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Page 4 of Part 6: My Life in Canada: January 2007 - December 2007 continued!

January 2007 - December 2007:

*WEEK 3 --> From June 17 - June 23/2007:

*Sunday - June 17: We slept in a little bit today and we didn’t go out until the afternoon. It was cloudy again, but it didn’t rain. So we figured it might be a nice day to visit Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver. This is a beautiful park where you can walk and see all kinds of different flowers and plants. At Queen Elizabeth Park there is also the Bloedel Conservatory which is a tropical garden that features many bird and plant species. We walked around in the gardens where there were still some beautiful flowers in bloom. There is a little waterfall as well and some small ponds. After walking around in the park for a while we decided to go inside of the Bloedel Conservatory. Here we saw some parrots, other little birds, beautiful flowers with bright colours and you really had a feeling you were somewhere in a tropical jungle. They had a little gift shop with all kinds of little things. I remembered that my uncle really wanted a small book about Vancouver so he would be able to remember what they all visited. Since it was Father’s Day in Canada my mom, Michael and I decided to buy one of those books for him to take home. He didn’t know that we bought it because my aunt kept him occupied while we were buying this book. We had another interesting afternoon again and of course we had a good time.

On the way home we stopped at Pizza Hut and ordered a couple of pizzas. My oh my, was that ever good...we hadn't had pizza for a long time. Everybody enjoyed the yummy pizza very much. While we were eating we gave my uncle that Vancouver book and wished him a "Happy Canadian Father’s Day"…haha, he really liked that and he seemed happy with the book. This way he can read a little more about all the places they had visited while they were here. That was that again for the day. We brought my family to their B&B a little earlier this evening as we were going to leave early in the morning to go the USA for a day trip.


    

    

        
Some photos of our visit to Queen Elizabeth Park and the Bloedel Conservatory.


*Monday – June 18: Today we were going to the USA for some shopping and a bit of sightseeing. The US border is about half an hour from our place and the town we were going to visit is about an hour driving from our place. We left home at 7:00am to pick up my aunt and uncle at their B&B and left for the USA. We would go to Bellingham, a smaller city in the state of Washington. We left this early because we wanted to make sure that we didn’t have to wait too long at the border line up when entering the USA. We arrived at the Peace Arch border crossing around 7:35am. There weren’t too many cars lining up, but it was close to 8:00am when it was our turn. All of us had to go inside to get a visa waiver to enter the USA. You have to fill out a little sheet, you pay them $6 USD and then they take your fingerprints, a photo and off you go. You get a little green card that will allow you to stay or re-enter the USA for 3 months. This will be good for me when we want to go back for a day of shopping or when we might go to Olympic National Park in July. The weather was quite nice, with some clouds and a bit of sunshine. First we went to the Bellis Fair Mall, a nice big mall in Bellingham and a few other stores in the area where you can buy all sorts of things…from groceries to clothing and electronics. My aunt and uncle bought a cute dress for both of their grandchildren and a pair of Levi’s Jeans for my uncle. They only cost $20 USD (which is about 15 euro's) over here compared to about 50 euro's in Europe. My mom, my aunt and I bought some nice summer pajamas which were very cheap as well. We had a quick bite to eat at one of these stores for lunch and after that we went to a park called "Whatcom Falls Park" which was about 5 minutes driving from where we were. We followed the trail into the park and saw some beautiful waterfalls which I believe are called the "Upper Whatcom Falls". They weren’t very big, but I found them very pretty. We walked along the river for a while before turning around to go back to a different trail. Now we followed the main trail where you can see the beautiful Whatcom Falls from a stone bridge. We walked along the trail for awhile and decided to go back and head back to Canada, as we didn’t want to get stuck in traffic and long line ups at the border. We took the border crossing in Aldergrove and there was no line up, so we were through in a couple of minutes.

