There were quite a few observations made on this trip. The first of which, we never thought going to Canada would require a different language. Okay, Yes, we know French is spoken and is one of their official national languages, but that wasn't the issue. They were speaking English, but it was different. They used different words for things than we do. I guess we weren't prepared for that. For example, what we call a parking garage, they call a Parkade. They also have different names for parking meters; Tracy had fun trying to figure that one out with the front desk clerk at our hotel. Between the two of them, they got on the same page, but wowzers! Another common phrase heard in Victoria, BC, was "Fer Sure". I spelt it that was on purpose. I'm sure it was suppose to be "For Sure" but it was pronounced like "Fer Sure". It was all over the place to acknowledge they understood what you said. Like when we placed an order for something, the waitress would respond with "Fer Sure". There was another phrase that has left my memory, but it was fun to hear things differently.
Another observation, their soda bottles and soda cans were smaller. Yes, America, we DO over indulge in EVERYTHING, and that is made quite certain when we travel to other countries who are not as fat as we are.
The two cities we were in, Victoria and Vancouver were very "cyclist friendly". When I say that, i don't mean I think its all that safe. I mean there are tons of cars EVERYWHERE!!!! But there are paths for the bikes. There are designated lanes in most places. They are painted green with green turning boxes for cyclists (like they tried to do here in Boise and it failed). They even had curved off bike lanes where they turned a formerly 2 lane, 2 way street into a 1 lane 1 one street with a curbed off cycling lane. I'm pretty certain, people here in Boise would scream like none other if that happened here. Oh ya.. and the country of Canada MAKES you wear a cycling helmet; if you get caught without one is $150 a pop. Nice little law there.
Fireworks: Canada takes theirs seriously. In America, we like our fire works; however, we tend to just shoot things off then see how many we can explode at one time. Even if its set to music, it is not very artistic. We watched the fireworks at the Gardens in Victoria, and they were beautiful. They were artistic. They didn't just send off mortars in the sky for the "ooh ahh factor". They had spinny things on the ground. It was just fabulous. And in the summer, Vancouver has a 3 day competition between 3 different countries. They set off fireworks from a barge off of Stanley Park. (we missed that.) But they take their fireworks seriously!
What I noticed is that Canadians ENJOY life. Maybe that is why they always seem so nice. In Vancouver, THOUSANDS flock to the park at sunset. In America, people may go to the park, but not like this. Thousands were out there and none of them had their cell phones out. Okay, maybe a few were talking on the phone. And yes, I'm certain a good number of people were tourists where there cell service wouldn't work in Canada. But you could tell most of the people were from town, and they didn't have their cell phones out. They were out there having picnics with their friends and dancing to music they brought to the beach. They were laughing. They were playing games. They were tight band walking between trees. They were just watching the sun set. This happened EVERY night.. not just special nights.. but EVERY night. The police in both Victoria and Vancouver were awesome. So many people... so many different races and cultures.. and so peaceful. At one point there was an incident in Beacon Hill Park in Victoria where hundreds were out playing Pokemon or otherwise enjoying the park and there were at least 10 police cars. In America, they police would be swamped by curious on lookers. But in Canada, they just stayed away and let the police handle the situation, which was some "idiot" (as the officer called him) with a pellet gun. In American, that would be grounds for a whole bunch of craziness. In Canada, it was taken care of quickly and quietly, and the officers were very friendly when it was over with and joked around with us.
We made a trip to Whistler to go zip lining. That was tons of fun. We had 2 guides; one from Ontario Canada and the other from Australia. I spent some time talking with both of these amazing young women. And both were asking me what the heck was going on in America. Why were we having such a difficult time. It's obvious to other countries that our country is not safe and is seriously struggling. And it's obvious as an American traveling (even to Canada) that other countries can live peacefully... so why can't we? I realize I only had a small glimpse of Canada, but still. I also realize that not all countries are peaceful, but for a first world Nation, we should be peaceful!
It was fun to expose the kids to a different country. Even if they speak English and its almost like being in America. But with the differences we did experience, the kids took notice. And it was fun to expose them to that.
As Americans, we are lazy. We drive everywhere. We are stuck to our phones like our lives depended on it. We spend very little time being present in the moment. We do not stop to enjoy the simple things in life, life a piece of chocolate cake on a ferry boat. The American Ferry Boats see it as a means to an end. A BC ferry boat sees it as a time to relax and enjoy life with good food food and maybe even some booze; they saw it as a time to get outside on the deck and learn something about the seas you were traveling in. It wasn't a means to an end; it was something to be enjoyed.
