Tuesday, August 5, 2002
Flew to Vancouver via Air Canada. Flight took nearly 5 hours. Larry and Jen met us at the airport. It was pouring rain. They drove us around Vancouver and then we picked up some supplies and spent the afternoon cooking turkey. After dinner we went for a walk to pick up the tickets for the Abbotsford Airshow. The sun came out later on and it was hot.

Wednesday, August 7, 2002
The weather was a high of 18ºC and nice and breezy. We drove around Stanley Park and saw views of Lions Gate Bridge. Then drove around "Gastown" and saw gas driven clock. Drove along the Fraser River. Went to Jen's apartment and then to Boathouse Restaurant overlooking "English Bay" in downtown Vancouver. I had battered Chinook Salmon and it was delicious. We then sat on chairs overlooking English Bay for six hours before the "Celebration of Light" fireworks from Spain began. There were thousands of people there and the smell of pot was very thick and everywhere. All of the cops did was warn people not to smoke it and left them to it! Also lots of open boose drinking. The gays and lesbians were very flagrant in their behaviour to say the least! I have never seen so many thousands and thousands of Chinese. The fireworks lasted 45 minutes and it was just fabulous. When we got back to the West-End Community Centre underground parking we found that Larrys and 8 other cars had their windows broken in and their cars vandalised! We phoned the cops and they us to forget it as their were too busy as long as no one was injured and to just contact our insurance companies. When we drove out into the streets we saw many other cars with vandalised vehicles. Larry and Jen explained that crime was terrible here and nothing is done about it.

Thursday, August 8, 2002
Larry got his smashed car window fixed and in the afternoon Jen and I went for a walk and bought some software. It was a nice and sunny day.

Friday, August 9, 2002
We drove to Fort Langley in the afternoon. It is NOT worth a visit! It is supposed to be a replica of an original HBC fort but it looks so very modern that it is artificial. In the morning we went to Langley Airplane Museum. For lunch we ate at a 50's Elvis diner which was complete with juke boxes for music. It was a really neat place in the village of Langley. The weather was hot and sunny.

Saturday, August 10, 2002
Arrived at Abbortsford Airshow at 8am - weather was freezing and we were dressed for hot weather! It finally warmed up at 1pm and then we immediately roasted. It was a good airshow and there were thousands there. Abbortsford Airport is 60km from Vancouver.

Sunday, August 11, 2002
Hot and sunny and a great day at the Abbortsford Airshow.

Monday, August 12, 2002
Jen and I went shopping and bought some clothes each. Ken and Larry decided to build a bench for the patio to put over the Thule (for skiis). They bought the lumber and built it. The weather was really hot and sunny.

Tuesday, August 13, 2002
We drove through the Fraser Valley to Tswassen to catch the B.C. ferry to Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island. The cruise over was great and we saw so many islands and watercraft on the ocean. From Swartz Bay we drove to Victoria and toured around. It is a very nice and clean city. Then we went to "King George Terrace Outlook" in Trafalgar Park. It is a steep outcrop of lava rock leading into the ocean. It is very beautiful there. Then we went to "White Spot" restaurant for lunch and then on to Esquimalt Naval Base and Museum. Then we drove to Nanaimo along the coastal highway. But it was a long hot drive and one cannot see anything as the trees on either side of the highway are over 60ft in height. A very long and hot drive! The B.C. ferry that we were to catch at Nanaimo to take us to Horseshoe Bay on the mainland wasn't running till 9:50PM so we had to wait in the scorching heat and high hot winds sitting in our car on the tarmac in 32ºC heat from 7pm to 9:40pm. The ferry was also delayed because they had to rescue a sailboat that was floundering in the high waves and winds. We finally got back at 1:15am.

Wednesday August 14, 2002
We took a day off and rested and Ken and Larry worked on the patio bench. It was very hot and sunny.

Thursday August 15, 2002
Weather was hot and sunny again. We drove to Steveston fishing village. It is very picturesque with quaint little shops and a long boardwalk facing the fishing vessels that sell the fresh caught seafood. We had lunch at the "Shady Island" restaurant and off the fishing boats we bought fresh Sockeye Salmon and from the seafood market we bought fresh caught crab and mussels for our dinner. Steveston is a must see village just 20 minutes out of Vancouver on the Straits of Georgia. We then stopped off at a large outdoor produce market for fruit and veggies. The blackberries, and blueberries were the largest I have every seen in my life. They grow more cranberries here than anywhere else in the world so we also saw the cranberry bogs.

Friday, August 16, 2002
Had a nice lazy day and got ready for our fishing trip. It was again very hot and sunny.

Saturday, August 17, 2002
Drove through the inland mountains and it is very beautiful and nothing like I had thought them to be. The scenery and terrain changes from forest to rainforest to semi-desert mountains. The sand mountains had deep marble coloured gorges. We arrived at Sheridan Lake Resort and it was pouring rain there and poured all night. It was also very hot. Sheridan Lake is near Lone Butte about 5 ½ hours north from Vancouver. Our elevation was 3200 ft.

Sunday, August 18, 2002
It was hot and sunny so we went off in our rented boat to fish. We fished for 4 hours and not a nibble. The geography looks just like being in Northern Ontario. Later in the day Ken and I went fishing and didn't take a net - big mistake! Ken hooked onto a lunker rainbow trout that was about 6lb. It took him 15 minutes to bring it in to the side of the boat and I tried to grab onto it. Got a hold of the fish line but on trying to raise the fish out of the water by holding the line the fish broke the line and we lost it!

Monday, August 19, 2002
Drove back to Vancouver by another route. Went through Marble Canyon Provincial Park which is semi-desert terrain. The gorge at Marble Canyon overlooked the Fraser River. Went into "Lillooet" which is pronounced "Lil-o-wet". South of Lillooet we saw "Cayoose Creek" and the glaciers north of Pemberton. We also saw more glaciers 35km east of Pemberton. South of Pemberton we drove through Garibaldi Park and saw the ski runs on the mountains overlooking Whistler. North of Squamish was the mountain range and glaciers of the "Tantalus Mountain Range". Then next the high waterfall at "Shannon Falls". Lastly Larry and Jen took us to Cypress Mountain for a fabulous overhead view of the city of Vancouver. The weather was more comfortable at about 18ºC. I did not realise that British Columbia had semi-desert mountain ranges with sage-brush and tumbleweeds. It was such a wonderful days trip.