We didn’t want to go straight home yet as it was only about 4.00pm and the sun came out as well. It was quite warm now. Michael drove to White Rock, a nice little coastal town which is about half an hour south from our place close to the USA border. We were all getting hungry so we found a place to have dinner. We found the "Sand Piper Pub" which had a nice outdoor patio, which my uncle really liked! We sat here to have dinner while we enjoyed this lovely weather and warm sunshine, it was finally feeling a bit like summer. Haha, we had to laugh at my uncle as it seemed like he was reborn after he got to sit on a patio! Dinner was delicious and plenty. After that we enjoyed a lovely walk along the dyke and onto the pier. This was the perfect ending of a wonderful day. Before we dropped my family we decided that we would go to Grouse Mountain tomorrow as it's supposed to be sunny and warm. I would pick them up around 9:30am. And if the weather would turn out cloudy again, then we can always find something else to do. Michael had been here already and decided to stay home so he could do some work in the garden and help his parents with their lawn.


    

    

    
Some photos of our visit to Whatcom Falls Park (USA) and White Rock (Canada).


*Tuesday – June 19: When we woke up it seemed like a beautiful sunny day. My mom was so happy to see that the sun was out and that there was hardly a cloud in the sky. Well, Grouse Mountain it would be then. We left our house at 9:30am to pick up my family and drove to Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver. Usually, it takes about 20 to 30 minutes to get to the parking lot of Grouse Mountain from our place, but today there was quite some traffic…so we were a little slower. But that didn’t matter as we were planning to spend the whole day here until after dinner. Grouse Mountain is open every day from 9:00am until 10:00pm all year long. Once we were at the Grouse Mountain parking lot we parked the car and from there we had to take the Grouse Mountain Skyride (gondola) to the top of the mountain. The Skyride leaves about every 15 minutes to the top of the mountain. The admission fee was $35 dollars a person, which is quite a bit…but on the other hand we got to see and do a lot of things for all that money, so I find that it is totally worth every penny! We were on the Skyride around 11:00am and the gondola takes only about 8 minutes to get to the top. Once we got here we had some amazing views over the mountains, the city and the ocean. We looked around for a little while to enjoy the beautiful views. We noticed there were a couple of nice patios close to the Skyride on top of the mountain. Since it was getting close to lunchtime we decided to go and have a drink first and after that we could order lunch. We went to the Altitudes Bistro and had a wonderful place to sit outside with great views over the mountains. It was nice and warm outside as well, I would say that it was probably around 24-25 C up here.

The drinks and the lunch over here were delicious and the people were very friendly. During lunch we decided that we would go for a little walk first after lunch. After that we would go and see the "World’s famous Lumberjack Show" at 2:30pm, this was a show of about 45 minutes long. We definitely wanted to see the two grizzly bears up here as well as they live on Grouse Mountain in a protected area. We also wanted to do one of the walks and see the Birds in Motion Show. All of this as well as the shows are included with the admission fee as well as 2 movies that you can watch in the Theatre in the Sky, guided walks and the scenic chairlift to the top of the mountain. We didn’t feel like going to see a movie on such a beautiful day. It also appeared that the guided walks and the chairlifts weren’t on the program yet due to all the snow that was still present. After our wonderful lunch we walked to the grizzly bear area where we saw some people looking around already…but no bears to be seen. The Ranger at the grizzly bear station said that they were having a nap. We walked around some more and there were a couple of tourists who said they saw them in the forested area and they were moving. We were looking and looking and there we saw some movement. After a little while they came down to the little pool where we could see them a lot better. My goodness, one of them was a real huge bear…so impressive to see. They were just wondering around and one of them was playing in the water a little bit. After a little while they disappeared again in the trees. By that time it was almost 2:30pm, so we went to see the Lumberjack Show, which was in the same area.

This lumberjack show would last about 45 minutes and it was outdoors. We had a good spot to sit so we could see everything. This show was hosted by a lady who introduced these two lumberjacks to us who were going to do some competitions like axe throwing, log rolling, climbing a 60 foot pole and more. The show was very interactive, very entertaining and so funny…we really enjoyed it very much. It must be quite hard on these guys to do what they do 3 times a day and that for 7 days a week After the show we could go and have chat with these people. My mom and aunt went to see them so I could take a photo of my family with the lumberjacks! It was about 3:15pm when the show was finished and we had a dry mouth from laughing…so it was time to have a drink. There was a little snack bar near the show where you could have something to eat or just a drink. We just went for a drink and sat on the patio for quite some time. We enjoyed so more beautiful mountain views while sitting here. After that we went for another little walk and as we walked by the Grizzly area again we noticed that these two bears were having fun in the pool and in the snow. So, we watched them again for a while…it was great to see.

