Tuesday, September 10, 2013

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.






12 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you had fun! Vancouver is lovely! Next time you can go to Victoria!

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  2. Wow, I am amazed at all the culture at the airport. It was almost like a museum. I think that you are right about calories not counting on vacation. When we went to Florida, I ate twice want I eat at home, and when I got home and went to my Weight Watchers meeting, I had lost two pounds. It had to be all the walking, swimming, and the line dancing lesson I took. Have fun and forget the calories . . . you're on vacation :)
    Your blogging sister, Connie :)

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  3. HI Kim. I enjoyed seeing your pictures of the Vancouver airport as I was there in July and missed all those fantastic things! Haha. I guess I was so busy looking for my sister that I didn't take them in or we arrived in a different area (from eastern Canada) than you. I also had the pleasure of meeting Judy (which I blogged about in August) as she lives just a few miles from my sister! We spent a lovely afternoon together. I hope you will share more of the photos from your trip. Have a great day! Pamela

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  4. Oh I hope that one day you two will get to meet! So sorry that time did not allow. It's so awesome in God's Country that even the airport is beautiful! Looking forward to reading more about your journey.

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  5. Oh Kim...so sorry I didn't get a chance to meet you. You were so close by! I'm glad it was a good experience for you...and hope you had a little sunshine while you were here. Right now, we are breaking record high temperatures.

    I'm looking forward to seeing the local sights through your eyes! I'm guessing you were at Granville Island...and the Ten Thousand Villages there. We are having a booksigning there in two weeks.

    And no...we never count calories on vacation!

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  6. I think the international arrival area at the Vancouver airport is one of the most beautiful in the world. And I don't say so just because I live in BC. So glad you enjoyed your time in our part of the world. Next time, come and stay longer and head over to Vancouver Island, too!

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  7. Kim! I love it that you came to visit Beautiful British Columbia. What a joy blogging is and I often marvel at the gift we have been given to have friends through blogging across the nations.
    Thank you for looking up our books too!

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  8. So glad you could see our "beautiful" city!
    I am looking forward to a trip to the Granville Island TTV store soon.
    And did you notice our BC license plates logo?

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  9. Oh wow, looks like a wonderful place to visit.
    So glad you enjoyed your time away.
    That plant wall is awesome!!
    Too bad you didn't get to meet Judy.

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  10. So glad you at last have managed to visit Vancouver - one of my most favorite places in the world!
    Next time you must also take the ferry to Victoria - a truly lovely city on the island - and the nicest bloggers live there too!!!!

    Hugs - Mary

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  11. I'm so happy to hear you were not disappointed. It has happened to me during some of our travels, that the build up in my mind did not match up to the actual place we were visiting. That is always a drag! Looking forward to reading more about your trip. I hope the wedding was fun.

    Jeannette

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  12. I was looking forward to seeing where your travels took you and was excited to see it was BC. I enjoyed every picture you shared, and it was fun to see that you even saw the MGCC cookbooks in the Ten Thousand Village's store. You share so much beauty in these pictures. Makes me hope for a trip there someday. Thank you for sharing your trip with us. Hope you continue to have a fun, relaxing time together.

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