I have certainly been remiss in my posting! Though to be fair, not a whole lot has happened. You don't care that we bought Lydia new socks.
Anyway, I got some pix organized and will share below. SO, last weekend we left at our usual late morning hour and headed for Seattle in time for dinner with Chris and Matt and Matt's sister Audrey. We checked into the hotel at about 5. We stayed at the Hotel Monaco on 4th street, near the Fisherman's Wharf, down a bit from Pike Market. Ed found the hotel on Hotwire, and it made our vacation a success on it's own! It was new and clean, beautiful and beautifully situated! We were across from the new library on one side and the water and new ferris wheel on the other, see pix to follow!
We met the family for 6:30, which is a late dinner for Lydia, but she did very well! It took some time, but she opened up and got silly with Chris. The food was lovely, as was our visit. We had hoped to get together again on our way back south, but the traveling turned out to be a little harder than anticipated. So we will have to make plans for another time.
We went back to the hotel and took Ayla for a walk and then returned for sleep. Ed and Lydia woke and went out for a walk in the morning and we got on the road, I want to say around 9. Not sure. In any case the drive to Vancouver was much longer than we thought it would be. We finally got to the border and while sitting in line, lost our coverage. There was to be no more until we drove back over Saturday.
Customs always makes me nervous, I have a guilt thing when accusations hang in the air, even if I know nothing! We had no GPS and no directions to where we were staying. We knew it was North Vancouver, so we drove through Stanley Park and found the Marina area, we drove around trying to get close to the water where the Floating home would be. We did have to stop and ask for directions, an electrician working on power lines, one would think they know the area. No. We drove 20 feet away from him and there was a large sign for the Mosquito Creek Marina. No mosquitos. Ed called the owner from the security mans phone and while we waited for him, took a walk to a nearby park. When we met Jeffrey Speed the Barrister, he opened his mouth and I swear I heard Norm MacDonald talking. He took us down to his floating house, gave us the dime tour and left us to it. It was really cute and just right for us. I found it strange that his things hung in the closet and his deodorant was on the sink and his soap in the shower. It felt like we were staying at a friends house while they were out of town.
The place had skylights in the living room,and kitchen, there was a loft above the kitchen with doors leading to the rooftop deck, where we ate dinner that night. The bedroom was smallish, but a had a high, very cozy bed. We all slept well. After the neighbor finished using his power tools.
Lydia and I were taking Ayla out after dark and heard something large plop into the water by the next house, nothing surfaced and we never figured out what it might have been!
There was a beautiful Heron who stood in the dark in the bay nearby, hoping no one would see him, I watched him for a while, making him nervous.
The drive up was absolutely gorgeous, the mountains were huge and jagged and covered in snow, the sky was a stark blue. When we woke on Friday, we were surrounded by fog, and remained so until we left Saturday. The rain came in Friday around dinner time. We started the day by driving to the Lynn Canyon Park. Where we walked across the suspension bridge, Ed ignoring his strong fear of heights! And then walked through the woods. Afterwards we dropped Ayla off and drove through Stanley Park, stopping at the Hollow Tree, a 7-8 hundred year old hollow tree stump, one of the beaches where the water was clean and clear, and then over to Granville Island. It used to be an industrial section, and is still partially so. Now it is a funky area with shops and crafters, and a public market, as well as a seafood market. It was Christmassy and fun. They had a whole mini mall for kids stuff. We drove back to the Marina, let Ayla do her business and walked down the way to catch the Sea bus across to downtown. We had dinner at a Japanese restaurant, sitting at the window, watching people pass in the rain. Afterwards we did some walking, found an indoor mall, walked some more and then took a rainy walk back to catch the Sea bus home.
We woke Saturday morning and hit the road by 10 or 11 I think. It took awhile to find our way back to the border, but once we crossed it was easier driving and we discovered that we had phone coverage again!
We were too late for lunch with the boys, we drove into Freemont around 4 I think, Ed popped into Dusty Strings to look at the Mandolins quickly, we grabbed some lunch next door and after a quick climb on the Troll under the bridge, were back on the road. I can't remember when we got home, but it had been a long day on the road and it was nice to be home. We even found a parking space near our building! That doesn't usually happen after dark.
We are back at the grind now and getting ready for our Christmas journey to Southern California.
Tonight we have a sitter coming, Ed and I are going to see The Moth live. It is an NPR podcast where people tell a personal story based on the evenings theme. I have been looking forward to this for months!