These two Grizzly Bears named Grinder and Coola are both orphans and were found in two different areas of BC. They were found as little cubs in bad shape. The Refuge for Endangered Wildlife (a research, education, and conservation centre at the top of Grouse Mountain) was contacted and they looked after these two grizzly cubs. After some time, The Refuge for Endangered Wildlife realized that these two bears might never be able to return to the wild, as they had become custom to humans who cared for them. Instead of keeping these bears in close captivity like a zoo or something like that, they developed a 5-acre (approximately 20234 square meters) Grizzly Bear habitat on top of Grouse Mountain that imitates their habitat that they would have if they were in the wild. This whole area for the grizzlies is fenced off which allows the visitors to Grouse Mountain to see these beautiful animals up close without disturbing their habitat. These two bears are fully grown now, Coola is the biggest one and Grinder is the smaller one. This is because they are both from a different area of BC. They don’t always show themselves and might go hiding in the trees where visitors can’t see them. But it seems that they don’t even notice that people are looking at them and they just go about their business and at some point they will appear where people can see them. We saw them playing in the water, on top of the snow and just having fun together. I found it a fantastic experience!

After watching these two grizzlies again we decided to follow the trail that they would normally do with the guided walks. We walked down to the Hewis Feasthouse where there was a lovely little lake which was called "Blue Grouse Lake". If you didn’t know any better you think you’d stumble upon a mid-winter scene with still so much snow present in the area. My uncle was looking if he could film something here and my aunt was enjoying the view while my mom was so quiet behind us. We soon found out why she was so quiet...she couldn’t help but getting some snow and start throwing some snow at us...haha! Quite neat that you can still throw snowballs almost at the end of June. It wasn’t exactly powder snow anymore of course, it had gone fairly hard and was more like ice. Once we had our fun with the snow we couldn’t go any further on the trail as there was just too much snow around. We turned around and went back. It was around 5:10pm, so we decided to stick around the area as there would be a "Birds in Motion Show" at 5:30 pm. This show was quite interesting and educational. The show mainly covered information on the predator birds. They showed different birds such as a Spotted Owl, a Turkey Vulture, a Peregrin Falcon and a Bald Eagle. This was quite interesting to see as they let the birds fly around from one side of the area to the other side of the area. Some of these birds were really beautiful and so gracious.

The show was finished at 6:00pm, so it was time to have a bite to eat. We went back to the Altitudes Bistro where we sat outside again in this lovely weather. Dinner was delicious and the service was fantastic again. Once we were finished dinner we wanted to have a look at the gift shops before we would head down with the Skyride and go home. My mom, my aunt and my uncle bought a couple of things to take home with them. By that time it was getting on for 8:00pm, so we took the Skyride down. From this gondola we had some fantastic views over Vancouver and the surrounding area. And that was the end of another fantastic day that was definitely worth the $35 CAD per person! This was one of the highlights of the whole visit of my family! We dropped my family off at their B&B as we would have another early start again tomorrow. We were going to Victoria on Vancouver Island with the ferry and we wanted to leave around 7:30am.


    

    

    

    

    

    
Some photos from our day on top of Grouse Mountain.


*Wednesday – June 20: It was a sunny day again and it was going to be around 24-25C today. We picked my family up at 7:30am because we wanted to be at the ferry terminal in Tsawassen (about 40 minutes driving from our place) to catch the 9:00am ferry. We got there about 45 minutes ahead of the 9:00 sailing and the guy said that we might get on and otherwise we would have to wait until 10:00am. We take the car onto the ferry so we can drive to Victoria and go wherever we like to. Once they start loading we just made it onto the 9:00am ferry, there we just about 4 more cars behind us and that was it...the ferry was full. We got to Swartz Bay around 10:30am and it took another half an hour to drive to downtown Victoria where we had to look for a parking spot for a while, but we finally got a good spot. So, by the time we actually got to enjoy Victoria it was about 11:30am. First we looked around the Inner Harbour for a little while and then we walked down to the main shopping street and had a bite to eat. On the way back from lunch we stopped at all the different gift shops to see if there was anything interesting there. It’s always fun to look through these gift shops and there are many of them in Victoria. After that we went back to the Inner Harbour where we walked along the water where several entertainers were trying to get everybody’s attention. Some are just selling things and others are trying to show off their talents. Once we got to the end of the walkway we were at the Legislative Building. What a beautiful building this is and from here you have a wonderful view over the Inner Harbour and the Empress Hotel. From here we walked towards Beacon Hill Park, but this park is a little too big and too far just to walk from the downtown area of Victoria unless you have a whole lot of time. We sat on a bench for a little while and chatted away about all kinds of things.

