jay | Whistling

I'm waiting on laundry. This hotel in Vancouver, in addition to having the world's cheapest continental breakfast (tiny muffins, dry cereal and... toast. People actually lined up to make toast... jokes about bread lines. This would be laughed away on the Continent... where's the jam? Boiled egg or cold cuts or cheese? Or at least bagels? And there is a guest laundry with one key. Someone checked it out a dinner yesterday... and didn't do laundry until this morning. Grr. So my plans are screwed up, we won't leave until 1-2pm and won't camp on the Columbia River, all because of someone's thoughtlessness. Probably another guest from the US, as Canadians seem to be generally more considerate.

Anyway, I'm still reeling from Wednesday's news. I thought about checking airline tickets to Edmonton (WestJet?) but have no idea what the arrangements are.

Yesterday... we stopped in a group in Stanley Park, rode a miniature train, then drove up route 99 across the Lion's Gate Bridge and on to Whistler, BC. The town itself is just another ski center, but the drive... breathtaking. Like a 40-mile long Yosemite, with the ocean filling the valley. Then we rode a gondola up the mountain, and myself and some of the kids spent an hour hiking up to a glacier (6100' base, 800' increase in 0.9 mile). I was able to describe flow lines and glacial features and point out crevasses.

An incredibly-beautiful drive back, as the sun was setting...

A couple of swans, from the train in Stanley Park...