Chillin in Vancouver
Today it is our first day in Vancouver. Today is also, according to my dad, the only relaxing day in this whole trip. Meaning today is the only day we can really embrace the tourists inside us and go siteseeing.
To start off the day we decided to sleep in, till 8:30 cause jet lag. When getting ready I actually put in my contacts. Mom if you're reading this I know you're glowing with pride right now. After we got all primped and ready, we went down to the lobby. We didn't really have a plan, just kinda was like "Vancouver's pretty and Canadians are nice, let's wing it." At the lobby we overheard the concierge telling someone about bike tours so we deciced that sounded awesome especially since the scenery is besutiful and the weather is heaven. When we got to thr bike rentals, the front desk lady was super nice and helpful. She showed us a map with all the bike routes and dang there are a lot, which is great. Really helps sway my decision to live here in the future. I learned there are many different kinds of bikes that we could rent, even a tandem bike! Unfortuantly that was a firm no for my dad, his reason being and I quote, "if you crash, you crash alone. I will not be brought down with you. I'm old." Since that option was a no go, we decided to get the city bikes which had a bunch of confusing gears that I did not understand.
Once we got the bikes and I knew how to stop with the fancy multiple gesr bike, we followed the bike lane that followed the lake into the edge of Stanley Park. While I biked I also admired the beautiful scenery. The buildings we passed near the docks and boats were so pretty and modern yet also furturistic looking. We stopped along the paths near the dock and lake to watch the planes and to warm up a little (mostly my dad). The planes were the ones that land on the water; they were tours and we got to watch a few land. It was super cool to watch. We also admired the awesome skyline that they had. The mountains were so green with little houses and buildings dotting the side. We continued down the bike lanes until we reached the park. We just biked around the edges of it but still got to see the glimmering lake and the dazzling skyline. My favorite perk of that section of the bike ride was that you could smell the nature around you; that's one of the things I dislike about Houston, you can't smell any kind of nature in the air, only gas. During one of our stops alond the ride, Dad taught me about the importance of cargo ships but also the problems that it causes. Yay still getting lessons and I'm not even in school.
After we finished the park route, Daddy and I took the Aquabus, which is a ferry, to a little market/tourist town-like place. We at lunch there and enjoyed the wonderful weather. It was very calming and relaxing. Once we finished lunch we went to this farmers market of sorts. We saw a bunch of new fruits and yummy, fresh raspberries. We walked past an apple stand where my dad told me how a college spends years working on creating the perfect apples; they make many different kinds. We decided to try them all and see which one was the best. Luckily we didn't have to pay for five different kinds of apples and instead the stand had apples that you could tast test. Turns out different apples actually do taste different and you can really notice when one is sweeter, crispier or bland. We bought two of our two favorite apples and then toom the Aquabus back to the "main kand", I guess you could call it.
Since these bikes are rentals we obviously had to return them. Fortunately to get to the bike rental shop it was a straight line. Unfortuantly the first two blocks were uphill, and I mean very uphill as in I ended up walking it up for the last few meters. Finally after the uphill part was done the rest was pretty flat and easy to bike. We returned them easily and the helpers were super nice. When we returned to the hotel, we took a nap before meeting the other participants.
At 3:30, we went down to the lobby to meet everyone and the first thing I noticed, a lot of older women. Also no kids, which is fine with me. Bill and Pamela, the creators, met us down there and brought us to some tables to introduce everyone and go over the rules. I won't write about what they said, because they said a lot, mostly just explaining rules and answering questions. After that we went up to our rooms to get ready for our group dinner.
The dinner was very fancy with a little private loft area for our group. I ate crab and lobster for the first time (that I remember). I talked a lot with a nice older woman named, Margot. She told me about how she went to Japan for a choir and how she wants to play the cello. It was a very social amd relaxing dinner. The staff were also super nice and very interested in the GHS concept.
We left the resturant all together and went to our hotel rooms to get a goodnight rest. I really enjoyed the relaxing and calm day before all the crazy stuff of the trip.
To start off the day we decided to sleep in, till 8:30 cause jet lag. When getting ready I actually put in my contacts. Mom if you're reading this I know you're glowing with pride right now. After we got all primped and ready, we went down to the lobby. We didn't really have a plan, just kinda was like "Vancouver's pretty and Canadians are nice, let's wing it." At the lobby we overheard the concierge telling someone about bike tours so we deciced that sounded awesome especially since the scenery is besutiful and the weather is heaven. When we got to thr bike rentals, the front desk lady was super nice and helpful. She showed us a map with all the bike routes and dang there are a lot, which is great. Really helps sway my decision to live here in the future. I learned there are many different kinds of bikes that we could rent, even a tandem bike! Unfortuantly that was a firm no for my dad, his reason being and I quote, "if you crash, you crash alone. I will not be brought down with you. I'm old." Since that option was a no go, we decided to get the city bikes which had a bunch of confusing gears that I did not understand.