We decided to head back to the downtown area of Victoria because my family wanted to look at a few gift shops yet before we would be heading back. We would leave Victoria quite early enough as we wanted to be able to catch the 7:00pm ferry and we wanted to drive the scenic route along the ocean to go back to the ferry terminal. My mom found a nice red fleece jacket without sleeves in one of these gift shops that she really liked, so she bought it. My aunt and uncle found a couple more little things that they bought to take home. After that it was about 4:00pm and we decided to leave so that we could stop here and there along this scenic drive if there were some interesting spots. We started driving south of Victoria along Douglas Street and turned left at Dallas Road where the Scenic Drive would start and bring us back to Highway 17 towards the ferry terminal. After a few minutes driving we came to a spot where we had a view over a part of the Pacific Ocean, which is called the Strait of Juan de Fuca. This Strait is a waterway that lays between Vancouver Island, Canada and the Olympic Peninsula in the USA. We parked here and had a little walk. The views from here were just amazing. We could see the Olympic Mountains quite clear from here and they still had quite some snow on the top. The view over the ocean was beautiful as well with all these grass dunes.

Once we had a little walk and a rest we continued driving and we came to a spot called Clover Point (if I remember right). From here you had a great view over Oak Bay, a more English style community of the Greater Victoria area with beautiful landscaped houses...or should we say villas as these house were huge. The view over the Strait of Juan de Fuca was still amazing and at this point you could even see Mount Baker which is located in the USA as well. For the rest of the drive we saw some beautiful bays, wonderful houses and a few beautiful harbours. We arrived at the ferry terminal at 5:20pm, which was quite early since the ferry wouldn’t leave until 7:00pm. But at least we knew we would make it on the 7:00pm ferry otherwise we had to wait until 9:00pm. We parked the car in the line up and went inside the building at the ferry terminal where we had a drink a some dinner. At least we didn’t have to stay in the car until 7:00pm. The time went by fairly fast and before we knew it it was time again to board the ferry. Once we were on the ferry we had some beautiful views along the way. This was another amazing day and the last day trip for my family before returning home on Friday June 22. Tomorrow we would take it easy and do a little bit of last minute shopping. My aunt and uncle wanted to do some shopping close to their B&B so they would not come to see us until the later afternoon.


    

    

    

    

    

    
Some photos from our day in Victoria on Vancouver Island.


*Thursday – June 21: Today we were going to take it easy a little. My family would come this afternoon and then we could look at all the photos and the videos that were made during the trip. This way they could choose if they wanted any of our digital photos developed that I took during our trip. We put the nicest photos on a CD for my family, so they could have them printed themselves in Belgium if they wanted to. My mom, Michael and I went to one of the bigger grocery stores in the neighbourhood to buy some things that we needed and my mom wanted to buy some of those yummy "maple cream cookies" to take home with her. We did that and then we went home to have some lunch, to talk some more and just to take it easy and enjoy our last day together. In the afternoon my aunt and uncle arrived at our place with a beautiful bouquet of flowers for us! This was to say thanks for all the things we did for them before the trip and during their stay. That was so nice and what a beautiful bouquet, They lasted about 2 weeks. For the rest of the day we just enjoyed each others company and talked about all the fun things we did during the time my family was here.

