Rob and I have created a little tradition in our household. Every 4th of July week (which also happens to be our wedding anniversary), we go on vacation. The trips may be near or far, but either way, we pack our bags and hit the road together. Our 1st anniversary we went to Chicago, our 2nd anniversary we went to Italy, and this year for our 3rd anniversary, we ventured to Vancouver. The tradition goes back even further if you count our honeymoon in Mexico and our engagement in Raleigh, NC...both aligning with the same week each year. Both Rob and I are huge travel lovers. We've both loved to travel since we were little kids, and hope to pass along our love for travel to our children someday. So, without further ado, here's a little recap I wrote up about our trip:
Our trip began with an early morning flight out West to Vancouver. Lucky for us, the 3 hour time change is in our favor, so even with the 6 hour flight, layover in Denver, and a few minor delays, we still made it to Vancouver by early afternoon. We checked into our hotel, got cleaned up, and made our way to the charming neighborhood of Gastown for dinner. Gastown is a really cute neighborhood along the water in downtown Vancouver. We had dinner at a cute little Italian restaurant, and stuffed ourselves silly! After dinner we strolled through Gastown, stopped for a few quick pictures, and made our way back to our hotel to hit the sack.
The next morning we decided to check out Stanley Park, one of Vancouver's most popular (and famous) parks. Stanley Park is huge! There is SO much to do, it's impossible to see it all in one visit. The Park has some incredible views of the Lions Gate Bridge (pictured below).
{Stanley Park}
Later that afternoon we decided to check out a little place I had read about in my pre-trip research...Lighthouse Park, just West of Vancouver. I am sooo glad we did. In my opinion, Lighthouse Park is one of Vancouver's hidden gems. There is a short hike through the woods to get to the actual park, but it is so worth it. Note to self: do not wear flip flops in the woods.
{The Lighthouse}
From there, we decided spur of the moment to head up to Whistler. Whistler is roughly a 2.5 hour drive from downtown Vancouver, and trust me when I say that every minute of that drive is completely 100% worth it. Highway 99, or 'Sea to Sky Highway' as some like to call it, boasts some of the most picturesque views I have ever seen before...the kind of scenic views you see on TV. Just incredible. There are all kinds of overlooks to stop at along the way, so the 2.5 hour drive really turns into 3+ hours, but again, totally worth it.
{Sea to Sky Highway}
We made it up to Whistler late in the afternoon, and I fell instantly in love with it. You may remember hearing about Whistler if you watched any of the 2010 Winter Olympics...Whistler Mountain was the host to many of the events, including all of the skiing, snowboarding, and bobsledding. At the base of the mountain is the charming Whistler Village, where you can eat and shop 'till your hearts desire. I must have said 75 times that I want to move to Whistler. I am not a skier, but Whistler makes me want to become one. We spent a few hours walking through the Village, and just as we were about to head to the car, we stopped at the mountain bike trails at the base of the mountain to watch the bikers do their fancy tricks, when all of a sudden Rob yells "Bear!". I looked at him like he's nuts, and soon spotted the bear myself...there he was, just playing on the trails as if he didn't have a care in the world. We think this bear was fairly young, but no mama bear was in sight. Although, I must admit that I didn't believe it was even real for several minutes. Rob must have been relieved because I had been saying "I want to see a bear" like a broken record. Wish = granted! Very satisfied with my first real-life bear experience (other than the zoo, of course), we grabbed a quick bite to eat, then hit the road back to Vancouver.
{All of the photos below are from our 1st day in Whistler.}
About 20 minutes into our drive we were rehashing our 1st bear sighting experience, when again Rob yells "Bear!", and then I realize there is a black bear about 20 feet away from my passenger door as we're driving down the road. We flipped a quick (and probably illegal) u-turn back to the other side of the road so we could get a better glimpse. Mr. Bear was just enjoying his dinner while we stopped and took some photos of him (from safely in the car). And then as if two bear sightings in one day wasn't enough, we saw a THIRD bear just a few more miles down the road. Talk about an awesome day!
