bc dairy industry conference 2013...

We were at the Vancouver Convention Centre for several days...
taking part in the annual dairy conference along with 450 producers, processors, policy makers...

and others who have a stake in the industry.

 It's not too often that I see the sunrise over Canada Place...

...or view the quiet harbour early in the morning.

We met on the third floor of the convention center..

and decided we would do the stairs rather than 'be carried'!

Breakfast was much better than that which we are accustomed to back home.
But there was a 'taste of home' on the table.
 The conference handbooks had a familiar face on the front cover...
a photo taken in the barn that we thought we had left behind for a few days!

The theme this year was 'finding your voice'...

and one workshop stressed what an important part social media plays in the industry.

So I'm 'milking every moment'! :)

 And I'm inviting you to 'like' the 

100% Canadian Milk page on facebook ...

a celebration of Canadian dairy products including recipes.

For those who watch CBC News...

you will know news anchor Ian Hanomansing.

(official file photo)

He was one of the keynote speakers...

and so easy to listen to!

The Milkmobile was parked outside the convention center...

reminiscent of the milk truck of yesteryear.

'Not everything we did when we were kids made sense...

but drinking milk did!'

Milk Every Moment.

I'm in favour.

It was a good conference...

and a good place to meet up with neighbours we rarely see.

Next post...

I'll take you back on the road.

Kansas highlights and Sante Fe, New Mexico coming up!

the weekend that was...

The plan was to head into the city on Saturday...

if the weather would co-operate.

In the end we decided to ignore the weather and went despite the rain.

My brother Bill had not done any sightseeing in Vancouver since Expo 86...

and his family had never toured the city.

We rode the Skytrain from Surrey to the waterfront...

...and by the time we arrived the rain had let up.

We walked the deck at Canada Place... 

...where Jessica and Andrew posed for some good all-Canadian souvenir pictures.

From there it was off to Gastown...

with its old-fashioned steam clock

 ...and a statue of Gassy Jack after whom the area was named.

The skinny building on a triangular lot is an historic landmark.

Called Hotel Europe...

it was built in 1908.

We had lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory...

the first of the chain to open in Canada...
right at this location in 1970.

On the street nearby...

we took in a free outdoor bag-pipe concert.

I'm sure it had a lot to do with St. Patrick's Day.

From there...
we strolled to China Town...

a popular tourist destination.

We could have been back in China...

judging by the merchandise for sale and the language spoken.

But then again...

the streets looked rather deserted compared to those of Shanghai.

Maybe going to the city on a damp and dreary day was a good idea!
Most people chose to stay at home.

When the skies cleared just a little...

we decided to ride the sea bus across the harbour before leaving the city.

It was a good way to see the skyscape of Vancouver.

In the evening we all met up at my sister's for a BBQ...

cousins, uncles, aunts...

and anyone else connected to the clan.

My grandgirlies found spots at the table right next to Andrew...
my nephew from Iowa.

They took a liking to him!

Maggie plans to marry him one day...

so she confided to her mommy.

Family reunions are where cousins and second cousins become friends...

...and older cousins watch out for wee ones.

Thanks, Emme!

And the teeniest one of the clan...

gets passed from lap to lap!

My niece, Lauren had a wee baby boy two weeks ago.

We ended the weekend...

with a baby shower for little Lennon Joseph.

And that was the 'weekend that was'....
of family getting together...

in the city and the country...

 around one table or another.
It was all good! 

country meets city ~ BC Dairy Conference

While all of you have been decorating...

and baking...

and shopping...

I've been away.

We attended the BC Dairy Conference this year.

Well I 'sort of' attended.

I was along for a good time!

Where do you think country folk would be going for a conference?

Why...to the heart of our big city, of course!

The last time we were at the Vancouver waterfront

I took note of the 'artwork' on the outside walls of this lovely hotel.

 Little did I know that I would be staying at that very hotel in the near future.

We arrived as the rain fell...

...and were greeted by a choir of penguins.

The BC Dairy Conference is all about the milk industry...

the present and the future.

It is sponsored by feed companies, banks and such...

and is an excellent opportunity for farmers to 'get informed' about their industry.

From our hotel...

we walked through an underground tunnel to the Vancouver Convention Centre.

Right next door are the familiar sails of Canada Place.

For the most part...

it was the men who looked after business.

The women enjoyed their time away...

took in the sessions with the motivational speakers...

or attended workshops just for them!

I was signed up for a cooking class...

and never really paid any attention to the details until just before the conference.

Little did I know that I was taking in a class at

The Dirty Apron...

a culinary school about 1 1/2 kilometers from the convention center.

There were only 22 spots...

and a long waiting list.

Now I know why!

The chef demo'd the dishes for us...

then we each had the opportunity to prepare them on our own...

at our little station.

From butternut squash soup as an appie...

to lobster mac 'n cheese for the entree...

to chocolate pate for dessert...

it was all most delicious.

We know...

since we took our completed dishes to the dining room next door and partook!