*Friday – June 22: Today my family would leave us and go back to Belgium. Their flight wouldn’t leave until 6:30pm, that is if the plane that leaves Amsterdam to come to Vancouver will be on time because that will be the same plane that they fly back with. To make sure I checked the Amsterdam airport website to see if the flight from Amsterdam to Vancouver would be on the way. It should have left Amsterdam at 3:45pm (Amsterdam time) and would arrive in Vancouver at 4:45pm (Vancouver time). Oh my, on the Amsterdam website it said that the flight coming to Vancouver was delayed until tomorrow 10:50am (Amsterdam time). Hmmm, that’s strange...why would that be. I checked the website of the Vancouver airport and the flight beside the flight that my family is supposed to take it said "delayed to tomorrow". I called the airport in Amsterdam to ask what was going on, but I couldn’t get through anywhere. Then I phoned the Vancouver Airport and they said it was delayed until tomorrow 3:30pm. The plane that was supposed to arrive from Amsterdam had technical difficulties and they needed to get another plane...and that’s why it is all delayed until tomorrow.

I quickly called my family at the B&B to let them know that they would have to stay another day. This way they could contact the lady from the B&B and ask her if it was possible for them to stay an extra day. I also called my aunt & uncle’s daughter who is supposed to pick them up in Amsterdam to let them know that they won’t arrive until Sunday, June 24 at 10:00am (Amsterdam time). That was all ok, everybody was notified on their end. I also called my brother to let them know that the flight was going to be delayed in case they would wonder why my mom wouldn’t phone on Saturday after she would get home. It is kind of a nuisance because everybody was prepared to go home and now they have to stay an extra day. Well, what can you do. At least my family could book an extra night at the B&B. My family just came over to our place, we just talked about all kinds of things and sat outside for awhile now that the weather was still nice. In the evening we watched a movie and that was that.

*Saturday – June 23: Well, it looked like the plane from Amsterdam was on the way and that their flight was still leaving at 3:30pm in Vancouver today. We picked up my family at 11:00am as we wanted to leave early to the airport. Michael’s parents came by around 11:15am to say goodbye to everybody and to wish them a good trip back. We left our place at 11:45am and arrived at the airport around 12:15pm. Once we were inside of the airport there were quite some people waiting around already for the same flight. We just stood in the line up and waited until they would open the check-in counters at 1:00pm. It took about half an hour and they were all checked in at 1:30pm. We all had some lunch together at the airport and at 2:30pm it was time for them to go to their gate. This was the time that we had to say goodbye. They thanked us again for the good times they had and the things we did for them which was nice to hear. It was so sad to see them go, it was especially sad to see my mom go as I will really miss her again like crazy until I see her again! I always stay strong at the airport as I don’t want to start crying because that makes it even harder. We hugged and kissed goodbye and saw them walk towards the customs and that was that. They are gone and on their way back to Belgium! In the car on the way home I really burst out in tears because I missed my mom already. It was such a strange feeling, but I guess that was because I felt that I didn’t spend as much time with my mom alone compared to the other times she was here. We were out and about almost everyday with my family from the morning until the evening, which was fantastic, but I would have so much alone time with my Mom. Michael and I enjoyed it very much and my mom enjoyed every minute of it as well. But I guess that’s why I have a feeling that I didn’t spend that much time with my mom.

My mom really seemed so relaxed and so happy during the whole time she was here with us. She also told me that this was her most relaxing and fun trip to Canada so far (since my dad has passed away). Every day when my mom and I were out and about with my aunt and uncle we had so many laughs and giggles…just like a bunch of teenagers. But it was just so much fun and so nice that we could have such a great time. And when Michael was with us, he puts even more fun stuff in the trip and we all had a fantastic time. On Sunday morning when we got up it was around 9:15am, I checked if the plane arrived safely in Amsterdam and I saw that it did. I couldn’t help but thinking of my mom, so I decided to give her a call around 9:30am (which is 6:30pm in Belgium) and see if she was home and awake. Oooooh, it was sooo good to hear my mother’s voice on the phone. They had a good trip back and they were all so tired. My mom had a bit of a hoarse voice and thought she might get a cold. She better take care of that before it gets worse. She was so tired and was going to go to bed after we phoned. I was so glad to hear her and that she is feeling ok. We will talk again on the phone soon!

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