Canada is Lovely. It’s Just Not Europe.
Okay, let’s talk about reality for a minute. Because sometimes, you get to go on an awesome vacation you’ve been planning for months. Other times, though, you fly from Seattle to Denver shortly before an unprecedented bomb cyclone with category two hurricane-force winds and the entire airport gets shut down and you can’t get to Europe within 3 days of your scheduled arrival and you have to cancel the trip.
There are some fun things about these times. There’s the fun of exploring an empty airport, the ponderance of how some of those beer taps can be left unsupervised, the thrill of finally getting on a moving train into town after 9 hours in an airport. Mostly, though, it just sucks when you can’t go on your vacation that you’ve been planning and pining after. And yes, I am fully aware that I am supremely lucky to be able to take these trips, and that I have my wonderful life at home to come back to, and I am incredibly grateful for those things. But it sucks.
Denver International Airport, deserted (Photo/Jason Rafal)
Since the trip was for Maia’s graduation from college, Maia, Jason, and I decided to go to Canada for a few days instead since she had never been. We would take three ferries on a route to the Olympic Peninsula, Victoria, and Vancouver. We took our car, which still has Colorado plates and amused lots of Canadians, especially when the car alarm went off mid-ferry ride.
We began on a Tuesday and took our first ferry to Bainbridge Island, where we drove to Port Angeles. There are only a couple of ferries per day between port Angeles and Victoria in the winter, and we carefully timed a stop for lunch and a very short stroll to a waterfall before getting into line.
Mt. Rainier as we left Seattle (Photo/Jason Rafal)
One of the many waterfalls of the trip (Photo/Jason Rafal)
Waiting to board a ferry to another country is not as complex, cumbersome, or time consuming as going through an international airport, but perhaps because it involves just sitting and waiting, it feels like forever to me. The weather was weirdly sunny for winter in the Olympic peninsula, and we waited with car doors open, lounging half outside of the cars.
We were on the Coho on the way to Victoria (Photo/Jason Rafal)
A tugboat doing its job with Mt. Baker in the background (Photo/Jason Rafal)
Jason and I had been to Vancouver before (see Surface-Level Observations of Vancouver), but none of us had ever been to Victoria. It’s difficult to get to without taking an absurdly expensive plane ride (non-plane options include 1.5 hour ferries from the Olympic Peninsula or Vancouver, or an almost 3 hour ferry from Seattle), but Victoria is charming and I would highly recommend it. There are lots of grand government buildings and adorable houses and shiny condo buildings and tree-filled parks, and it’s fun to watch the various types of boats go in and out. It also has some great food (we tried butter chicken poutine in an Irish pub, and it was amazing) and it’s not hard to find a happy hour overlooking the water. We were in the city during an absurdly warm spell, and it was sunny and mid-60s during the day, which felt absurd for British Columbia in March.
One of the beautiful alleys in Victoria’s Chinatown (Photo/Jason Rafal)
Building within an old facade (Photo/Jason Rafal)
Not sure if you remember our coffee crisis from when we were in Vancouver in 2014, but we can confirm that Victoria has good coffee (Photo/Jason Rafal)
On one of our afternoons in Victoria, we took a trip out to Goldstream Provincial Park for a hike. The park is very close to Victoria and has some lovely huge trees. If you want to do the Niagara Falls and trestle hike in the winter or spring, though, let me know, because it’s difficult to find the correct trailhead (in the summer and autumn, it’s easy to go under the highway, but there was a considerable creek running through that tunnel when we got there). The falls are beautiful, and there is also a trail that goes up to a railroad bridge over the canyon and river. It’s beautiful, and a bit terrifying.
