banff bound

the campground in kamploops provided the necessary respite. we left early and made way for lake louise near banff, in alberta.

three years ago, i was in calgary (about an hour and half from banff). i was told to go to banff, and i was planning to. but i was there while the flames were in the stanley cup finals, and after calgary's OT win in game 5, i ended partying on "the red mile" (17th ave downtown). one shot led to another, and the following day i was in no condition to drive to banff. i vowed i would return, somehow, someway. today was the day i made good on that promise.

the first stop was lake louise. as we entered the banff region, the whitecap mountian views were stunning. but that served merely as a warmup to what was to follow.

numerous people had told me "you have to go to lake louise!". we did, and they were right. lake louise may well be the most beautiful place i've ever been. with a whitecap backdrop, the lake shimmers at you with its sparkling, perfectly clean, clear, teal glacial water. the most perfect water i've ever laid eyes on. wow.

lorena was as floored by the scenery as myself. we were so glad we went. we had packed a lunch, and it was perfect. we found a cozy spot on the right side of the lake and enjoyed a leisurely meal, basking in the beauty that surrounded us the entire time. after we ate, i rolled up my pants and ventured into the water. it was freezing. so cold! but lorena timed it, and i stayed in for a full 60 seconds. :)

we then wanted to hike up to a teahouse that overlooked the lake. it was only about a 1.5km hike, but it was getting late and we still had to drive about 35km to get to banff to set up our tent. we decided we would come back first thing the following morning.

the campground in banff was nice, but what would follow that night altered our plans. still, we managed (and by we, i mean lorena...she's the camper, not me) to get a fire going to cook dinner. we made medicocre spaghetti and enjoyed every bite of it before finally getting to bed...

vancouver with lorena

i hate to say this, but i had a feeling having lorena with me would make vancouver less enjoyable. nothing against her, but i was loving the city so much, there was no way she would feel the same. and she didn't. right away, she knew it wouldn't compare to portland. she had just come from seattle, but it was her stop in portland right before that that made the biggest impression on her.

still, we had a great time. we slept in sunday. this was special. it was our first time sleeping together. in orlando, she still lives at home, and out of respect to her parents, will not spend the night elsewhere. which sucks for me, but i understand it. after rising, we made breakfast and then ventured out. we explored downtown and the coastline, before driving to stanley park.

lorena is a big "star wars" fan (despite only being 22), so she was excited to see "the endor forest", as i described it to her. not that it was much different than what portland had to offer. plenty of trees there too.

unfortunately, it rained all day sunday. we made the most of it, enjoying a nice hike through the woods when the rain subsided for a while. but due to the overcast, lorena never got to see the whitecaps adjacent to downtown. the tops of the mountains were hidden.

on our second day, we drove to west vancouver, which is north of stanley park. the drive was notable for the fact that we saw an atlas moving truck stuck under a bridge. i always wondered what would happen if a truck just slightly exceeded the height of the opening of a bridge. well, we saw it.

when we arrived at seawell's marina, we dressed in warm orange water suits and headed out on a boat trip to explore the islands and waterlife surrounding vancouver. this was very cool, and fortunately, by this point, the sun was emerging.

after we finished our 2 hour boat ride (on which we saw lots of seals...much to lorena's liking), we got coffee at the adjacent coffeeshop. we both tried logging on, since they said they had wireless. lorena also has a macbook like me. yeah, we joked about what a couple of dorks we are. the online access never really happened, so we finished our coffee and split. we then began our drive east towards alberta. i was sad. i didn't want to leave, and now that the sun was coming out for the next two or three days (projected anyway), it seemed a shame we were departing. but we had a schedule and that was that.

the drive through british columbia was gorgoeus. highway 1 east was completely tree-lined. lorena said it was just like driving through oregon. just amazing.

we reached kamloops, b.c. and pitched our tent. fires weren't allowed, so we had to get food elsewhere. starving by this point, we opted for taco bell. taco bell is usually gross to me, but we were both so hungry it was a more than okay way to finish the day...

vancouver, day 3, at last...

