oh canada : the travelogue

last year our mother/daughter road trip took us to the east side of our neighbor to the north, so this summer we decided to explore the west. we rented a little blue fiat, piled in our luggage and headed up the sea to sky highway...

whistler : british columbia

this quaint little ski town was not only the host mountain resort of the 2010 winter olympics, it was also my favorite stop on the trip. there was quite a bit of hiking involved as we explored the capilano suspension bridge, as well as the beautiful lakes and waterfalls around the mountain. and since we needed to relax after all that fresh air and activity we indulged in an afternoon at the outdoor scandinavian baths.  

vancouver : british columbia

the first two stops in vancouver were especially fun. first was the olympic cauldron from the 2010 winter games, because i LOVE the olympics! and second was a visit to the meinhardt store, discovered a few years ago by another member of the meinhardt clan. after lunch and a stroll though the granville island public market we headed over to stanley park for the rest of the afternoon. my mom took a horse drawn carriage tour of the park while i rented a bike for a ride around the seawall.

victoria : british columbia

after squeezing onto the early ferry as the second to last car we sailed over to vancouver island, where we stopped at butchart gardens on our way down to victoria. we checked out the float houses at fisherman's wharf, took a water taxi across the harbour and visited miniature world...because i love miniature things!

seattle : washington

a little more ferry luck took us back to the good ol' usa and olympic national park where we took a drive up to see the mountains. in seattle we rode to the top of the space needle before visiting chihuly garden and glass. mr. gott introduced me to this glass blown art in college and i've loved it ever since. then we headed over to the pike place market to watch the fish throwers before having dinner at the crab pot and capping off the trip with a ride on the great wheel.