Day 10. Vancouver to Sechelt/Sunshine Coast

Quote of the Day: "It's an ancient Chinese tradition..."

On the Ferry

On the Boat to the Sunshine Coast

Hidden Grove

Lunch during our Hike

Christina and Katherine on the Trail

Posing with a stump

Outside of Bev's Beautiful House

                With today as our halfway point, which is completely bitter-sweet, I am happy to say that we have safely arrived in the Sunshine Coast, a small peninsula just a ferry ride away from Vancouver.  So many nice things can be said about the Coast—the fact that we are actually staying in a home (shout-out to Bev!), eating real food, cleaning out our lovable, yet bug splattered Jeep. Sadly, we have had two causalities of our road-trip; Haley’s black sandal and my book have gone missing. I guess, it really is not that bad—we could have lost our passports, but it is still disappointing.

                We left Vancouver this morning earlier than planned. The ferry, a first for many of us, sailed across the beautiful bay. We searched for the Raven’s Cry Theater when we arrived and accidently drove passed it, but a quick consultation with the visitor’s center made it all better.  Bev took us up to her incredible house in the middle of the forest. The drive around the peninsula was so indescribably beautiful, in all of my travels I have never been to a place like this before. It sort of felt like the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland with the lush forests and our bumpy Jeep.

                We settled in, cleaned up the car, grabbed lunch, and hit the nearest hiking trail (aptly called “Hidden Grove” as we drove past the entrance without even noticing.) I personally love hiking (shocker) because of the chance I get to reflect upon myself. So far, our trip has been (at least for me) this constant hunt to find myself: what I want from life, what path I am supposed to choose.  The past few days have provided me with so many different types of people with so many different perspectives on life, it has been an inevitable search for something more. At this age, we girls are facing this sort of crossroads in our life. For me, the struggle between the practical Christina and the dreamer Christina has grown with each day. I feel pulled apart as I realize that my life is in my hands now. Conversations with random strangers have proven so insightful and enlightening, but part of it is probably because I never could overcome my own stubbornness to take my parents’ advice for what it was. On top of that, I am so completely thankful for the fact that I came here with these three other girls—as we grow together, I know that we now share this unusual bond. I don’t feel ready for college at all, but when I actually observe our interactions on this adventure and I see us complete the little tasks that I always watched my parents do (hide the valuables, leave a tip for the maid, take each other’s temperature, even decide when and where to eat) I know that we are prepared. I guess it is really hard to grasp the fact that we have grown up.

                Haha so enough of the heavy stuff. We got back from our hike and just took a break, it truly felt like a vacation. It felt so nice to not be on the move, to relax without a zillion worries bouncing around the back of my head. Dinner was absolutely delicious as we talked about the education system and our appreciation of travel. We ended the night with Bev and me singing “The Lonely Goatherd” from the Sound of Music and the VHS version of Sleepless in Seattle—perfection. The Sunshine Coast has been the perfect stop for us and we are so ready to see more tomorrow.

Best:

• Real food
• Hike/Forest
• Successfully checking out of the hotel
• Bev's singing
• Clean clothes
• Kat registering for her Georgetown classes!

Worst:

• Lost items
• Getting lost for the first time (GPS fail)
• Estrella couldn't stand on her favorite stump :(

Day 9: Vancouver

Quote of the Day: "It's all about the positive energy; I can feel your energy."

Being Silly in Stanley Park

Stanley Park

Vancouver Coast

Random Laughing Statues

Across the False Creek from the Granville Farmer's Market

The City

On the Vancouver Beach (Canada's Stonehenge?)

At UBC in Downtown

                Waking up this morning was a vision for me. I woke up in the bed, realizing I had fallen asleep between Haley and Estrella –which was random because I was supposed to be on the floor! I then moved to the sleeping bag next to Christina (who seemed far more comfortable on the floor-her arms reflected this ). It’s funny to think about how we’ve learned each other’s quirks and habits.

 My barking dog alarm awoke us later in the morning—we all felt tired from going to bed at 2AM the night before and from crying our hearts out. Next thing we knew, we were out the door on our way to Stanley Park, ready to observe more of Vancouver. As we entered Stanley Park, we were promptly serenaded by a man playing tennis. We wandered the park for an hour-which wasn’t too impressive. The renowned park was more like an extremely large version of Memorial Park with large trees. Next, we went through Stanley Park's statue garden and headed to Vancouver’s English Bay Beach. Vancouver is apparently one of the only places in the world where you can see snow-capped mountains and beaches. Yet as water droplets rained down bit by bit, we realized how amazing California’s weather really is! We’ve been spoiled with California’s beautiful, sunny, optimistic weather- it was hard not to compare Vancouver’s overcast beaches to the beaches of Malibu… We must have been in a mood or something because everything in Vancouver felt so “ehh” (Canadian pun) and similar to the bad parts of Los Angeles. Not to mention, Christina, Estrella, and I had an incident with bird poop. Meanwhile, I was getting fun texts from Canadians we had met along the way.

One important thing to mention is that we have bonded so much because of this trip! I think traveling makes you reflective about life in a way that’s difficult to do when you’re at home, cruising routinely through life’s obstacles and obligations. Traveling for me has been a lot more about growing as a person—thinking about the future and contemplating the past. With good friends and deep conversations, it becomes clearer what I want out of life. I stop to think about where I want to be in the future. Our lives as adults have just begun and this roadtrip has been an eye-opening experience. As we continue to have random encounters with Canadian natives, we realize how life can be for others and how it can be for us. My dreams and perceptions are expanding in way that’s perpetually been limited by living in the bubble of La Canada. Leaving home is refreshing, to say the least.

                After walking the beaches of Vancouver, we took a few photos across the False Creek from the Granville Farmer’s Market and then continued around the downtown area of the city. We even passed by UBC. We stopped for delicious Mongolian food for a late lunch and shopped around a little. The Mongolian BBQ was a large meal and kept us stuffed. Right after, we took a quick cat-nap at the room—I fell into a deep dream state due to her new-found love of Northface sleeping bags.

                By 6PM, Estrella, Christina, and I were ready to explore the Gastown. As we walked the 2 mile trek through the not-so-nice parts of town, we noticed the extreme urbanity of Vancouver’s downtown. In the Gastown, we encountered the old gas lamps of the past and entered multiple touristy shops—a store with first nation’s peoples (the Canadian term for Native Americans) masks and totem poles caught our attention. We sampled cookies made from maple syrup. Yummm...Walking around Vancouver for multiple blocks made us realize how much we loved Los Angeles (or at least how much I’ll miss LA going to D.C.). Did I mention that Canada is expensive?

By night, we were at the hotel’s den discussing our plans to come back to Banff (our favorite city!). We were in the hotel’s bar using the outlet when we met a native of Vancouver. She told us about her life as a part-time musician, about B.C.’s scene, and about how she admired the fact that we were blogging  about  our roadtrip. It’s amazing that we’re at the halfway point of this trip!

Bests

·         Nice walk around downtown

·         Mongolian BBQ

·         Text messages

·         Adventures in Gastown

·         Late night convos at the den

Worsts

·         Bird poop incident

·         Overcast weather