Vancouver 2014

After more than a year and a half of owning my B250, I was finally able to give Brunhilde a proper work out via a nice drive from Calgary to Vancouver. We left at 5 PM on Monday, destination - Kamloops. I love night driving, but night driving on the TransCanada through British Columbia is a harrowing experience. Luckily, they are twinning more and more of this highway. We weren't too thrilled with the free breakfast that came with our hotel room in Kamloops, so we went to the highly rated Hello Toast. Then it was on to Vancouver on the Coquihalla highway, now with an increased speed limit of 120 km/h (75mph).

The 88% humidity on the coast takes some getting used to but we were gifted with some great weather while we were in Vancouver. We saw sun most of every day and never experienced any rain until the day we left. Highs of 18C helped too.

The Wedgewood Hotel upgraded us to a one bedroom suite with a balcony. For the touristy stuff, we took a drive to Steveston, the former site of some major fish canneries until 1992. Now it's a quaint seaside village with shopping and eateries. We also went to White Rock to sit by the water. On another day we headed to the North shore to take a scenic drive along Marine Drive from Horseshoe Bay through Dundarave, Ambleside, West Vancouver, North Vancouver and on to Deep Cove. While in West Van, we stopped in at the biggest Whole Foods store I've ever seen. Of course, with the sun shining, we had to make the obligatory visit to English Bay Beach. We also checked out the VanDusen Botanical Garden. It was probably more spectacular in May and June, but there was still lots to see.

Back at the hotel, I watched the Habs beat the Leafs. This was not long after enjoying a couple of "steamies" (hot dogs, Montreal-style) at La Belle Patate. The next day, I had an amazing smoked meat sandwich at Dunn's. Gee, am I in Vancouver or Montreal?

I learned something new on this trip. There are Palm trees here in Vancouver. Not many, but I spotted a few in both Dundarave and at English Bay. I wonder if these are the most northerly Palm trees in North America.

[Update: Here's a link to all the pics ]