Day 2 in Vancouver was hot, but the skies were still fairly blue. A few of the fires had started by this point, but the smoke hadn't made its way into the city. We spent most of the day in Stanley Park. The 1,000 acre park covers the entire peninsula northwest of Downtown. It is huge. Most of the park is dense forest made up of cedar and fir trees with numerous hiking trails running through the middle of it. We concentrated on the outer edge of the park though - the 5 mile Stanley Park Seawall loop.
Vancouver Harbor
While standing on the Seawall taking pictures of the harbor, I looked down to step back off the wall and by chance noticed these little guys just below the edge.
Canada Geese - A whole family of them!
Lion's Gate Bridge from the lighthouse
Brockton Point Lighthouse
Lions Gate Bridge from the Seawall
Robson Square is a civic center and public plaza that leads into the art gallery.
The art gallery hosted a Thai Festival that set up around this beautiful fountain. 
It is fairly noticeable in the photos that as the day progressed, the wildfires got worse, and by early evening the sky was white. By the next day it was grey and the smell set in. The next day was also the Women's World Cup Finals, and Vancouver was a zoo...full of Americans. Our hotel was only a few blocks from BC Center Stadium, and while coming back from having lunch nearby chanting and cheering could be heard. Game time was still a couple of hours away, so we walked in its direction to see what was going on. 
Gobs of Americans (or those cheering for the US Team anyhow) paraded in droves down Robson Street, which leads right to the stadium. We probably watched them for about 5 minutes and they just kept coming.
How cute are those goslings! I love your last shot of them walking away from you. :D
ReplyDeleteThe totems are lovely and so bright. I wonder how often they have to repaint them to keep them that way? That fountain at the Thai Festival is beautiful, too.
I was so absorbed in the scenery, that I didn't even notice the sky changing until you pointed it out.
I'm not big on crowds, so I think you were probably better off watching the game from the bar. ;) At least there you could properly wet (or is that whet?) your whistle.
I had to go back and click on the raccoon for a closer look. I saw a mother and her three youngsters (almost as big as she was) cross the highway in broad daylight as I was driving back from Little Rock earlier today.
DeleteI agree with you on the crowds. As fun as it was to kind of be in the middle of "it" I was also very glad to not continue into the sea of people. Unfortunately, the crowds were EVERYWHERE this trip. That's the downside to teacher breaks...everyone else is off and traveling too. I usually don't travel anywhere very touristy in the summer due to the prices, crowds and the heat. This trip reminded me of why I made that rule! :)
DeleteIt was fun to see the wildlife. I'm sure there would have been more sightings had we gone inward.
How fun to have seen a raccoon family! It is kind of odd to see them out in the daylight though isn't it. They're so darn cute but can be so mischievous. This one was VERY busy. He had something (a fish or shellfish?) that was taking all his attention.
Lovely photos. The trick with the raccoon is to crop. But have the fellow in the center/sharpest part of the lense. Birders and wildlife nuts in general love crop sensor cameras like your canon. You have 24mpix, or near enough, crammed into a tiny space. And the really shine when you crop down on wildlife. The trick next time is to shoot the animal in the center, and lower down if you can. If he crosses the H-line he'll look bigger. That's why back in the day a movie stars poster had a shaded horizon below her bust, made em look gigantic.
ReplyDeleteLove the totem poles. I've seen then in the British Museum and the Louvre. There the colours weren't as bright. Here they are lovely.
I've never quite fathomed the draping the body with the flag thing you Americans go in for. But that show is quite magnificent, and for the women too. Harder to credit that !. :-)
I don't know where the flag draping comes from...these ones were wearing like a cape too? People were dressed in all sorts of stuff. There was a couple being interviewed with TV cameras while we watched, and they were dressed as Wonder Woman and Captain America. If I'm remembering correctly, the flag "rules" state that it can't be worn/draped over the body.
DeleteTried cropping the raccoon, but I think I was just too far back (didn't bring the long lens) so the cropped image is kind of pixelated.
On another note, I took Rigby to the vet today and she's now 53 pounds! She keeps growing and growing!
53 isn't that much over her ideal weight. And it depends what the weight is made from, fat or muscle. She could be big boned. Some of them are a bit bigger than others. What does the vet say.
DeleteShe's big, but it's all muscle. I thought she was done growing, 47ish pounds was what my previous Queensland weighed. Rigby's been at 48ish for a couple of years now, so 5 pounds is a lot. I hadn't noticed her being bigger so it was a surprise. :). I always classified her as a medium sized dog. Not so sure I can do that now tipping the scales over 50! Still, though, a 53 lb lap dog. :)
DeleteI was thinking. You might want to check if the make-up of her food changed in the last few months. Or even since you are home is she getting titbits during the day she normally wouldn't eat.
DeleteMy Jess is about the same at 20-22Kg, ishy on the bathroom scales just now. The old split was at 50 pounds, now, here it's 20Kg.
Her food hasn't changed and I don't really give her people food. But I was thinking about it today, and it could be her age. She's far less "busy" now that she's 5 than she was even 6 months ago. Not lethargic, but no longer a spaz either. It could be that she's just not burning it off like she was when every move I made made her jump up and run around my legs. These days she mostly just lifts her head when I get up. :)
DeleteYour off leash walks probably help keep Jessie a svelte girl. She gets a lot of running in, I'd imagine.
What I'm on about is the make-up of the food, the recipe. They may well have upped the fats or the sugars in the kibbles.
DeleteI was shocked just how improved in energy Jessy became when I fed her more actual meat. The shit's she produced dropped by a quarter. Once I'd be utterly bemused at the GIGANTIC pooh a small dog produced. Then I watched an program by Oprah where she had pet nutritionists on and they explained cereals cannot be digested and sugars aren't good at all.
Yes, a lot of the bagged food seems to be full of fillers. What Rigby eats isn't the one with the least amount, but it's decent. I think I mentioned before, I tried the top of the line and she "enjoyed" eating it twice - out of the bag and a second time...if you catch what I'm saying. Despite the benefits, I just couldn't deal with that.
DeleteI will have to check if they've changed up the ingredients though. They add that corn to everything these days, so it would't surprise me if it's been increased while keeping the price of the bag the same.
Your vacation sounds like so much fun! : ) I have some friends that went to the game. They said it was awesome but insanely crowded!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it was fun and an experience. The game was good one too, exciting with all the scoring. I interned for World Cup when it was here in LA and got to go to the finals and the third place game. Of course, the US wasn't in it so I didn't really care who won, but the EVENT was cool. It was fun to watch the ladies do it this year, especially after the last time ending in shoot out loss.
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