The Ross Vancouver Tour - Part 1

We spent the last week away from an internet connection and I have so much to catch up on! I'll try to keep it organized and go day by day starting with last Monday when we were given a grand tour of Vancouver by Peter and Carol Ross - two of Constance's good friends from the days of her youth...

My mom, Carol and Peter became friends in Vancouver in the mid sixties - my mom hailing from Elgin, Scotland via London, Carol from Liverpool, England and Peter from Dundee, Scotland. It being the sixties, you can imagine what kind of trouble they managed to get into! I've heard stories about Constance that I never would have thought possible - picture a white convertible sports car with a red interior, two swinging single young ladies in the front (Constance driving, Carol riding shotgun) and a fresh off the boat Scotsman squeezed in the back thinking he must have died and gone to heaven. It was his second night in town and they were heading to a club called the Marco Polo. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship between the three - and a lifelong romance between Peter and Carol. You'll meet their kids in a few posts, but for today - the Ross Vancouver Tour - it was just the four of us...or as you will see, the three of us in various configurations...

Peter, Constance and Carol at Deep Cove

Peter, Carol and me at Deep Cove

Our first stop on the Ross Vancouver Tour was a pretty little village called Deep Cove. It sits at the entrance to Indian Arm off the Burrard Inlet on the North Shore of Vancouver. It was a gorgeous day and there were families, couples and tourists out in full force. We had a walk around before stopping for some fancy iced coffee at one of the many cafes that lined the main street. The iced coffee was like something I've never seen before - it was essentially a shot or two of espresso at the bottom of a cup filled with foamed milk - but cold. I thought it might be a Canadian thing, but Peter also thought it a little weird. Perhaps it was Deep Cove thing...strange are the ways of the Deep Covian.

Kayakers galore heading out at Deep Cove

Boats and kayakers galore...

After Deep Cove we headed for the Lonsdale Quay Market, the "gateway to the North Shore."

Constance and Carol at it again...

Seven cormorants and a seagull...one of these things is not like the others...

You get a great view of downtown Vancouver from the quay. Those are the famous sails at Canada Place Pier - a closer view to come...

Constance and Carol contemplating Canada...Place

See that freighter in the background? It was here, looking at that ship, that I learned about a tryst Constance had with a Greek guy who was apparently an officer on a ship very much like it. She kept saying, "I can't believe I had the gumption to go! But he was a real gentleman." Hmmm...indeed...do as I say, not as I do! (I may get in trouble for this one).

The Lonsdale Quay is a market filled with food vendors and specialty shops - and thankfully - restaurants! I seem to always be hungry on this trip so far. We stopped here for lunch before making our way to the Cleveland Dam for a look at the Lions and the Capilano Watershed.

These are the Lions - with a bit of cloud cover

This is what they would look like sans the cloud cover (a view we were not lucky enough to get on this day)

There are a few places in Vancouver that Constance absolutely loves. The Lions are one of them - they are one of the most recognizable landmarks in Vancouver. She has said that they are meant to represent the Lions in Trafalgar Square in London, but I don't see the resemblence. Do you? She and my unlce say my generation simply lacks imagination! Imagine that.

After doing a little bit of research (or googling) I found that they are also referred to by some as The Two Sisters - a name that stems from a story about, yes, two sisters who bring about peace among battling nations during a time of war. Now that is a legend I can let my imagination run away with!

The Lions way in the background and the Capilano Watershed right behind. About 40% of Vancouver's water supply comes from here!

The watershed is a 3.5 mile lake that sits behind the Cleveland Dam - no swimming in the lake!

Looking over - and down - the Cleveland Dam...Vancouver hasn't seen any rain for awhile and it is evident by how little overflow there is into the...

Capilano River...when it's actually flowing, the river feeds into the Burrard Inlet across from Stanley Park.

Next we are headed for the hills! Cypress Hill...or Mountain I should say. Not the band...

A view of the Lion's Gate Bridge from a little ways up Cypress Mountain

My mom's mom passed away in 1989 at the age of 83. This is where they scattered her ashes. I don't think there is any great significance to this lookout except that it is beautiful and overlooks the city grandma called home for the last part of her life. My grandma was a hoot. One of the fondest memories I have of her is on the Wikiwiki bus at the Honolulu Airport. My mom was crying because grandma was leaving, so grandma kept popping out her teeth with her tongue to make her laugh. I think the whole bus was laughing by the time we reached the terminal.

Cypress Mountain ski run with no snow- this was the venue for the freestyle and snowboarding events during the Olympics. From what I'm told there wasn't much snow then either and they had to truck it in!

In the summer the area gets a lot of hikers - we passed a guy with a bell attached to his hip that gave a little jingle with every step he took. This was so he didn't surprise any bears on his trek. We were hoping to see a bear (from the safety of the moving vehicle we were touring in) but it wasn't meant to be. Peter said he had arranged it so we would see one, but apparently the bear had better things to do.

Walking on the pier at Dundarave - a beachside village on the west side of Vancouver

Three Amigos

We stopped at a snack shop by the beach for some tea (well, I had a diet Pepsi, but the British expats had tea) and this is what she made it in...

