As Beautiful as Expected

As the plane prepared for landing, I couldn't help but wonder whether our destination would live up to all I had expected it to be.  You know how sometimes you can build a place up in your mind over time and then it isn't quite as you had pictured it once you get there?

 

~ Scenes from the Vancouver International Airport ~

(not the clearest photos as Brett was rushing me along to the customs line, but let me just say this welcome to Vancouver makes a real statement complete with the sounds of duck calls)

 

 Upon stepping off the plane I knew my expectations would most likely be met, if not exceeded.

You see, it was when I began blogging (five or six years ago) and began visiting  Judy's Front Porch  that I saw the beauty of British Columbia for the first time.  Each time Judy would do a post featuring scenes from her front porch and surrounding areas, I was awed by the beauty.  In fact at one point I felt it necessary to find another word than "beautiful" to use in comments.  Ha!  It was a challenge, but I've tried alternating amazing, stunning, gorgeous, awesome, etc.  

Through the years I have had it in the back of my mind to someday, somehow get myself to British Columbia to experience this beautiful place.

When the invitation for a wedding in Seattle arrived, the light bulb went on.  Brett has listened to me sing the praises of British Columbia for so long that he was willing to add a few days to the trip.  We did a little research on some of the "must sees" while in the area and made a list of what we could reasonably see in our three short days here.

Before leaving the airport we marveled at the interesting sights to be found there.

Tall Totem Poles on the way to the rental car desk.

A wall of live plants grows alongside the parking deck.

This warranted a closer look ...

 after a long day of travel we spotted this:

a unanimous decision was reached to start the culinary portion of the trip with one of these:

I'm not sure but I think calories don't count when you're on vacation.  At least that's what I'm telling myself. :)

As of this post our time in Vancouver has come and gone. 

We packed every moment of our short time here with memory making experiences.  I have taken hundreds of photos and will share a few in upcoming posts.  When we were first planning the trip I hoped it might be possible to meet up with Judy, but it soon became evident that time would not permit.  However, our travels took us here:

the name sounded familiar so we went in and saw this:

which made me think about Judy and the rest of the Mennonite Girls .   It also made me think of the interesting connections that are made in blog land.  Had I not discovered Judy's blog all those years ago, I don't think I would have found myself in British Columbia and that would have been most unfortunate.  This has been a most memorable trip and one that I will not soon forget.