What a fun bunch of gals I met...

from around our lovely province.

The kitchen is a good place to get acquainted!

And since I couldn't possibly eat all I had cooked...

I left with a 'doggie bag'.

Hubby enjoyed the samples once we were back at home!

I'll be trying some of those dishes again...soon.

And maybe I'll pass along a few of the chefs tips.

Do you know how to rid your hands of that nasty garlic odour?

Or how to dish out soup for a dozen guests very quickly?

He had a wealth of information.

We cooked and ate until 3:30 pm...

and called it our lunch.

From there we walked back to our hotel...

just in time to prepare for the gala dinner.

It seemed we went from one table to the next!

I should just share a few things about our very nice hotel.

It would have helped to have a tutorial before we were left to our own devices!

The hotels we normally frequent do not have television screens in the centre of the bathroom mirror.

Nor do they have thermostats and light controls on an I-pad.

It took some time to figure out the light switches...

and even to open the drapes...

which were also controlled from the I-pad. 

Let's just say it was all very 'special'...

...including the seasonal decor throughout the hotel.

Friday afternoon we left for home...

and managed to take all afternoon to get there.

A little coffee...

 little Ikea stop...

a little lot of rain...

and plenty of traffic.

Getting back to the simple country life takes time:)

vancouver ~ the city tour cont'd...

I left you in the city as the sun was setting...

a few posts back.

But our tour was not quite done.

We had dinner at the Old Spagetti Factory in Gastown that evening...

and then spent the night in a lovely suite on the 23rd floor of a nearby hotel.

In the morning...

we had a whole new view of the city.

The glass-roofed building on the right contains the law courts.

We walked...

...passed by those demonstrating at the art gallery.

It seems there are always those with a cause gathered here.

 I smiled when I saw how 'Mott' gets the job done!

In the country...

the electrician shows up at work with a large van filled with tools.

In the city...

the tools and ladder are all transported by scooter.

It's all about finding a spot to park...I'm sure!

 

 The doors to the historic Christ Church Cathedral were open...

so we took a self-guided tour.

It was completed in 1894...

and just barely escaped demolition in 1971.

It now has 'Class A Heritage' classification...

so it will likely be at the corner of Burrard and West Georgia for some time to come.

We carried on to the waterfront...

and bought a ticket on the Canada Line.

We bought four, actually...

so we could all take a ride to YVR airport.

Just for fun!

This portion of Vancouver's rapid transit system was completed just in time for the Winter Olympics in 2010...

and connects the downtown with the airport...

some 12 miles away.

There's not much to see for the most part...

since the rails are underground...

far beneath the city.

Eventually we saw the light at the end of the tunnel...

and emerged on an elevated rails leading to the airport.

Everyone seemed to be going somewhere.

As for us...

we were just going to the airport!

We were in no hurry...

so we checked out the artwork.

YVR is an art gallery worth visiting!

Soon we re-boarded the subway...

and returned to the waterfront in the big city.

For us country folk...

riding the rails is quite entertaining!

Back in the city...

we enjoyed lunch on a sunny outside patio over-looking the water.

Across the street was  a Fairmont Hotel with a lot of words posted on the walls...

as far as the eyes could see.

 

We checked it out.

'the clouds looked no nearer than when I was lying on the street'

What could that possibly mean?

Art...in the city...I guess.

One doesn't need to understand it...it seems. 

Eventually we found our way back to our car...

...and returned to the country the way we came.

Almost.

We arrived in Vancouver via the old Port Mann Bridge (the orange structure in the back)...

and returned over the new one.

It seems not so long ago that the old one was new!

And for those who were asking...

this is not the only bridge over the Fraser River into the city...

but it is the one that lies on the Trans Canada Highway.

The others are off the beaten track

That's it for our tour of the city...

autumn 2012.

Who knows when we'll be back there next?

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.

shopping in a foreign city...

If you have ever flown into Vancouver...

you have been to the city of Richmond.

YVR is twelve kilometers from downtown Vancouver...

but is situated on Sea Island...

which is within the Richmond city limits.

Last week when we were in Vancouver...

we also crossed the Fraser River and went shopping in Richmond.

We waited for our salesman in the guest lounge.

I thought I would pass the time by reading the paper.

I guess not!

There were many newspapers...

but they were all Greek to me.

As for the sales people...

most spoke Chinese and English.

I was not always sure which language they were speaking.

Though we were so close to home...

it felt like we were in another country.

Richmond has the largest Chinese population of any city in North America.

Eighty percent of the residents are of Asian decent.

I may never get to China...

but I can always go to Richmond for a wee bit of the culture.
A trip to their Summer Night Market is a good cultural immersion experience.
We are planning an outing there in July...
hopefully on a warm summer night.
And...if we need advice as to the best eateries in Richmond...
we can always ask our son-in-law...

who grew up in there.

It may not be mainland China...
but it almost feels like it.
And I can visit without a passport.
Richmond, B.C....

something to experience!