i appologize for dropping off in my blogging of my northwest sojourn. lorena arrived in vancouver on my third day, and we stayed quite busy for the next week. in addition, we camped every night after we left vancouver, so that made blogging somewhat impractical. that said, now that i have returned to orlando, i will do my best to recollect on what was a fabulous week.

on my third day in vancouver, i awoke early and headed back out on my rental bike. i couldn't resist. the rainy weather was still in effect, but i didn't care. i decided to bike the entire coastline of stanley park and despite the overcast, it was exhilarating. i started on the east side and by the time i reached prospect point (which is pretty much at the tip top point of the park) i felt as though i had conquered the world. many parts of the trail were uphill, but i made it! after a delicious salmon burger (the salmon is quite good in british columbia), i completed my trek around the park. it took about 4-5 hours total, i'd say.

a quick note about stanley park. the park is loaded with hiking trails, and i ventured down a few to find enormous trees, very green and lush. for those who watched "return of the jedi" back in the day, the forest reminded me of the endor moon, where the ewoks lived. of course, that was shot in redwood country, so it was not quite like that. but you get the picture. it was something.

lorena texted and said she was running late, so i headed back down to new amsterdam cafe for coffee...not to get high. i didn't want to get high. lorena would be arriving in three or four hours and i wanted to be my normal self. i was both excited and nervous about seeing her.

as i drank my coffee, i befriended a vancouverite named shaun who works in the vancouver film industry. he sounded well connected. he said he could get me a job anytime i want. i think he meant it, though i'm not sure i want to work 15 hour days a la antiparticle. nonethless, vancouver could become my home. i got his number and he said for me to call him when i'm ready to move :)

the actual reason we started talking was because he went to the hip hop show i went to two nights earlier. turns out we like a lot of the same music, and he was very impressed with my knowledge of canadian music. i had a feeling that would come in handy at some point ;)

shaun offered me some of his weed, but i declined and finally biked back to the hostel after lorena texted and said she was on her way. i showered and shaved and finally she arrived around 8:30 (after a being stuck in a long line at customs).

as i said, i was nervous. we went to the grocery store, made food in the hostel kitchen, and finally got to bed. she was understandably tired, so we didn't do anything.

i was nervous things would be weird, but everything got back to normal fairly quickly...

the second day complete

it's friday night, just after midnight, my second day winding down, and i'm at a 24-hour coffee shop called blenz, near our hostel. the coffee is not particularly good, i'm sad to report. but they have wireless, and since our hostel charges for internet access, i'm here.

today it rained, but i still enjoyed the city tremendously. and i will say that, despite the gray cloud shroudering the city all day, i was blown away by the beauty offered here.

i believe i previously talked about how there are a lot of trees. i'm in a very green place, and you know how that colour warms my heart.

i rented a bike a little after noon, and today i ventured all over....well past where i would have walked. the downtwon area offers coastline in pretty much every direction, and exploring this coastline was where i spent most of the time on my bike.

i was a little uncomfortable at first. when i rented the bike, the girl from the hostel informed me that the law is you must where a helmet (which was included with the bike rental, as was a u-lock). so yeah, i wore a helmet almost all day. i now have helmet-hair big time, due not only to having that huge thing on my head all day, but all the rain my body took on. i don't like wearing a helmet. yeah, i know a slip in traffic could be serious, but i'm good on a bike and i was actually afraid the helmet might lead to a mishap, since i didn't feel as comfortable as i normally do. this was not the case at all. the helmet was not going to cause me to get hurt. in the end, it just gave me a bad case of helmet-hair.

when i first got the bike, i headed towards the granville-street area. yesterday, i saw a bunch of shops that sold sneakers. the soles on my sneakers, which i've had for over two years, had holes in them, and with the rain, the universe basically told me today i was getting new sneakers. i found a comfy pair i liked at an addidas store, marked way down too. most 'skater'-type sneakers (which i always buy, irregardless of the fact that i've never owned a skateboard) are between $80 and $120. but the always last for two-to three years, so i'm okay with that. i got this new pair for $59, well under what i was expecting to pay. it all started as soon as i entered the store. tribe called quest was playing from the speakers, and after being in a cold rainy downpour, this warmed me. i had good service too. the girl who helped me was totally chill. all in all, it happened very easy and i now have new black sneakers that are amazingly dry at the moment (considering how much rain i've been in today).

