Travelog for: Lemmy

We played frisbee in the park with Abby and her sister.



It was fun, but tiring, so after a while and I sat in the shade and watched the humans make fools of themselves.

Abby needed to buy some things at her new school, so she took us along.

Simon Fraser University is a fairly new school, only 43 years old.  It was designed by Arthur Erickson, one of Vancouver's most famous architects.  It's on top of Burnaby Mountain, and so it's often quite foggy, and in the winter if it's particularly snowy, then there is no bus service.

Abby didn't stay long enough to give me a grand tour, but I saw some of the more interesting sights.

This is the convocation mall.  Graduation ceremonies are held here, as well as many student gatherings.





Behind me, you can see the academic quadrangle.





And here is inside of it





On the roofs you can see some of the mountains to the north of Vancouver.  It it hadn't been so smoggy, Abby would have tried to take a picture of Vancouver on the other side of campus.

I helped Abby wash the family van.

I got the hose ready...



The soapy water...



And the scrub brush...



Wait a minute?  There's a chance that I might get wet?  Um, I think I'll just supervise with Yum Yum.

Today I woke up to find that Abby had moved Yum Yum and I from our cushy place in one of her bags, to the kitchen table with a darning needle in front of us.  Turns out that the needle had nothing to do with either of us (phew!) and Abby was just returning it to her sister.  It also turns out that Erin was taking us to an unknown place for a bike ride while Abby was off earning money to pay for her toyvoyagers habit.

Maple Ridge and the next town, Pitt Meadows, have a lot of farm land; in fact Maple Ridge is fairly well-known for its horse breeding and berry crops.  Pitt Meadows is rather flat, and so there are dikes around all the rivers to prevent flooding.  They are very scenic and we visited a couple today.



This is one of the dikes modeled by Yum Yum.  Erin forgot to take a picture of me here, but we'll forgive her for being fairly new to this.



This is one of the farms in the area





Also, some of the horses





Erin also showed me the South Alouette River.



Here is another dike we biked on.  Not all of the dikes are this well maintained; some are very overgrown and a little difficult to walk or bike on.



It gave us a nice view of the river again.



Thanks Erin, for taking me on a bike ride

Abby's sister found a Travelbug, and decided to leave it on Burnaby Mountain, where Abby and Erin's university is.



Abby forgot to take pictures of me at the university itself this time, or eating lunch (you missed the dropping a piece of sushi into soya sauce, which then splattered and ran all down Abby's legs fiasco, sorry), but I was in on the geocaching experience.

We had to walk down a trail to get to the one that we were looking for.  I was particularly excited because I was accomplishing a life mission by going for a walk in a forest!













Eventually the trail led us to this field.



And we found the cache!  We left the Travelbug inside





A little further on, there was this large park, right on the side of the mountain.  Apparently it's very popular for tobogganers in the winter.  The trees are fairly high now, but behind them there is a view of Vancouver.



Here it is closer up.



I found a fire pit.



Erin was looking for another cache, so Abby picked salmonberries for us to try.  Because there are nasty bugs in the first, neitherof us felt like leaving her bag.



On the other side of the park, we discovered what looked like partially constructed totem poles.











Above them were three stones explaining the art.  The first one said:

Kamui Mintara - Playground of the Gods

This Burnaby Mountain setting inspired the carvings entitled, 'Plarground of the Gods'.  It is the story of Japan native peoples, the Ainu, and of the gods who came down to the earth to give birth to them.

In the large foreground sculpture of bound poles, those with animals on top represent the Ainu gods, while the smaller poles represent the people.  On Earth the gods assume the shape and spirits of animals, such as the bear, the owl and the orca.



The second one said:

These sculptures were dedicated to the citizens of Burnaby in 1990 to commemorate twenty-five years of goodwill between the Sister Cities of Kushiro, Japan and the District of Burnaby, Canada.

The exhibition was created by Noburi Toko, a renowned modern sculptor of the Ainu, and his sone, Shusei Toko.  The Ainu are the aboriginal people of Japan who inhibit the northern island of Hakkaida.



