Beautiful Vancouver

Thank you Wag Jag!  We purchased a 2-night stay in an old, recently renovated hotel in downtown Vancouver.  There are several perks with it, but the best of all is bikes to ride whenever we wish - great!  We rode today for about 4 hours, mostly along the seawall by False Creek - so nice!

We rode on the seawall as far as the Science Center.

With a stop at Bo Jangles for coffee of course!

So many flowers!  I think this is a dogwood tree.

These were everywhere, and the smell was amazingly sweet!  I think they are a kind of laurel (sp?).

There are several stops along the way where you can board an "aqua bus".  There are 2 different kinds in this picture.

The cherry trees are past their best, but still nice.

A view of the north shore (actually West Van) from the beach on English Bay.

Palm trees!

This is the way we mostly see herons - this one was on the shores of False Creek.

But right now, the herons are nesting in Stanley Park!  It sure seems funny to see them roosting in trees!  There are dozens of nests!

This pair of swans was also building a nest - right where it should be!

And at least some of the geese already have their babies.

Although the sun was shining most of the day in Vancouver, there were lots of black clouds hanging around the mountains on the north shore.

I always get a kick out of this group of statues - they are all laughing - makes you want to laugh right along with them!

The best part of all today was that Jeff and Kerry joined us for dinner - in a Greek restaurant called Stephos - a VERY popular place!

And now, to bed - it's been an extremely long day!