The Summer We Became Canadian

The Summer We Became Canadian - Week 2

July 13, 2015

Our second week in Squamish began with a trip to Whistler. We stopped at the Farmer's Market, where we sampled locally made bourbon, fresh squeezed lemonade, wood fire pizza, and pocket pies. Everything was delicious. It was a really hot day, somewhere around 97 degrees, so we also spent a lot of time seeking out shady spots. Our next stop, the Olympic Park, offered little in the way of shade, but it turned out to be very worthwhile.

Brian likened our visit to the empty park to being at Jurassic Park after the dinosaurs attacked. Regardless, we decided to stick around, and Brian event tried his hand at the biathlon (well, the shooting portion). And then it happened -- the moment I had hoped for, the moment that would make or break my Canadian adventure. I saw a bear! I was equal parts ecstatic and scared. We made eye contact, and my bear encounter training of Glacier National Park failed me. Was I was supposed to look tough or nonthreatening? Was I supposed to talk to the bear or ignore it? Whatever I did worked because he didn't eat us and stuck to chewing on trees. At that point, I was pretty much ready to pack up and head home, but we decided to stay in BC a bit longer.

Alexander Falls

My summer is complete!

so cute yet so scary

On our drive back to Squamish, we stopped at two different waterfalls, Alexander Falls and Brandywine Falls. Our drive was sweltering, and not having fully functioning AC in the car did not help. A really, really cold drink was the only answer to the many ultimatums I found myself spewing ("If you make me wait until we get back to that hotbox of a condo to get a drink -- insert comment about new wife, sleeping on the floor, etc"). So we got the coldest drink we could find, Slurpees from 7 - Eleven. This was a first for me, and the verdict is still out. At the very least, it cooled me down enough that I was no longer mad at the world. We enjoyed our beverages while watching the Women's World Cup victory, and then the guilt of having consumed so much sugar water got to me. I somehow managed an evening run (it was about 80 degrees at 8:30pm) and I didn't even retch - a miracle considering the aforementioned Slurpee.

when it's a million degrees and you're melting

We spent most of the week peering through a forest fire haze. The first day was the worst - the smoke irritated your eyes if you were outside too long; Throughout the week and in the evenings especially, the conditions improved. We took that to mean that we could continue with our routine of alternating between running/hiking and climbing. It's awesomely simple and perfect here in BC - we can get to climbing and trials in just minutes and are outside every day.

this is exactly the color of the sky - eerie!

We celebrated our ninth anniversary Wednesday. I'd say "Gosh, we're old" but we got married when we were babies, so we can claim to be young a bit longer.

The fire altered our plans (Let's take a helicopter tour of the smoke. I think not. How about we watch for whales through the smoky haze? Also no.). Thus we headed to Vancouver (it's not so smoky there). We started our day with a stop at the Capilano Suspension Bridge. The park was a bit overhyped, especially for the price, but wobbling our way across the suspension bridge was pretty fun. After a tour of the park we made our way to Granville Island. Being there was a bit like being back in Europe - driving/parking was nerve wracking, shops were plentiful, the public market was awesome, and the people feeding pigeons grossed me out. After many miles of walking and melting a bit in the sun that finally shined again, we hit the road again. Our final stop before heading back to Squamish was the Istanbul Cafe, a total hole-in-the-wall Turkish restaurant. It felt like being back in Turkey again - the music, the smells, the food. It was excellent!