{Bear # 2}
The next morning we woke up early and headed back up to Whistler. We arrived mid-morning, so we could get a jump start on the day ahead. We started off the morning with a gondola ride up the mountain called 'Peak 2 Peak'. I've gotten a lot of questions regarding what 'Peak 2 Peak' actually is, so I'll do my best to explain...the first part is a gondola lift ride up Whistler Mountain...all 7,156 feet of it. To those that aren't familiar, that's well over a mile high aka really really really high up! At the peak, you can explore the mountain, the incredible views, and naturally, all of the snow that comes along with that elevation. Playing in the snow in July was pretty cool despite the frigid temps. Once you have sufficiently explored Whistler, you then take another gondola ride across the valley to the peak of Blackcomb Mountain...hence the term 'Peak 2 Peak'. Suspended 7,000 feet for 11 minutes = one incredible ride! After checking out Blackcomb, we realized the ONLY way to get down Blackcomb is an open air ski lift. I mentioned before that Rob and I are not skiers, so this was our first real experience on a ski lift, let alone open air ski lift. Although a tiny bit scared at first, this would become one of our favorite memories of the entire trip, and probably a memory that I will remember for the rest of my life. It was absolutely incredible...we were practically shivering to death, but it was beyond words amazing! On our way down the mountain somewhere after the snow had started to melt, we saw two more black bears right below us grazing in the open fields. The surprise bear sightings were the cherry on top of a fabulous morning!
{Below is some of the incredible mountain-top scenery we were lucky enough to witness.}
{Down the mountain we go!}
As if our thrilling gondola ride wasn't enough adventure for one day, our adventures were only just beginning! After a quick lunch we made our way over to our meeting location for our rain forest zip line adventure. Zip lining was something that we debated on for awhile, and I am SO glad we decided to just go for it! You only live once, right?! We took a 3 hour guided zip line tour through the rain forests of Whistler Mountain that consisted of hiking, suspension bridges, and 5 zip lines spread out all through the area. Lucky for us, our tour guides were extremely helpful and we are still here to talk about it ;)
{Don't we look stylish?!}
After an incredible day full of adventure, we made the long journey back to our hotel in Vancouver.
Whistler, you have my heart...thank you for two amazing days.
The next morning was our anniversary, and we decided to head down to the good ole' U.S.A. for a day trip to Seattle. I had never been to Seattle before, so we thought it would be a great opportunity to check out the city while we were so close (a 3 hour drive from Vancouver). We spent the afternoon exploring Pike's Place Market (which by the way, we are in
love with!), visited the original Starbucks, and spent some time walking along the water. One totally random thing we noticed about Seattle is that everyone there is SO incredibly
nice. Everyone we encountered was so genuine and friendly...it was a breath of fresh air. The service we received at the restaurants and places we stopped to eat at were all top-notch, even a Taco Bell (random, I know!). Seattle was a nice change of pace from all of the non-stop outdoor activities that we took part in the previous few days. Wish we could have stayed longer!
{Rob is still processing all of his photos from Seattle, so for now, here's a quick photo he took of me along the water.}
On our way home from Seattle we stopped by Stanley Park again, just as the sun was beginning to set. It was a gorgeous setting, and Rob was able to snap a few panoramic shots of the Vancouver skyline, including the one below.
The next morning we spent some time walking around Granville Island in Vancouver.
{Granville Island}
Later that afternoon we decided to take our hotel concierge's recommendation of a hike at Capilano Park (about 20 minutes north of Vancouver). We were sooo happy we took him up on his recommendation. The Park couldn't have been more perfect. We tackled a 10k hike on the Capilano Pacific Trail, and were pretty pleased with ourselves. The scenery along the way was beautiful, and made the journey well worth it. Not to mention, the exercise was great too!
{Capilano Park}
{Hike}
Following our final farewell dinner later that night, our journey in Vancouver had come to an end. The next afternoon as we were boarding our flight home I wrote this on my Facebook page: "Farewell, British Columbia! It's been an incredible 6 days, and you certainly did not disappoint. Leaving today with new experiences and fun memories!" Those words sum up our trip perfectly.
Looking forward to what our 4th anniversary will hold...we're already tossing out ideas, and at the top of our list is Australia. Oh, the possibilities...until next time, take care!
