Monday, March 26, 2012

Vancouver BC Birthday Vacation

During my birthday week in mid-March we took a short vacation (4 nights) to Vancouver, British Columbia. We have been trying to get up there for awhile and I wanted a get-away for my birthday. I wanted to have Eric and Carmen with me, but also get to snowboard on my birthday. Even though the weather was cold, stormy and rainy for much of the trip, we had an amazing time and made the most of it. The weather also made for perfect snowboarding conditions. Vancouver is such a cool international city. We will definitely go back when we get the chance.


"Couchy Carmen" in our nice room at the Sylvia hotel on English Bay.

Another view of our spacious, clean, and comfy room.

This funny seagull was watching us from the window ledge of our room while we enjoyed our coffees.

Not letting the cold and stormy weather keep us from enjoying a long walk along Vancouver's waterfront.

Birthday morning room service!

I had an incredible 36th birthday shredding the gnar at Cypress Mountain!

This is where they held some of the 2010 winter Olympics. Cypress Mountain is only a 30-minute drive from downtown Vancouver.

Amazing scenary! So much powder. Nothing like listening to Sigur Ros on the audio helmet and just taking in these views.

Views of Bowen Island from the slopes. On a clear day you can see downtown Vancouver from the slopes. Where else in the world is that possible?


This is a picture of Stanley Park and downtown Vancouver on the drive down from Cypress Mountain after my afternoon of awesome snowboarding.

The sun came out! Here Eric and Carmen are standing beside the seawall along English Bay in front of our hotel.

Looking back towards our hotel (left).

Delicious birthday dinner at the Fish House in Stanley Park, just a 10-minute stroll from our hotel.

Birthday cupcakes in our room to finish the evening.

Taking the water taxi to the Granville Farmers Market. Carmen got to ride too.

Friendship statue.

Dinner and beer tasting at the Alibi Room.

On our last day the sun came out again and we checked out more sites in Stanley Park. The picture above is of Carmen and Eric along the seawall looking back at downtown Vancouver.

The beautiful Stanley Park totems.

View from Stanley Park looking towards North Vancouver and the Lions Bridge. We love you Vanouver B.C.!

Betsy visit

Eric's sister Besty came for a short visit in February. We had a great time with Besty and went hiking everyday (4 hikes in 4 days). Unfortunately we didn't take many pictures, but here are a couple:

Looking out at the water from Seattle's Discovery Park.


Breakfast at Tugboat Annies on Olympia's WestBay.

TBTL 1000th

In January we went to the live recording for the 1000th episode of our favorite podcast: To Beautiful to Live (TBTL) at the Neptune Grande in Seattle. The 1000th show was broadcast live on Kiro FM. Remember the local celebrity Luke Burbank that we ran into back in December 2011 in Port Townsend? This is his podcast. We had a lot of fun. At the end of the night Eric quickly snuck Carmen in the front door and Luke said "Hey I know that dog".


Sean Detore, Luke Burbank and Jen Andrews of TBTL and Kiro Radio fame.