eating in this town has been so easy for me. lots of healthy choices. i had a tasty veggie burger at a vancouver chain called "the white spot." yum. this was right before i got my sneakers. after lunch and new shoes were checked off the to-do list, i ventured out for a long ride.

as i biked down hastings street toward stanley park, i started feeling so happy and peaceful inside. the beauty of some of the coasts of downtown floored me, in a way that i probably should've been expecting, but i wasn't. there are mountains and whitecaps surrounding the downtown area. wow. everything is here. green trees, parks, whitecaps, all fitted closely around a cool downtown with a good music scene.

i thought about checking out a club tonight, but i'm not feeling going to a club alone. lorena gets in tomorrow evening, so going out can wait a bit. tonight...coffee, my macbook, and "on the road" are working nicely. the money i save on not going out, on not buying a beer or two for $5 a pop, will go to renting a bike again tomorrow morning. i have all day, really, until lorena arrives in the evening. another day sounds perfect.

my coffee has gone cold. it's 12:30 a.m., and the rain has completely stopped. no drops, nothing. i still have my bike, locked up across the street here at blenz. one last jaunt through the streets of downtown seems the appropriate way to end this day...

the first day complete

vancouver is wonderful. such a nice downtown! it reminds me of orlando's downtown...quaint and neighborhood-ish, only it's like 15 of orlando's downtown in terms of size.

it's charming. there's coffee shops, sushi take out, falafel, diners, used clothing shops, a bad ass record store, and trees. downtown vancouver has lots of trees, this i noticed.

ever since i got here, it's been cloudy/overcast and chilly. i love it! i wore my green cordoruy jacket for the first time since december.

after i explored a bit, i stop and had a tuna melt and read the alternative weekly. to my complete excitement, i read del the funkee homosapien WAS playing here...my first night in vancouver. he's one on my favourite hip hop mcs. the show rocked, but more on that in a moment.

after my tuna melt, i walked around and mostly clothes shopped. i'm really impressed at how many funky, indie clothes stores are here. i could redo my whole wardrobe!

i wound up in a coffee shop where people were smoking weed. the aroma wafting out to the street drew me in. i met this divorced dad who was getting high with his two teenage sons. crazy, eh?

he rolled me a joint, i smoked half of it and i was set for the night. the bc bud is strong. after getting stoned, i walked around the city and took lots of pictures. it was fun. i eventually made it back to the hostel area and got my dinner: a $4.23 falafel wrap that was plenty filling and plenty yummy. my kind of dinner!

then i went to the show. it rocked, as mentioned. the club was like the social but much bigger, with an upstairs balcony viewing area. i started up there, then floated throughout the show.

the crowd was like the types you'd see at bbq bar or i-bar, but it was weird knowing i wasn't gonna see anyone i knew. i tend to usually see people i know when i'm out in orlando, i've been there for so frickin' long.

i didn't drink at the show. the high from the weed was all i needed, and alcohol is much more fun if you're with someone. the music was wonderful, not only del's show, but the dj between acts was spot on.

i love watching djs. i just love dj culture. seeing a guy with two turntables on stage, i just love it! what a perfect way to start my vacation!

vancouver

i'm utilizing the free wireless at blenz coffee in downtown vancouver. i just arrived about two hours ago, went thru customs and all that fun stuff. i've checked into my hostel. it's clean, and in a good neighborhood. it kind of reminds me of williamsburg in brooklyn.

i'm gonna finish my coffee, then get a bite to eat somewhere. i'll probably walk around the streets a little longer before heading over to stanley park, which is within walking distance. stanley park is named after Lord Stanley of Preston. he's the dude who donated a silver cup to be awarded to the champion hockey team in canada. he did that in 1893. 104 years later, and hockey players are still competing for his cup.

it's a bit of an overcast day, and it's somewhat chilly. i'm glad i brought a light coat.

i'm here for two days until lorena comes in on saturday. yes, lorena. the 22 year-old who "dumped" me on are first date becase i was too old.

now she's my girlfriend. i can't wait to see her...