This weekend my mother and sister came to visit me in Vancouver. So “Operation: Exhaustion” began on Friday night.
I picked them up from the airport and immediately took them out to sushi. They were tired after the flight so I let them go to bed afterwards.
On Saturday, I did my morning run and then grabbed a dozen fresh croissants for them to have for breakfast. Then we used the Aquabus to go to Granville Island. Apparently dogs travel for free as someone brought four dogs the size of great Danes onboard. We hit the Public Market first. It is an interesting place to go, but it is crowded and the fruits there are too expensive. I don’t think we actually purchased anything. We then wandered around the island for a bit.
In the children’s section, my sister convinced me to do the 3D virtual reality simulator together. Two roller-coasters. The first roller-coaster experience was the best; you went on a track that clearly did not have enough support and whirled through simulacrum of famous monuments; the Statue of Liberty was much more endowed than usual. The second experience was very similar to “The Beast” that I rode at the fairgrounds a couple of months ago. The scenery didn’t change much so it wasn’t as entertaining. But it did bring me back to memories of the Beast, which made it more scary. But the interesting part was that if you closed your eyes, you realized that there were no G-forces at work and your chair was just shaking a bit. The visual element is very necessary.
We then took the Aquabus back and I took them to “Provence Marineside” for a classy lunch. I let them take a nap, and then we went off to Sunset Beach for some ocean. My mother enjoyed herself, but she felt that the boats that were leaving through False Creek were making it smelly.
For dinner I took them to “Legendary Noodle” and they REALLY enjoyed that. My mother doesn’t even like pasta. She got some dumplings and declared them the best she had had ever had.
On Sunday, we drove to Third Beach in Stanley Park. I left them to enjoy the water while I did my morning run, in the forest for a change. That helped a lot on such a hot day. I then changed and joined them in the water where my sister and I swam out to the buoy and then back.
From there we crossed the Lionsgate Bridge and drove towards Squamish. We didn’t get there and stopped off at Horseshoe Bay where we had a lunch at a fish and chips place. Then we watched the water in the harbour and saw the ferries leave. We drove a bit more around the area to see some sights. I would like to try and get to Squamish one day, but I will need companions with more energy. I took them home and we watched a movie before going to dinner at “The Flying Pig”. They have a great pork roast on Sundays.
On Monday, we took it more easy. I ran in the morning and then we went to a waffle place for breakfast. “Le Petite Belge” was higher rated, but the waffles were too light. I think I preferred “Waffle Bant” which isn’t reviewed with high marks. We investigated a mall that would be air conditioned, ate lunch, and then went to the cruise ship terminal. There was a Disney Cruise Line ship there. It was enormous. You don’t really grasp how big those ships are until you walk next to them. We relaxed in the area for awhile and then returned home to watch another movie. Then the public demanded that we go back to “Legendary Noodle” for another dinner.
From there we watched the sunset on the beach.
This morning I put them on the subway to the airport and they got home safely.