Vancouver highlights ~ our city tour...

We like to visit the city on occasion...

...and have a few favorite spots that we frequent.

But this time we played tour guide to visiting family...

and decided we should do it up right.

Why not take a 'hop-on hop-off' tour?

We have done just that in San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas and New Orleans...

why not in Vancouver?

We hopped off at the waterfront...

watched the sea planes and boats coming and going...

and then carried on to Stanley Park.

We hopped off at the rose garden.

The roses were sending out their last hurrah...

but the gardens were about so much more than roses.

Next stop...

Prospect Point.

The view was great...

the raccoons entertaining...

and the ice-cream cones were not bad!

Our route took us past the beautiful beaches of the city...

and the inukshuk that has welcomed visitors to Vancouver since Expo 86.

We hopped off at Granville Island...

where we wandered about the public market.

Our guests (hubby's sister and BIL) know only a few people in Vancouver.

What would be the chances of meeting two of them at Granville Island?

First one...and then another.

That is exactly what happened.

And did I mention that we met Arlene...

from 'The Dragon's Den'?

We watched the popular CBC show in the evening...

and there was Arlene...

on the set...

in Toronto.

The next morning...

she was on the streets of Vancouver.

And so were we!

 From Granville Island...

we hopped back on that bus...

and rode through Chinatown.

Did you know that 52% of the city's residents have a first language other than English? 

We hopped off for the final time at the waterfront...

...and then rode to the top of the Harbour Centre Tower.

It gave us a whole new perspective of the city.

Before we made our way down...

the sun was setting.

It was time for dinner.

Tomorrow is another day...

in Canada's third largest city.

a bridge for the future...

We visited the big city earlier this week...

...and decided that Vancouver is a lovely place to be in September!

On our way home back home...

 

...we crossed the Fraser River via the new Port Mann Bridge for the very first time.

For now...

three eastbound lanes are open.

The new bridge is 10 lanes wide...

and will be the widest bridge in the world...

as well as one of the longest.

It is expected to be fully completed by December.

 

For now...

it was a free trip over.

Soon...the toll collector will be getting his dues.

And well he should.

Does it not make sense to have those who cross the bridge help pay for it? 

The original Port Mann Bridge is slated for demolition.

Or is it?

It seems there is a movement to keep it in place....

even suggestions that it become an urban park.

We'll have to wait and see.

I may just take you back across that river tomorrow...

and show you a few of the sites of the city.

Here on the farm...

the corn harvest is in full swing.

The sun continues to shine...

and rain is but a distant memory.

Is this really the west coast?

out with the old...in with the new

 He arrived with no hair...

and had little to speak of for the first year of his life.

Then came the curls!

Could he have been any sweeter?

He seemed to know that all the women in his life loved his curls...

and he was never too eager to have them cut off.

And so...

for all of his pre-school years...

he sported a lovely head of curls.

Our family cruise to Alaska marked the end of summer vacation.
The day after our return home...
Ryder would be starting the first grade.
He thought a new back-to-school-look was in order.

On the last night of the cruise...

Ryder posed for a few 'before pictures'...

and then paid a visit to the hair salon at the spa.

We all went to spectate!

By the time he was done...

his curls lay in mounds on the floor.

It was a whole new Ryder.
A new look for our handsome young man...

but with the same smile!

I'm happy to note that the curls are sneaking back...

a few more each day.

our alaska cruise finale...

It has been several weeks since we returned to solid ground...

so it is time to wrap up my cruise review!

Our last stop in Alaska was Ketchikan...

...the salmon capital of the world.

Our shore excursion consisted of walking about the town...

checking out the shops...

and picking up a few souvenirs.

My keepsake is a wee jade inukshuk on a chain.

I have a Ulu knife at home that I love...

and so I picked up a set (with cutting board) for a friend.

So did many others on the cruise ship.

Who knew that one can not take Ulu knives to their stateroom?

Upon our return to the cruise ship...

all Ulu knives were confiscated.

We were given a claim number...

and told to pick up our knives as we disembarked in Seattle.

Ketchikan was established as a fishing camp in 1883.

Once gold was discovered in the area...

it became a mining supply center.

The logging industry flourished as well.

Today the economy is based on tourism and fishing.

We came by boat.

Some arrive by plane.

None come by car!

I must introduce you to Sam...

our favorite crew member.

He was our head waiter...

and knew us all by name in no time.

He had a great sense of humour!

He decided that a group our size must have a birthday or two to celebrate...

and so he declared it was Broni's birthday...

and brought in the choir...

and a special dessert.

Another night he decided that it was Tim's birthday...

and again the troops were called in to help celebrate.

Neither of them want more than one birthday a year!

As we left the waters of Alaska...

and sailed homeward...

we decided it was pay-back time for Sam.

