June 8, 2011 - Strolling Gastown and the Downtown of Vancouver, BC

I ended the day by strolling through Gastown and Downtown Vancouver. Vancouver was born in Gastown. Named after John "Gassy Jack" Deighton, who wandered through the wilderness in 1867 and set up a saloon here.

The building accross from the Gassy Jack statue.

Old Gassy Jack himself.

The Steam Clock is a popular tourist site.

Now out of Gastown and on to the newer sites.

Canada Place is a building situated on the Burrard Inlet waterfront. It is home of the Vancouver Convention Centre, the Pan Pacific Hotel, the Vancouver World Trade Centre and hosted the world's first IMAX 3D theater. It's also the main cruise ship terminal for the region, with most traffic going to Alaska. There was a hockey event that day and everyone was watching the giant monitors.

Views from Canada Place to the northern suburbs.

The Lookout Tower as seen from near Canada Place.

Random buildings as i walked south.

This mural went on for the whole block. It commemorated celebrities with a Vancouver connection. I was unaware that Jimi Hendrix had one. He was from Seattle but lived with his grandmother in Vancouver for a time.

They take medical marijuana seriously in this city. They even have totally glitzy delivery vans like this one.

The gateway to Chinatown. Vancouver's is one of the largest in North America.

That was it for this day. The sun was going down and i was quite tired! I had to get up early and head back down to Washington to pick up the stuff i came up for.

June 7, 2011 - Vancouver, WA to Blaine, WA

My friend Carla is from my childhood days in Nebraska. She lived in Albuquerque, NM for years and i used to visit her there when i was passing through. She now lives in Vancouver, WA, is retired and has a cute little doggie.

Her house from the outside.

Carla posing for a photo (after i forced her to do so!)

My only stop in Seattle this time was at my favorite Indian restaurant i have thus far experienced.

Although i've seen countless restaurants named "A Taste Of India," nothing compares to this one. Everything is just so yummy and the free refills of the yummiest sweet chai are the topper. I gorged here for lunch. No other pics or stops in Seattle.

I stopped in Blaine, WA which is a border town. I like to stop and check out border towns since they have their own type of energy going on. This little town was quite lovely.

I liked this zen dude so i took several pics from different vantage points!

These guys were cute too.  "The Vigil" is a tribute to Blaine's Icelandic fishing heritage. The sculpture stand on Harborview Plaza overlooking Drayton Harbor and Semiahmoo Bay.

OK, enough of this! Time to get to Canada! I only have two nights and one day to see lovely Vancouver, BC.

June 7, 2011 - Canadian Border to Vancouver, BC

I finally made it to the border. I was making good time....

 

...until i had to sit through customs for 45 minutes. As soon as i was done with that i dashed on to lovely Vancouver, BC.

Since i had minimal daylight left i decided to hit Stanley Park at dusk. The rest of this day's photos are taken there. These were some cute little duckies in a pond.

Downtown Vancouver from Stanley Park.

The Lion's Gate Bridge connecting Vancouver to the northern suburbs.

 

Stanley Park is famous for it's large old-growth trees. Unfortunately a storm damaged many of them several years back, but it is weird to see the skyscrapers of downtown peek between some of the big ones.

 

The downtown reflected in a small lake.

Looking from the western shore of the park to Vancouver Island.

June 6, 2011 - Eugene, OR to Vancouver, WA

I left on June 5 so i could retrieve my friend's stuff in Anacortes, WA. I helped her moved down from Seattle in 2007. She left behind a few of her most precious things at her friend's house. The friend now wanted them out. She was planning on a road trip herself, but in the middle of a move she was making in SF, her van died. She asked me if i would be willing to go up there and pick up her stuff. I had been itching for a road trip since i got a newer truck. It had been quite a while since i've been anywhere by vehicle. I high-tailed it up to Oregon without hardly stopping. It was totally rainy and cloudy so no temptation to stop every so often and take pictures. I stayed with some friends in Eugene, OR and awoke to leave for Vancouver, WA to visit another friend. Since i have been through Portland, OR many times and never stopped really, i decided to hang out downtown for a while and stroll around and see what i've been hearing about all these years from all the people i know from that city.

Pioneer Courthouse Square is where i was told to go by locals, so i did.

I walked around a few blocks in every direction just to see different buildings.

The Square itself had a lovely world map of flowers. They were just flowers in pots, but arranged to look like a global map. Very beautiful.

I drove around a bit more in downtown Portland, but then crossed the river to meet my friend Carla in Vancouver, WA.