Once we got the bikes and I knew how to stop with the fancy multiple gesr bike, we followed the bike lane that followed the lake into the edge of Stanley Park. While I biked I also admired the beautiful scenery. The buildings we passed near the docks and boats were so pretty and modern yet also furturistic looking. We stopped along the paths near the dock and lake to watch the planes and to warm up a little (mostly my dad). The planes were the ones that land on the water; they were tours and we got to watch a few land. It was super cool to watch. We also admired the awesome skyline that they had. The mountains were so green with little houses and buildings dotting the side. We continued down the bike lanes until we reached the park. We just biked around the edges of it but still got to see the glimmering lake and the dazzling skyline. My favorite perk of that section of the bike ride was that you could smell the nature around you; that's one of the things I dislike about Houston, you can't smell any kind of nature in the air, only gas. During one of our stops alond the ride, Dad taught me about the importance of cargo ships but also the problems that it causes. Yay still getting lessons and I'm not even in school.
After we finished the park route, Daddy and I took the Aquabus, which is a ferry, to a little market/tourist town-like place. We at lunch there and enjoyed the wonderful weather. It was very calming and relaxing. Once we finished lunch we went to this farmers market of sorts. We saw a bunch of new fruits and yummy, fresh raspberries. We walked past an apple stand where my dad told me how a college spends years working on creating the perfect apples; they make many different kinds. We decided to try them all and see which one was the best. Luckily we didn't have to pay for five different kinds of apples and instead the stand had apples that you could tast test. Turns out different apples actually do taste different and you can really notice when one is sweeter, crispier or bland. We bought two of our two favorite apples and then toom the Aquabus back to the "main kand", I guess you could call it.
Since these bikes are rentals we obviously had to return them. Fortunately to get to the bike rental shop it was a straight line. Unfortuantly the first two blocks were uphill, and I mean very uphill as in I ended up walking it up for the last few meters. Finally after the uphill part was done the rest was pretty flat and easy to bike. We returned them easily and the helpers were super nice. When we returned to the hotel, we took a nap before meeting the other participants.
At 3:30, we went down to the lobby to meet everyone and the first thing I noticed, a lot of older women. Also no kids, which is fine with me. Bill and Pamela, the creators, met us down there and brought us to some tables to introduce everyone and go over the rules. I won't write about what they said, because they said a lot, mostly just explaining rules and answering questions. After that we went up to our rooms to get ready for our group dinner.
The dinner was very fancy with a little private loft area for our group. I ate crab and lobster for the first time (that I remember). I talked a lot with a nice older woman named, Margot. She told me about how she went to Japan for a choir and how she wants to play the cello. It was a very social amd relaxing dinner. The staff were also super nice and very interested in the GHS concept.
We left the resturant all together and went to our hotel rooms to get a goodnight rest. I really enjoyed the relaxing and calm day before all the crazy stuff of the trip.
Taking a picture with pretty flowers
beautiful view from the park
Selfie by the lake
selfie by the sea planes
Mommy is reading this, yes I am proud, and it sounds like I might have to get used to flying to visit you in Vancouver in the future. Thx for helping me convince cooper he needs to learn to ride a bike well or he can’t go on GSH when he is in 9th grade
ReplyDeletegood start to your trip and great blogging!
ReplyDeletethat was Andrew White...not "unknown"
Deletewe met the other teams, 10 total teams of 2. i didn't notice this on my last trip, but definitely this time. there are 5 men and 15 women. interesting, right? i asked bill and pamela about it - they said over the 14 years its been 60/40, women/men, so this year is definitely a bit pronounced. so all you dime store psychologists and sociologists out there, please comment on hypotheses for this.
ReplyDeletemeeting folks is always super interesting. what motivates someone to do this? the couples definitely are skewed to middle age and older this time, no kids besides emory, and no millenials for sure. maybe 40% gen-x and 60% boomer.
i'll profile different couples as i get to know them. i'll start off with an easy one - zoe, my dear friend and first ever boss 25 years ago, and her partner rainey, are on their 12th (out of a possible 14) global scavenger hunt. its like someone created a trip in a lab to cater to their interests and personalities. they've won 5 times. like the wilt chamberlain of the early nba. imagine a couple that embodies the phrase "sucks the marrow out of life." love them.