The third one said:

Ainu Mythology tells us of a culture closely connected to the water.  The sculpture to the lower left with the four supposrts symbolizes the ocean.  To the right of this three pairs of poles and a single pole represent the orca god of the sea.

The sculpture on the far left points ot the west symbolizing a bridge of friendship that connects the sister cities of Kushiro and Burnaby.



After a long day of hiking, it was time to go home.  I was so tired that I went straight to sleep.

We went to the Maple Ridge Fair today.  Abby's family is not really into the country thing, but they entered some things into the fair for the heck of it, to see if they'd win anything.

The fairgrounds







We made a beeline for the showroom...

Look!  Abby's crocheted birthday cupcake won first prize!



And the scarf that Erin made for their mom won first prize and a best in show rosette!



And their rhubarb won first prize and a best in show rosette for nits, fruits and vegetables!



In addition, they won two more firsts and three seconds for various herbs, and a first for a felt mask in the toy category.  Yay, Abby's family!

After that, we wandered the showroom to see what other categories there were that people had entered.  Our happiness was soured somewhat by a man who was very rude to Abby after she accidentally brushed past him, but not for long!









This year the province is celebrating its 150th birthday, and so all the theme categories had a birthday theme.



After the showroom, we watched some of the cow judging.





Then, we went to go see some of the animals.

The pigs



The goats



The sheep



The cows



We paused for a minute, because it was very hot out, on some hay in the cow barn.



Here are some more sheep.



We watched a sheep shearing demonstration.  The sheep didn't seem very happy.



Look at the size of this ox!



2200 pounds!?!



See this fuzzy thing?  It's actually a rabbit.





Then, we went to the room that was all about yarn and weaving, and spinning wool.





After that, there wasn't much else to see, except for the quilters' room, which cost $2 that Abby didn't have.  We went home.

I saw a Shakespearean play today, Titus Andronicus, at Bard on the Beach in Vanier Park. 



There's Vancouver's planetarium.



Abby's family had ordered lunch in advance to eat before the play.



Abby took pictures of me while she was guarding the food and waiting for her family to get back from picking up tickets.





She couldn't go very far, so you can't see the ocean from here, but it was very picturesque.  Lots of sailboats out today.

Finally, we were able to eat lunch.  Whole wheat pasta with artichokes and sundried tomatos, balsamic roasted vegetables, vegetarian samosa balls with raisin chutney and a small apple pie.



When we went inside the tents, we found out that there was a Starbucks coffee tasting.  We found seats and hurried over.  There were three types of coffee to choose from, with a corresponding snack sample, and a coupon for a tall oder of the same coffee.  How thoughtful of them to make the cups toyvoyager sized!



Recording devices are not allowed in the tents, so there are no pictures of me enjoying the play.  It was very gorey and I had to hide my eye a few times, but it was very well done.

At intermission we ate ice cream.  Did you know that it is National (not sure which one) Ice Cream Day?

Lately, Abby has been crocheting non-stop.  Seriously, she comes home from work and crochets.  It's kind of annoying, because we could be sight-seeing and going for drives instead (fat chance, she says, of finding anything interesting to do in this town), but to make it up, she crocheted a flower and took a picture of me with it, so I could 'offer' it to anyone I wanted.

So, I'd like to offer this flower to the two most important women in my world, magicwoman and dear Foxie:

Abby felt bad for not taking us out for a few days, so she showed us her garden.







The lavender smells really nice







We picked some blueberries to share.



Abby's family has some interesting garden ornaments.



Here, we were posing on the grass, and Little Lou decided to join us.

Today I saw a little bit of Vancouver.  It was obvious that we were gonig somewhere, but nobody would say where.

We started off at the Architectural Institute, where we parked.  They have a small gallery.





This looks like a normal bench, but it's made enturely of wood, even the cushions.





This is Victory Square, Vancouver's war memorial.



Across the street they were getting ready to film a movie in the alley next to Abby's mom's work.  The alley has been used in many movies (the only one that comes to Abby's mind is the chase scene in Air Bud), but is also the poster child for homelessness and drug use in Vancouver.  We were able to walk through the set twice (they weren't filming), but we didn't have time to stop and take a picture down the alley.



