Day 8 - July 17, 2010 11:59 PM

July 17, 2010
11:59 PM

We got up early in Penticton and were on the road by 8:45 AM. We made 1 stop for refreshments, got stuck in a 20 minute traffic jam in Surrey. We made it to downtown Vancouver by 1:30 PM. The boys were put off by the crowds and general look of downtown including Hastings and Main streets. Their opinions did change later in the day.

Unfortunately this is the weekend of the Vancouver Folk Festival so there were very few hotel rooms available in downtown Vancouver. One of the hotel people phone around for us and we found a place in North Vancouver. We were settled in by 3:45 PM.

We then contacted our friend R and D who live in Vancouver and had previously offered their assistance as personalized tour planners. They invited us to their condo for a drink and planning session.

Their condo is on English bay along the beach just next to the Grandville Island ferry. They welcomed us up to their condo, introduced us to their dog Deefer and gave us several suggestions as what to see. They also offered for us to park our car in their underground parking garage as we toured around the area. What a beautiful view from the 25th floor living room. Overall the building and area which they called their "backyard" was very urban and very interesting to see. Thanks to R and D for generously giving up their time to meet and help out our troop.

We set out to walk and experience the happenings around the rectangle bordered by Beach Road, Denman, Robson and how. It was an interesting mix of people on the beach, buskers, restaurants, bars and shops. We spent about 3 hours touring the area on foot, picking up supper along the way. Everyone was interested to see the liveliness of this area of the city.

We made our way back to the hotel and armed with the extra info supplied by R and D planned out the next 1.5 to 2 days.

R and D also mentioned that there was a fireworks competition happening on Wednesday and Saturday. We think that juggling our schedule may be a bit much to try and fit this event in. It sounds like there are a massive amount of people and you would need to invest 5 or 6 hours to ensure a good viewing point along English bay.

We will be meeting up with R and D again tomorrow late in the afternoon for more site seeing and supper.