Okay, I need to try to get some pictures up here. Let's see how it goes.
Anyway, I got some pix organized and will share below. SO, last weekend we left at our usual late morning hour and headed for Seattle in time for dinner with Chris and Matt and Matt's sister Audrey. We checked into the hotel at about 5. We stayed at the Hotel Monaco on 4th street, near the Fisherman's Wharf, down a bit from Pike Market. Ed found the hotel on Hotwire, and it made our vacation a success on it's own! It was new and clean, beautiful and beautifully situated! We were across from the new library on one side and the water and new ferris wheel on the other, see pix to follow!
We met the family for 6:30, which is a late dinner for Lydia, but she did very well! It took some time, but she opened up and got silly with Chris. The food was lovely, as was our visit. We had hoped to get together again on our way back south, but the traveling turned out to be a little harder than anticipated. So we will have to make plans for another time.
We went back to the hotel and took Ayla for a walk and then returned for sleep. Ed and Lydia woke and went out for a walk in the morning and we got on the road, I want to say around 9. Not sure. In any case the drive to Vancouver was much longer than we thought it would be. We finally got to the border and while sitting in line, lost our coverage. There was to be no more until we drove back over Saturday.
Customs always makes me nervous, I have a guilt thing when accusations hang in the air, even if I know nothing! We had no GPS and no directions to where we were staying. We knew it was North Vancouver, so we drove through Stanley Park and found the Marina area, we drove around trying to get close to the water where the Floating home would be. We did have to stop and ask for directions, an electrician working on power lines, one would think they know the area. No. We drove 20 feet away from him and there was a large sign for the Mosquito Creek Marina. No mosquitos. Ed called the owner from the security mans phone and while we waited for him, took a walk to a nearby park. When we met Jeffrey Speed the Barrister, he opened his mouth and I swear I heard Norm MacDonald talking. He took us down to his floating house, gave us the dime tour and left us to it. It was really cute and just right for us. I found it strange that his things hung in the closet and his deodorant was on the sink and his soap in the shower. It felt like we were staying at a friends house while they were out of town.
The place had skylights in the living room,and kitchen, there was a loft above the kitchen with doors leading to the rooftop deck, where we ate dinner that night. The bedroom was smallish, but a had a high, very cozy bed. We all slept well. After the neighbor finished using his power tools.
Lydia and I were taking Ayla out after dark and heard something large plop into the water by the next house, nothing surfaced and we never figured out what it might have been!
There was a beautiful Heron who stood in the dark in the bay nearby, hoping no one would see him, I watched him for a while, making him nervous.
The drive up was absolutely gorgeous, the mountains were huge and jagged and covered in snow, the sky was a stark blue. When we woke on Friday, we were surrounded by fog, and remained so until we left Saturday. The rain came in Friday around dinner time. We started the day by driving to the Lynn Canyon Park. Where we walked across the suspension bridge, Ed ignoring his strong fear of heights! And then walked through the woods. Afterwards we dropped Ayla off and drove through Stanley Park, stopping at the Hollow Tree, a 7-8 hundred year old hollow tree stump, one of the beaches where the water was clean and clear, and then over to Granville Island. It used to be an industrial section, and is still partially so. Now it is a funky area with shops and crafters, and a public market, as well as a seafood market. It was Christmassy and fun. They had a whole mini mall for kids stuff. We drove back to the Marina, let Ayla do her business and walked down the way to catch the Sea bus across to downtown. We had dinner at a Japanese restaurant, sitting at the window, watching people pass in the rain. Afterwards we did some walking, found an indoor mall, walked some more and then took a rainy walk back to catch the Sea bus home.
We woke Saturday morning and hit the road by 10 or 11 I think. It took awhile to find our way back to the border, but once we crossed it was easier driving and we discovered that we had phone coverage again!
We were too late for lunch with the boys, we drove into Freemont around 4 I think, Ed popped into Dusty Strings to look at the Mandolins quickly, we grabbed some lunch next door and after a quick climb on the Troll under the bridge, were back on the road. I can't remember when we got home, but it had been a long day on the road and it was nice to be home. We even found a parking space near our building! That doesn't usually happen after dark.
We are back at the grind now and getting ready for our Christmas journey to Southern California.
Tonight we have a sitter coming, Ed and I are going to see The Moth live. It is an NPR podcast where people tell a personal story based on the evenings theme. I have been looking forward to this for months!
Okay, I need to try to get some pictures up here. Let's see how it goes.
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