Friday, October 14, 2011

Last Stop - Vancouver

The last stop on our trip was Vancouver; mainly to visit family & friends but we also snuck in a little sight seeing & shopping.  This picture is from the top of Grouse Mountain which is, more or less, in the city.  As far as I can remember this was the first time I've been up Grouse.  This time we took the gondola up but next time I want to hike up the "Grouse Grind".


At the top we saw this grizzly bear!  Safely ensconced in a habitat and happily eating (grass!) away with his friend.  Both the bears were orphaned as cubs and were brought to Grouse Mountain to live.


There was a fair amount of physical activity during the trip and Vancouver was no exception.  My sister & I took some dance classes at Harbour Dance.  My favourite ballet class - I haven't taken one in a few years and it was great to be back at the barre.


I kept up running while I was away.  My favourite run was along the seawall - it was a beautiful run and there was so much to look at the 15 kilometres went by quite quickly.


Still in the sporty theme of things we revisited the Olympic Cauldron.  Not nearly as exciting as 18 months ago when it was lit but you can get a lot closer now!


The final event was a triathlon!  I competed in the Vancouver Triathlon in Stanley Park - sprint distance.  That's 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run.  Because they close the road around the park the race started early - 7:00 which made for a chilly start!  This was my first ocean race and was it chilly!  Even with a wetsuit on.  Some people swam without them and kudos to them I couldn't have done it!


Friends of mine were bike course marshals and happened to get the camera out in time to catch me riding by.


Here I am on the run, at this point my feet had finally thawed from the swim and I was really enjoying the day.


Our last night was spent at the beach eating fish & chips & ice cream with good friends.  Great finale to a great trip.

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