Driving Westbound from Toronto (Spring 2018)
This morning, we drove to Grand Villa Casino in Delta, BC and spent about 30 minutes visiting the casino. Next, we drove to Kitsilano Beach and walked around the park and enjoyed lunch at a great restaurant called Local Kitsilano, where dad ordered a Veggie burger and I ordered fish tacos. We then spent half an hour cleaning and prepping the RV for return. From there, we drove to Cruise America to drop off the RV and took a cab to the airport.
This morning, we drove to Queen Elizabeth Park, a beautifully landscaped, hilly park in the suburbs of Vancouver. We parked and spent about an hour walking through the gardens. The gardens were landscaped with many different types of plants and trees that I’d never previously seen. At the end of the visit, Dad explained that this was one of his favorite attractions thus far, but the truth is that the only reason I decided to visit Queen Elizabeth Park is because we were running out of things to do in Vancouver.
After visiting Queen Elizabeth Park, we drove to the False Creak area and visited a beautiful indoor mall, City Square, which was an adaptive reuse of buildings that are over a hundred years old into what is today a mixed-use project consisting of office, retail, and more. My favorite part of the project was the glass atrium, which welcomed in so much natural light. Walking through this project, I realized that restored old buildings (such as the old post office in Reno and this mall) have something that newer buildings will seldom be able to replicate: character, charm, and history. Especially nowadays with real estate needing to be more experiential, this trait of restored old buildings is something worth taking into account.
After Queen Elizabeth Park, we drove to Granville Island and enjoyed sitting along False Creek. We shared a Coconut Cream Pie and also had beers and poutine from Granville Island brewery. We then drove back to Starbucks and worked for a few hours before driving back to the AirBnB for the night. At night, we watched a Netflix documentary on the Amanda Knox case.
This morning, we woke up and drove to Gastown. Gastown is a hip, gentrifying area in Downtown Vancouver. Interestingly, Gastown is an “island” surrounded by an unsafe neighborhood that seems to be filled with drug users. In Gastown, we spent about an hour walking the entire area, including walking past the steam clock and the Woodward building.
After Gastown, we visited Stanley Park for a couple hours. We parked and walked around at a few spots including the totem poles, lighthouse, and viewpoint of the bridge. We then crossed the bridge to West Vancouver and visited Park Royal Mall. After a few hours at the mall, we drove to Burnaby to wash the RV at a self-serve car wash. Now we’re working at Starbucks for a few hours and having a relaxing night.
This morning, we drove to Granville Island and spent a raining morning walking around the island and Public Market. Public Market includes dozens and dozens of unique vendors including grocers, bakers, prepared food vendors, and artists. My favorite booth was that of Granville Island Tea Company. Granville Island Tea Company offered a wide selection of hundreds of high quality teas and made-to-order beverages. I ordered a matcha masala hot tea with ginger and cayenne pepper. It was a great tea and I really enjoyed it.
Next, we drove to Pacific Centre and spent a couple of hours walking around the mall. Then, we drove to Coquitlam and had dinner/drinks at Earl’s.
This morning, we woke up and drove to the end of Ucluelet to hike the Wild Pacific Trail. The Wild Pacific Trail is a 2.6KM loop that follows the perimeter of the peninsula and offers wonderful ocean views. The weather was overcast, which made for perfect, cool hiking weather. After the walk, we had breakfast at The Blue Room, a casual breakfast spot in town.
We then drove back toward Nanaimo and arrived at Departure Bay at 3PM. The ferry was scheduled to leave at 3:20PM, but there wasn’t enough room on the ferry, so we were forced to to wait to board the next ferry at 6PM. We arrived on the mainland at 8PM and drove to Downtown Vancouver to have a drink at Phat Bar in Yaletown. We enjoyed some poutine, while watching game 6 of the Utah and Oklahoma City playoff series.
After the game, we drove about 45 minutes back to the AirBNB in Coquitlam. The AirBNB is a beautiful, newer 2-story home, but it seems a bit too far from Downtown Vancouver.
This morning, we left the hotel about 10AM and started driving toward Tofino. Our stops along the way included:
After a beautiful walk on Chesterman Beach, we enjoyed a slice of pizza in Tofino and then drove about 30 minutes to Ucluelet, BC, to spend the night there.
Today, we woke up and spent the day in Downtown Victoria. We visited the Fairmont Empress, Fisherman’s Wharf, Beacon Hill Park, and had dinner at Earl’s in Downtown Victoria. Tomorrow, we’re looking forward to starting our trip to Central and Northern Vancouver Island.
At 10PM, I walked for a couple of hours from the hotel to Inner harbor and back. The walk was a great way exercise and unwind, and is an activity I want to incorporate into my schedule more.
Today, we woke up and walked through Whistler Village. After a quick breakfast in Whistler Village, we checked out of the hotel and drove south towards Vancouver. On the way, we stopped in Downtown Squamish and strolled through the Downtown area.
Just a few miles before Vancouver, we exited the highway at Horseshoe Bay and boarded the ferry to Nanaimo, Vancouver Island. We arrived on the Island at 6PM and drove about 1.5 hours south toward Victoria.
At 7:30PM, Dad and I met Michel and Tyler for dinner at Six Mile Pub in Victoria. We enjoyed catching up for a couple of hours and then checked into the Ramada Inn hotel in Victoria.
This morning, we enjoyed a continental breakfast at the hotel and then drove about 4 hours south to Whistler. On the way, we stopped for a quick hike at at Joffre Lakes. The hike to Lower Joffre Lakes took about 10 minutes in each direction.
Once we arrived at Whistler, we checked into Blackcomb Lodge and had lunch at the Warehouse Restaurant in Whistler Village. After a few hours of working, we walked around Whistler Village and had dinner at an Indian restaurant near the ski lifts. Apparently, we’re visiting Whistler during shoulder season (after winter but before summer), so the city was relatively quiet and empty.
This morning, we woke up and had a quick breakfast in Lake Louise Village. From there, we drove through Yoho National Park, stopping at Natural Bridge and Emerald Lake. From there, we continued west, passing through Glacier National Park and Revelstoke National Park.
After about six hours of driving, we stopped for the day at Kamloops, BC. Kamloops, BC had a distinctly British Columbia feel, as I remember experiencing during the couple of weeks I spent in BC during 2016. The feeling can be described as pleasant, mild temperatures, a coastal feel and an affluent middle-class lifestyle.
In Kamloops, we parked in Downtown and ended up walking to McArthur Park and back to Downtown, what ended up being a total of at least 6 miles. Dad wasn’t too excited about the walk, but persevered and completed the walk.
For dinner, we stopped by at Earl’s restaurant and enjoyed a light, healthy meal.