Far off down the street you can see the beginning of Chinatown.  The orange structure is the Gate of Thousands' Happiness, which was built in 2000.  On the right, the building with the copper roof is the old Sun Building.  It was originally owned by the Vancouver Sun, the local newspaper.  When it was built it was the tallest building in Vancouver.  The offices were up top and the printing presses were down below.  There are nine statues of women around the building, symbolizing the nine Muses of Greek mythology, and the roof is made of copper.  It has been climbed by Harry the Human Fly and Houdini escaped from a straightjacket suspended from the roof.



This is Vancouver's main sorting station for Canada Post.  All the mail for BC goes through here.  The last time I was here I was in an envelope.  A little known fact about this distribution centre, is that there is a tunnel leading from here to the waterfront.  Back when the mail arrived on trains it was the easiest way to get the mail to the building.





This is the main branch of the Vancouver Public Library.  The architecturue was influenced by the Roman Colliseum.



Finally we reached our destination...

SPAMALOT!









Obviously there wwas no picture taking allowed, but I can assure you that it was very funny.

During the intermission, Abby bought a new toy.



Eek!



Will it ever become a ToyVoyager?  Abby says no, because she wouldn't want to lose it.  Shame.

After the show, we went for dinner, and who did we see there?  Esther Stilwell, the Lady of the Lake in Spamalot.  She agreed to have her picture taken with us.

I'm on my way to Victoria, British Columbia's capital.

Abby and her sister did not go with their parents because both had to work, so we took public transportation.  Victoria is on Vancouver Island.  It took us four buses just to get to the ferry terminal!

Here's the receipt of our tickets.  They took the tickets away before Abby could take a picture.



To pass the time, we played cribbage without a board.



And of course, we went outside.









After we got off the ferry, I was disappointed to hear that we were nowhere near Victoria.  What, another bus?  At least this one was a double decker, and we had the good fortune to be sitting on the top, right at the very front.



Passing through Sidney-By-The-Sea.





There are lots of farms on Vancouver Island.



What you can't see here is that the field is being shared by cows and Canada geese.



Ugh, when will we make it to Victoria?

We made it to Victoria just in time for dinner.

On the menu there were interesting facts about the building we were in.



Across the street was this native longhouse.





I noticed some information on James Douglas, the first governor of both the British Columbian and Vancouver Island colonies, before they joined Canada.



Next, we came upon an old schoolhouse.







And then Helmcken House, the oldest standing house in Victoria.  John Helmcken was a doctor.





Next is the Royal Museum of British Columbia.  We are going there tomorrow.



This is the bell that stands outside of the museum.  As you can see, it was a gift from The Netherlands.







Also outside the museum was this area where you could pose with famous British Columbians.  It's part of BC's 150th birthday celebrations.  Can you see me?

Next, it was off to the Legislative Buildings.

First, we visited the local war memorial.



And then to the buildings themselves.



In front of the buildings was a statue of Queen Victoria, who was Britain's monarch when BC joined Canada.





We wandered around to the back of the buildings.  There was a garden in the back, with an old sundial.



This is the library.



On it are many carved figures.  This tells us who; various explorers and founders of British Columbia.  There are also heads carved in relief of famous philosophers and writers.





Next, we went on a tour inside the legislative buildings.

Here, out tour guide is explaining the coat of arms.  The shield in the centre is a smaller version of the flag.  the two animals represent the colonies of Vancouver Island (left) and mainland BC (right).  The crown at the top symbolizes alliegence to the British crown.  The motto is below, with dogwoods below that, the provincial flower.



The motto, Splendor Sine Occasu, means Splendor Without Deminishment.



This is where the Premier and the Members of the Legislative Assemby meet to debate.



This window was made to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's golden jubilee in 2002.  She visited here to unveil it.





This window is to commemorate the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria. 



The tour ended and we wandered down to the waterfront.



If you look on this map, I am standing at the bottom right corner of the harbour.



There are a lot of buskers around.  This man was playing the bagpipes.



On the sea wall there was a statue of Captain James Cook, one of teh men who explored the West Coast.



Along the sea wall there are many small vendors selling things they have made and art they have created.





