The slogan reads, "Beautiful British Columbia." How true. Gailee and I flew to Vancouver and arrived at our hotel on the edge of the bay overlooking Stanley Park, named for a former Canadian governor who also has his name on the biggest hockey prize -- the Stanley Cup. We were delighted with a room upgrade and a bottle of champagne greeting us as part of our inaugural retirement tour. We rode bicycles through the park, visited the rose garden, saw the totem pole exhibit, and managed to get to a great seafood restaurant on the pier at a table on the patio overlooking the harbor. The following day, we took a "hop on and hop off" bus tour, hopping off to take a ferry to a wonderful little town called Granville, where Gailee purchased a broom from a broom store, a skirt from a fabric store, and shortbread from the market. We did a lot of walking, at one point spending time at the olympic caldron which no longer supports a flame. It was then off to Whistler for five days, driving along the beautiful Sea to Sky Highway. Upon arriving at the Westin, we were delighted to have received another upgrade to a penthouse near the top floor. Our next five days were consumed with site-seeing (we saw beautiful water falls to the north and south), hiking, shopping in the Whistler Village, dining at a variety of restaurants-- the best being the Rimrock (thanks for the recommendation, Staci), and riding the Peak to Peak Tram which is billed as the highest and longest of its kind in the world! We looked down and saw four bears from our overhead gondola! While at the top of the mountain, it started to snow which is always a treat for urbanities such as DK and Gailee. The trip ended with an expedited return flight lasting just 2 and a quarter hours thanks to a tailwind. We'll return to Canada in the future with an eye on Montreal and Lake of the Woods, where i enjoyed perhaps the favorite vacation of my youth.
