A weekend in Vancouver

I spent a good portion of the weekend with my good friend Don Blackadar and his wife Jan. We met 30 years ago at the University of Alberta. I began the Masters program in September and Don started in January. Both of us were assigned to the same grad office which we shared during our mutual time there. And from that humble beginning a great friendship began!

Don took me out to Whistler, on the Sea to Sky Highway, currently under major upgrading in preparation for the Winter Olympics set to take place in 2010. This was the first time I had ever been there even though I have been to Vancouver several times before and it was a fantastic experience!

Along the way we stopped briefly at the old copper mine - now mining museum at Britannia Beach. We then stopped for lunch at Squamish before proceeding on to Whistler.

While I have heard lots about Whistler it was incredible to see first hand - so many very long runs that even a novice skier like me could tackle without too much difficulty. The place was packed with mostly young adults out to have a good time on the slopes and made both Don and I harken back to when we were that age so long ago!

The following day Don and Jan took me to Stanley Park where we had lunch and then a nice walk along the sea wall. One of the best parts about Vancouver is the park and the only negative is that it is too bad they never made it larger!

Well, this is going to be my last post for this current trip. I have had a great time seeing so many new and wonderful places, making new friendships and renewing old ones. As I told Don, at times I have felt that if it weren't for bad luck I wouldn't have any luck at all but I now realise I have been extremely fortunate to have been to these fantastic places and to have met all of these great people that I truly feel blessed. I hope you have enjoyed this travelogue as I sure have enjoyed creating it! Until next time...