Vancouver British Columbia Canada
Finally, we went to the "Fly Over Canada" (FOC). It was in the convention center which itself has
some amazing and mezmerizing scenery. The FOC was done in two parts. The first was we stood in a
room with a 360 degree "projector screen" that showed the same thing twice, once on each 180 degrees.
It was a quick look at a bunch of seconds-long "movies" with about six going simultaneously. That
was okay and lasted about six minutes. Then we went to another theater which was the "real" FOC.
We were put into seats that were grouped six seats to a section, three sections. We each buckled
our seat belts for the "plane ride" that would go east-to-west across Canada in eight minutes.
In reality, as the lights were turned out, our three sections of seats were each pushed forward
about ten feet over where the floor was about 12 feet below us. That way, the sections could be
tilted sideways and "bounced" like a small airplane would pitch and roll and yaw. The huge screen
in front of us showed what we were "flying over". Mountains, rivers, lakes, ocean, fields, etc.
Occasionally, as we went through something that could spray water, a light mist of water hit us
in the face. Even though we knew we sitting in a theater, we fould ourselves feeling like we
really were in that airplane. Gripped our seat handle. Lifted out feet. Ducked. The entire FOC
experience was one of the coolest, if not THE COOLEST, experiences we had ever had.
When we got to town, we were uncertain what to see or do. But since we arrived around noon,
we decided to have lunch. We drove around while Jan kept looking up places to eat. We finally
settled on Mongolie Grill. We go to a salad-bar type spread and select from several dozens
of foods that would be stirfried. The cost is per ounce of food selected. Then, the master
stirfry guy puts the food onto this six-foot in diameter round grill and stirfries each person's
food in their separate "piles". During this, the master would flip and spin his two large
metal spatulas. It was fun to watch and tasted very delicious.
We walked around the shops in their very fashionable and rather new-looking shopping area.
It was all walkable since no streets except on the perimeter. And, it was adjacent to one
of the many ski lifts that Whistler is famous for. We got a kick out of a "warning" sign
that said: Selfies with bears don't mix.
Finally, we decided to visit the Squamish Culture Center. This museum, though small, is laid
out beautifully. It was about two of the 19 native American nations of Canada. Those two
nations were "neighbors" for centuries and decided to cooperatively build this center. It
taught us much about something I was otherwise totally unfamiliar with. We got a guided
tour by David plus a 15 minute movie that told how the nations use the bark of cedar trees
to make most of the things they use in everyday life. At the end, David showed us how to
make a small bracelet from cedar bark strips that had been soaking in water. The entire
experience was very cool and quite enlightening. By the way, as I drove each foot further
north today, it became the furthest north I have ever been on Earth. Of course, that was
beat by many miles when I flew a few days later to Juneau, Alaska.
Friend Jan of Seattle and I visited this amazing city several years ago. While I was in Seattle
again this year, I thought we should go again to Vancouver. I sent Jan a listing of several things
to see/do per the AAA website. We picked some of them: University of British Columbia Anthropology
Museum (which was a beautiful facility and excellent exhibits about the culture of the local
native American nations as well as many cultures of the Pacific Ocean, some of whom the nations
traded with. We also visited the University Botanical Gardens which was unique, and okay.
The next morning we headed back to the US. We intended to stop at the park called Queen Elizabeth
Park in Vancouver. However, we ended up in Queen Park in New Westminster. It was a HUGE park but
not really much to see as it was mostly wooded. We then headed for the border.
Whistler British Columbia Canada
My friend Jan and I had planned to visit Vancouver again for the second time in five years.
When talking with a fellow Toastmaster in Kansas City -- he grew up in Edmonton -- he
suggested that we visit the town of Whistler. When I mentioned that to Jan, she said she
had heard good things about Whistler. On the webpage of AAA that lists "Things to Do in..."
for Whistler, there was very little there beyond hiking and boating. One museum listed
as well as scenery so I wondered what we would see/do while in town.