As dinner time came to an end....

we called in Sam's troops (his fellow waiters)...

and announced that it was Sam's birthday.

We had a special dessert prepared just for him...

and a 'birthday boy' badge.

Everyone joined in singing to our friend Sam.

I'm not sure that happens too often on a cruise ship!

He was a great guy.

Back in our stateroom we had Michael at our beck and call.

Actually, we never called.

He just came...

and kept that room spic and span...

and brought us treats at night time.

His towel creations on the bed every evening always made me smile.

I have on occasion wished for Michael since I have been back home!

There are many special little things we will not forget...

like ice carvings...

...and walks on the red carpet:)

Our final port of call was Victoria, British Columbia.

Most of the passengers disembarked and set out to explore...

just a wee bit.

We were only there for four hours...

and so we decided to spend our final night on board.

We watched the sun set from the top deck...

had a leisurely dinner...

and thought about packing our bags to disembark in Seattle the next morning.

One of us visited the spa that evening.

Actually, most of us did...

just to 'see'.

I'll tell you about that...

another time.

harvesting corn in the valley...

The sun shines every day.

We could get used to this kind of weather!

 We are breaking all kinds of long-standing weather records over here...

with little precipitation in the past two months.

The morning fog that hangs over the valley obscures the mountains...

and tells me that it really is fall!

Tomorrow...officially.

The corn fields standing tall  in our neighbourhood will soon be ready for harvest.

We have one field that is up against the mountain...

high and dry...

 ...that got cut yesterday.

We have never before had corn this ripe!

 

I got a call mid-afternoon to come to the field and bring my camera...ASAP.

A mama bear and two cubs were frolicking in the corn...

and it appeared they had been feasting there for some time.

I followed several school buses down the country roads...

and took my sweet time in getting to the field.

I arrived at the very moment that mama bear decided to take her babies 

and flee to the safety of higher ground.

 

I have a beautiful picture of the scene...

in my mind.

By the time I had my camera strap disentangled from my seat belt...

they had scampered through the bushes and out of  sight.

I was planning to cook a pot of soup one of these days...

always thinking that tomorrow might be cooler.

After seeing the corn chowder featured over at Judy's blog earlier this week...

I decided we would have soup yesterday whatever the weather.

I changed up Rachel Ray's original recipe...

using smoked farmer sausage, fresh potatoes, onions, zucchini and corn (of course)...

herbs and spices and a creamy broth.

It tasted just fine...

out one the patio as the sun was setting over the corn fields.

Have a wonderful weekend!

beyond Hope...

We had family here last week...

while we celebrated Dad's birthday.

But we also celebrated a few other family birthdays...

and we had campfires and brunches...

and toured gardens and had ice-cream cones at the beach.

And on Saturday we decided to do a day-trip to Hell's Gate...

up the road beyond Hope!

My niece from Iowa decided that she would sooner stay behind.

'That is not a nice name'...she declared.

We talked her into coming along for the ride.

 In 1808 Simon Fraser described this narrow passage along the Fraser River as...
 "a place where no human should venture, for surely these are the gates of Hell."
And so it became known as Hell's Gate.

We all rode the aerial tramway across the canyon.

Our international host gave us a few facts on the way across.

200 million gallons of water per minute thunder through this 33 metre wide passage.

Once safely on the far side...we walked back across the Fraser River on the suspension bridge.

It seems we could have hiked across both ways and saved the tram fare!

Far below us...

in that swirling water...

some tourists were having a 'joy ride' on a boat.

I was glad to be up above on the bridge!

It's an interesting and historic place to visit...

this stop along the 'gold rush trail'.

It is also the home to Hell’s Gate fish ways...

built by a joint Canadian /United States Commission and completed in 1966.

It s all about saving the salmon!

We saw...

we walked...

and then we sat a spell.

We breathed in the wonderful fresh mountain air...

which smelled of pine and fir and other woodsy scents.

And since we all had two-way fares...

we took the tram back to the other side.

And here's the thing...

they gave us a season's pass which is good through all of 2013.

Maybe we'll go again sometime.

Hell's gate is just beyond Hope.

Not so far...

and not so bad.

Even if it does not have a nice name!

the setting sun...His signature

The sunrise is God's greeting...

the sunset, His signature.

Here on the west coast we have had the most beautiful weather this September...

and every evening as the sun sets we enjoy the work of God painted across the western sky.

I thought I'd pick a few sunset pic's from my files today...

from places far and near...

and join Vee's note card party.
They have all been posted on 'My Front Porch' over the past few years.

Lund, British Columbia

...on the 'The Sunshine Coast'

Kona, Hawaii

Cayucos Beach, California

Wiltshire County, England...

where the sun sets over the circles of stones just as it has for thousands of years.

Is it so small a thing...to have enjoyed the sun?

~ Matthew Arnold