Granville Island Market

Dear Family and Friends,

Granville island, located in Vancouver, was once an industrial area.  Now it is the home to artisans and the public market.  We visited this "must see" tourist attraction today.

We enjoyed looking in all the stores and shops.  

 But the best part was touring the public market.

 There was fresh fruit and produce.

Beautifully marbled meats...but at a cost.  Notice the prices.

Desserts for take away.

And gorgeous cut flowers.

After touring Granville Island we got back on the bus.  We got off at Gas Town, home of the famous steam clock.

Here is Matt and Chuck checking out the steam clock.

And here they are clowning around with a "local."

And, since Matt figured the hat he bought in Chinatown might not fit in in Toronto, he bought another hat for the rest of the trip.  He is modeling it here.

Yep, we love Vancouver!

More to come later.

Love,
Nancy

Sightseeing in Vancouver, BC

Dear Family and Friends,

After a good nights rest we bought tickets on the "Hop on/Hop off" tour bus.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun was very bright.  Matt is pretty slick on the top of his head so he borrowed my hat until he could buy one for himself.

 
Vancouver is surrounded on three sides by water, with a beautiful back drop of snow covered mountains.  In my opinion it is one of the prettiest cities in Canada. 

 

Even the people are beautiful.  Here is a traffic cop hamming it up for the camera.

Since Vancouver is surrounded on three sides by water, the only place it has to grow is UP.  Most people live in high rise condos.

 

In the bright sunlight, this glass building reflected the buildings facing it.

 

We got a tickle out of this art....called the Laughing Chinese.

This kayak-er was enjoying the beautiful weather in the water.

When we got off the bus in Chinatown, Matt found the perfect sun hat that he absolutely had to have. 

 I'll share more about Vancouver next time.

Love,

Nancy

Matt's Vacation

Dear Family and Friends,

After leaving Minnesota, Chuck and I flew to Seattle, rented a car and drove across the mountains to Richland. We went to pick up Matt to start his vacation.  This year he decided to take the Canadian train across Canada to Toronto.

This is what we were greeted with as we reached the summit of the Cascade mountains on April 29th.

We picked up Matt and headed back to Seattle on May 4th (5 days later) and this is how the summit looked.   Bare and dry!! Absolutely beautiful weather!

We drove to the airport in Seattle, turned in our rental car.  We caught the Seattle light rail to the Amtrak station. 

Here is Matt at the renovated King Street station as we waited for our train to Vancouver, Canada.

 
It took about four hours to get to Vancouver.   We had wi-fi on the train so the time went by quickly.

Next time I will share with you about our visit in Vancouver before we board the Canadian train for Toronto.

Love,
Nancy

Enjoying Joshua!

Dear Family and Friends,

A couple of weeks ago we returned to Cuenca.  Our oldest grandson, fifteen year old Joshua, met us in Las Vegas.  He and Chuck returned to Cuenca via Panama.  I, having had enough traveling, returned to Cuenca on Delta airlines without a stop in Panama.

Chuck and Joshua did sightseeing for a couple of days including a boat trip through the Panama Canal.

They arrived in Cuenca a couple of days after me.

Joshua spent about a week and a half with us in Cuenca.  We did all the tourist activities with him.  Chuck took him to the big market, three museums, the double deck tour bus, and a lot of shopping trips.

Here is Chuck and Joshua on the double deck tour bus.

On the way back to the U.S., we spent a couple of days in Quito seeing the sights.

Here is a picture of Joshua and me at the equator.

We took Joshua home to Minnesota.  We visited there over the weekend, hugging grand kids and having a great time.

Our youngest grandchild, Autumn Rose, asleep in her highchair.

Right now we are in Richland, Washington sharing time with family and friends.

 Good friends, Robin and Jim Morris at a wonderful seafood restaurant.

It is time for Matt's yearly vacation.  This year he is choosing a Canadian train trip.  We are leaving today and train from Seattle to Vancouver, B.C. tonight.  After a few days in Vancouver we will go by train to Toronto.

My ability to post as we go will depend on internet access.  I hope it works out, I love blogging as we go.

Happy "Cinco de Mayo" to all my friends from Mexico.

Love,
Nancy

FOTO FRIDAY - 5/3/13

Dear Family and Friends,

This Fridays photos were taken in Malaysia.  These photos are from a street food market.

I get the drumstick and the wings, but what do you suppose the bishop nose is?

Love,
Nancy