It looks like some sort of kooky science experiment, doesn't it? It must have taken 10 minutes to make this fancy tea - only to end up being served in paper cups. Go figure.

Tea on the beach wasn't our last stop but it seems to be where I tired of taking pictures - or everybody else tired of posing. In any event, we left here and got stuck for a few minutes on the Lion's Gate Bridge...

...where I took my last picture of the day...

Once over the bridge we drove through Stanley Park and into the old neighborhoods of downtown Vancouver where at one time or another Peter, Carol and Constance all called home.

We ended the day with dinner at a place called Bridges on Granville Island - a bigger and more bustling version of Lonsdale Quay Market. We sat outside, had a glass of wine and watched the boats drift by while the sun continued its journey west.

One of the things I loved most about this day had nothing to do with the beautiful scenery and landmarks we saw (though they were wonderful to see), but more with getting to know these two friends of my mom. Not only are they two of the warmest and most generous people I've ever had the fortune of meeting, but they allowed me a glimpse into who my mom is - I feel that through them I've gotten to know the younger perhaps more carefree self she was before marriage, kids and work took over. In many ways I saw myself and my own small band of friends who I hope I can laugh with after 40 odd years of life gone by as Peter, Carol and Constance did today. In fact, as we all did today.

Sunday Dinner at the Thompson's

Sundays are typically a family dinner at the Thompson household and yesterday we were lucky enough to be a part of the clan...

My cousin Neil and daughter Siena and wife Marisa

Close up of mother and daughter

Chillin' with dad before dinner...apparently this was very unusual behavior for Siena - I think she had to feel out the two new people in the room (Constance and I)

Sunday dinner at the Thompson's

After dinner Siena got a little more comfortable with the two old ladies...

So comfortable in fact, that we played a game I now officially name "Boo!" together for the rest of the night - she would sneak up behind me, say "boo!" at which point it was my job to pretend to chase her which would lead to hysterical giggles and her running straight for her dad. I'm pretty sure we now qualify for best friend status.

Siena and the cream puffs she helped her mom make...mmmmmm...

Neil, Uncle Colin and Jen

Chalk and Cheese

Auntie Pat and Marisa

After the running around of the last couple of days it was nice to relax at home and ease into a nice evening with family. After the "kids" left, we ended the day watching an English program on Canada's version of PBS called Heartbeat - the Grey's Anatomy of Britain I suppose (we have actually been watching a couple of different English programs every night - much to the delight of Constance: "We must remember to write the names of these shows down!"). I went to bed while the "oldie moldies" stayed up to watch another English program called Prime Suspect - starring Helen Mirren! I love her ("bun toucha"), but was too tuckered to watch (I know - talk about oldie moldy, right?). Anyway, I was in a dead sleep until just before 1:00am when I was woken up (awakened?) by a bunch of coyotes making a racket at who knows what. It was one of the most eerie sounds I've ever heard! It took me a good two hours before I was able to fall back asleep...so much for the relaxing day! : )

Grandma's Tree

After lunch with Andrew and family yesterday, Uncle Colin took us over to the Van Dusen Botanical Garden - a beautiful (am I going overboard with the use of that word yet?) "plant kingdom" with 55 acres (or 22 hectares for you Canadians) of 7,500 plants and from around the world. Yes, I took that straight out of the visitor's guide.
Our primary reason for visiting the garden was to see the tree that my aunt and uncle had adopted in memory of my grandma and my aunt's mom and dad - Uncle George and Auntie Lena to my sister and I. I went a little nuts taking pictures of any pretty bunch of flowers I saw and a little less so with pictures of us in various configurations.

Uncle Colin leading the way...

Entrance to the Children's Garden

Smelling the rhododendrons...

Mmmm...pretty flowers...

Very tall stargazers...

Hydrangeas! These along with the dogwood tree will forever remind me of Gair and John's wedding in Cape Cod last year.

Korean Pavillion

Auntie Pat and Constance posing beneath the tori - the entrance to the Meditation Garden.

Cobra Lily! This picture being, of course, for Miss Lily. Ssssssssssssssss...

Grandma's Tree - the Ginkgo Biloba

Come on Vanna...

The plaque...

In memory of...

Siblings...

Up through the ginkgo biloba...sun!

Constance, me and Uncle Colin...

Wandering back...

Not a great picture, but there's heather in them thar hills!

Don't know what these are called, but I thought they were so interesting...

Just let me climb onto this bench (sadly, I missed that photo op), take off my glasses...

...take the picture already! Constance loves her some thistle.

Entrance to the Rose Garden

Interestingly enough - I didn't take any pictures of any roses, but here is the path leading out of the Rose Garden...go figure.

Pretty white hydrangeas...

Livingstone Lake

Needing a sit down...

The three of them...

The three of us...

The day could not have been more perfect for a walk through the gardens. I wish we had more time to stroll - we didn't cover even a quarter of what the garden had to offer - but we were all pretty wiped out by this point. Auntie Pat drove home - a rarity for Uncle Colin to give over the driving duty, but after the drive through crazy traffic the day before I think he had had enough.

Home to a nap and a glass (or two) of wine...