I love all the green everywhere (Photo/Jason Rafal)
A very large tree stump (Photo/Jason Rafal)
The trestle (Photo/Jason Rafal)
Finding the trails (Photo/Jason Rafal)
The super moon from our Victoria apartment (Photo/Jason Rafal)
After a couple of days in Victoria, we drove to Swartz Bay and boarded a ferry for Vancouver. On the way, we made a stop at the Butchart Gardens. We were somewhat skeptical because it was early spring and nothing would be in bloom, but I can now back up their advertising and say it’s worth visiting any time of year. My favorite part was the sunken garden, which was built in an old quarry. There were also fantastic statues of various animals, a lovely Japanese garden, and a small boat harbor.
Maia and a random cocker spaniel that she almost stole (Photo/Jason Rafal)
The sunken garden (Photo/Jason Rafal)
A lovely water feature (Photo/Jason Rafal)
A dragon guarding the Japanese garden (Photo/Jason Rafal)
The idyllic harbor (Photo/Jason Rafal)
Our ferry to Vancouver was quite large and fancy. It had a full cafeteria, many layers of observation decks, and apparently enough room to carry 34 semis in addition to the passenger cars. We spent a lot of time on the decks, periodically ducking back inside to avoid the wind. The ferry ride from Vancouver island to the city is quite beautiful, especially in nice weather - the boat goes close to several islands. It was a bit early for whales, but we kept an eye out anyway. Either they were in a different area or we didn’t look quite hard enough.
Beautiful islands from the ferry (Photo/Jason Rafal)
When we arrived in Vancouver, we immediately drove to a suspension bridge park, since Maia had never been on one and seemed potentially interested in comparing it to the railroad trestle experience. I told her the suspension bridge would be less scary, and after giving it a try, she was not convinced. It looks like she’s having fun though.
Harrisons on the suspension bridge (Photo/Jason Rafal)
After the suspension bridge we hiked around Lynn Canyon for a while. Walking along the creek, which was a beautiful light bluish green, we came to both a scary warning sign about cliff jumping and then, predictably, cliff jumpers. The water was quite cold, but I guess March weather in the 60s in Vancouver is not common enough to waste. After visiting a couple more waterfalls, we climbed up a whole lot of stairs and headed into town, where we explored CRAB Park and got some tasty food.
A fairly unhelpful infographic (Photo/Jason Rafal)
Crazy Canadians (Photo/Jason Rafal)
Climbing a lot of stairs through the woods (Photo/Jason Rafal)
Dogs in CRAB Park (no idea what’s up with that capitalization) (Photo/Jason Rafal)
The next day, we realized that our hotel lent out free bikes, requested said bikes, and went on an adventure around Stanley Park. Stanley Park has already been featured in a previous blog, so I won’t spend too much time, but I will tell you that if you want to lead your family on a bike ride from the bottom of the park up to the Prospect Point Lookout, warn them about the intensity of the ride and bring some water. Otherwise, they might become quite cranky at you halfway up.
A very handsome duck (Photo/Jason Rafal)
Biking home through the blossoms (Photo/Jason Rafal)
Our next excursion was to Granville Island, where we met our friend Cameron (long story involving well-timed overlapping road trips), ate poutine and gelato, and watched all the tourists interact with some rather aggressive seagulls (one stole a piece of pizza out of a woman’s hand and then struggled to swallow it for the next 10 minutes). Then we went to explore more of the city.
Strolling along the shore (Photo/Jason Rafal)
Granville (Photo/Jason Rafal)
Maia and Cameron ponder some contemporary art (Photo/Jason Rafal)
Some really incredible sidewalk art (Photo/Jason Rafal)
A view of the stadium at night (Photo/Jason Rafal)
On our last morning in Vancouver, we visited Queen Elizabeth park on the way out of town. I would highly recommend visiting if you’re ever in the area - it’s a beautiful park with some lovely gardens and a gorgeous view of the city. There’s also a metal family, stuck in time since the 70s, talking a picture at the top, and adopting yourself into the family makes for some great pictures.
Family pictures with our new family (Photo/Jason Rafal)
So, it wasn’t Europe. But Victoria and Vancouver are lovely, and I’m glad we got to go on another version of Maia’s graduation trip.
