour motorcycle ride north through Hope, Merritt, Kamloops, Barriere, Little Fort and into Blue River.  That is where I will be meeting my nephew Brad, who will join me there on his motorcycle ride from Edmonton, Alberta.  Blue River is about half way for us both. We will overnight there.

Tomorrow we'll ride into the Fraser Canyon and take a nice motorcycle ride back to our home.  Brad's wife Jamie, will fly into the Abbotsford airport on Friday morning.  On Saturday morning Jeanette, Jamie, Brad and I will be leaving for a motorcycle/BCFerries style holiday up Vancouver Island, and back down the Sunshine Coast.  We will take 10 BC Ferries rides before we complete our journey.  Stay tuned for that.


Well, it's time to saddle up and head north.

Thanks for dropping in.