Our last night in Vancouver, we went to our favorite Italian place for dinner. Even there, dinner was meant to be enjoyed and to be decadent and they almost served Omi wine (again). They tried when she was 15 too. *laugh*. This time though we told Omi she could have some, but by that time she had already told the guy she wasn't old enough. Anyway, at dinner, Nate asked us, "Are you proud to be American?" He had notice the crazy sense of pride that the Canadians seemed to express. I'm not sure "proud" is the right word. I'm more embarrassed right now. When countries have to send out warnings about traveling to our country, there is something seriously wrong. When civil rights seems to be less important every day, there is something wrong with this country. When citizens are fighting with the people in blue who's job it is to protect us, there is something wrong. When the people in blue who are suppose to protect us kill innocent black people, there is something wrong. Our politics are stupid and I seriously fear for our country. Guns are out of control in our country, but I don't know what the answer is. So am I proud to be an American? I don't think proud is the correct word. Am I grateful that I live in a country where I have as many freedoms and opportunities as I do, yes. Could it be better, hell yes! And I am also aware that as tourist for a few days, we can not truly judge a country accurately. But I will say, that Canada is pretty incredible and it is close to stealing our hearts from Belize. I could totally become an ex-pat and be okay with that :).
As a family vacation goes, it was fun. We did tons of sight seeing, and we did something for everyone. Tracy got to go sailing for 3 hours (well we all did, but it was really for Tracy). He and Nate got to help with the sails on the boat. Tracy actually got to steer the boat when it was needed. We made the trips to Mt Hoot and Whistler for Nate where we got to alpine slide and zip line. When it came to Zip Lining in Whistler, I really thought Omi would sit down at the top and refuse to move, but she did fantastic and showed no fear!!!! She even went upside down and did some silks poses while zipping down. The floating stairs that we had to walk down before we were weightless, scared the crap out of me. They were almost enough to have me sitting down and refusing to move. I did see one mom actually refuse to go down a line and they had a van meet her at the bottom and take her down the rest of the way. I'm so glad my whole family made it through together! Omi got to go to the Science Museum she has wanted to go to for years. I got to walk across the suspension bridge and do some hiking and go to the gardens and see fireworks and go to the castle. Mostly, I got to watch Nate and Omi just play together and have fun. We got to spend some amazing quality time together as a family doing things we have never done before as a family. It was amazing. At the end of it all, we got to visit with Todd and Angie, and the kids and I got to take the kayaks out for a paddle.
We had a wonderful time with lots of laughter. There were also tears and arguments. You can't spend 10 days together all in one car or one room and not get into a couple of tiffs. And Yes, I missed Nick. But Nick started showing up in Victoria during the Ghostly Walk. We were in an alley way as our guide was telling us some story about some ghost. When the light started to flicker. The guide made no mention of it and took no notice. But our family knew exactly what was going on. It was Nick. Then once we made it to Vancouver, Nick made his presence known once a day. First it was the rubber duckies in the window of an eye glass place (that we walked by almost daily). Then it was the Little Mermaid movie being played at the movie in the park. Then it was the rubber ducky in the science museum. Then it was in a song being played (the first time I had heard it the whole vacation) in a store when we walked in. Even when we made it back to Washington to visit with Angie and Todd, there was an inflatable rubber ducky on a roof of some building; Angie saw it first and pointed it out. He was there with us the whole time. It was nice.
Now we are home from vacation and the rat race starts again. This week, mom has a procedure I need to take her to. Omi (and I) have to get our hair done before school starts. Omi performs this weekend at Fusion Fest. She also starts Band Camp next Monday....and that stays in affect all the way through football season.. so, this week is Omi's last week of summer vacation from school. Tracy is already back at work. I have tons of yard work to catch up on. I have cleaning to get done...and tons of laundry.
I'm grateful for the time we got to spend with our kids. I'm grateful for Tracy's hard work that allows us to get to take those vacations....oh and one more thing..... you would think that after being locked up with us for 10 days, our kid would be tired of us. Nope. Last night, when we got home, Tracy and I went outside to our bar to have a drink, and Nate came out and asked if he could join us. There was a sense that none of us wanted life to go back to the crazy rat race. We just wanted to continue to spend more time together. I love my family.
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