Across the water you can see the Empress Hotel, the grandest hotel in Victoria.



There are many organizations trying to take advantage of the crowds attending the BC 150 celebrations.  This display was put on by BC Hydro, the main power supplier to BC.



I showed off my power-saving smarts and won Abby a lanyard.



On the way back to the car, I noticed this mural on the side of a building of Vancouver Island.  Victoria is right at the bottom.  At the top right where the skyscrapers are painted, that is Vancouver.  The lower part of Vancouver Island, where we are, is the only part of Western Canada that is below the 49th parallel.



On the street, this man was creating famous masterpieces with chalk.  Abby said that he was here the last time she was here a year ago, in the exact same spot.



Finally, we stopped at Rogers Chocolates.  I tried their ice cream at Bard on the Beach.



Everyone bought a Victoria cream.  Mine was wild cherry flavoured.

This is the view from the motel room:



Now, before you think that Abby's family were being cheap, they chose this motel for a reason.  The singer Nelly Furtado used to work here.



Today we are back at the Royal BC Museum to see the BC 150 special exhibit.

These 'postcards' were on the walls all over the exhibit.









This is an old aboriginal whale bone mask.





There were a couple people in costume who were telling stories and singing songs of miners and people searching for gold.  This man was telling us about a man who owned a mine who carried his employees through the Depression.



An aboriginal canoe



This teddy bear is over 100 years old!  Probably a little to delicate to become a toyvoyager.



Some examples of aboriginal clothing



The piece of gold in this case is worth $50000!



This is some information on the man who designed the Legistlative Buildings that I visited yesterday.



This button is from BC's 100 year celebration in 1958.





There was a little bit of information about Emily Carr.



This is what the chief of police used to wear.  Things have sure changed.



There was a display similar to the one outside the museum, only it was circular, of famous British Columbians.  How many can you recognize?





















This is a Kermode bear, BC's official animal.  It is only found in a small part of BC and is endangered.



These things belonged to people who were famous in early BC.  The jacket belongs to Colonel Moody, who was an engineer and founded the city where the original end of the Canadian Pacific Railway was, before it was extended to Vancouver.  The picture towards the left and the wig are and belonged to Judge Begbie, BC's first judge.



This is the document proclaming British Columbia as a colony.



After the exhibit, we checked out what else was on that floor.  There was a small, but very informative exhibit on climate change in the area.  Then it turned into the ice age.



After that there were displays on local wildlife.







There was a lot more museum to check out, but we had already spend three hours there and it was time to leave.

Abby's parents had gone on an architectural church tour the day before, so they decided to show those of us who hadn't been able to go some of the churches.

This is Christ Church Cathedral, the only Cathedral in the province.  An interesting fact about it is that the roof is made entirely of brick.  It is also the tallest church in Victoria.



As you can see, Winston Churchill laid one of the stones as the church was being built.



This church is no longer a church, but in fact a conservatory of music.  We slipped inside for a moment and four violinists were practicing onstage.



This church has burned down twice before and all that was saved from both were three small windows, the baptisimal fountain and their cross.



Don't be fooled by the rose window on this church, it's actually a synagogue, and the oldest standing place of worship in the city.



After the church tour, Abby persuaded her family to take us to see the more touristy parts of Victoria.  This street here is permanently closed to traffic and people set up tables and sell art.



This is Market Square, which has many interesting shops.  Unfortunately, we were only passing through and we didn't visit any of them.



This fountain stands just inside the gates.  It's a water fountain for humans now, but used to be a place for horses to drink.



We paused for a moment to watch a belly dancer.



Here I am at Fan Tan Alley, the narrowest street in North America.  At its narrowest it is only three feet wide.







This is the gate to Chinatown.



In Chinese culture, lions symbolize luck.



In the evening we went to a free concert in the harbour.  Victoria's symphony was playing on a stage floating on the water.  As you can tell, it was very popular and therefore hard to see.



A lot of people came to the concert.



People were talking through the concert, so we left after the first half.  Anyway, Abby's family had a few more places to show me.

This school is famous just because of it's name.



Then, we visited the birthplace of artist Emily Carr.