Kyle surprised me a couple of months ago with news that he scheduled a week off from work so we could go on a "babymoon" - one last trip before the baby comes. We already had tentative plans to visit friends in Seattle in May, so we made that our starting point. We spent 9 days and covered Seattle, Vancouver, Whistler, and Orcas Island. It was a great time to relax, explore the area, and just be together.
SEATTLEFirst, we flew to Seattle to visit our friends, Chris and Heather, for the weekend. They were great hosts and showed us all around the city.
At Snoqualmie Falls, 30 min. from Seattle.
At the Pike Place Market.
Of course we had to take a picture in front of the original Starbucks. We didn't go in or order anything because the line was out the door.
VANCOUVERThe next stop on our trip was Vancouver, where we spent 2 nights. The first day we went to Stanley Park, which is the second largest park in North America (Central Park is the largest). The next day we endured the constant rain and chilly temperatures and walked around all day to hit the hot spots, including historic Gastown, Chinatown, and Granville Market.
A view of Lion's Gate Bridge from Stanley Park.
The famous old steam clock in Gastown.
48 degrees and rain that never let up!
The next morning we took the Whistler Mountaineer train to Whistler, Canada (location for the 2010 Winter Olympics). The scenery was breathtaking, and the train would slow down to "Kodak speed" when we approached the highlights of the journey. We spent the afternoon walking around the Whistler village, and we did some hiking too.
Whistler Village was nice - we'll have to go back to ski there sometime.
SEAPLANEThe next morning we took a 35 minute flight on a seaplane back to Vancouver, which was another neat experience that allowed us to see the beautiful scenery we saw on the train from a different perspective.
We had the plane to ourselves!
Before leaving Vancouver, we decided to go to one last tourist attraction - the Capilano Suspension Bridge, which is the oldest tourist attraction in Vancouver (originally built in 1889).
The bridge spans 450 feet across and 230 feet above the Capilano River. The reinforced steel is anchored into 13 tons of concrete on either side of the bridge, and the two cables together can support the weight of two 747s. That sounded plenty safe to us!
ORCAS ISLAND
Our last stop was Orcas Island, off the coast of Washington between Seattle and Vancouver. We took a scenic drive along the coast, then rode the ferry to the island, where we stayed at a lovely Bed and Breakfast. We really enjoyed the island and would have liked more time there.
A view of the charming Inn at Orcas Island.
We got the chance to go on a 3-hr whale watching tour around the islands. Besides a pod of 6-8 Orca Whales (commonly known as Killer Whales), we also saw porpoises and other wildlife. This picture shows one of the Orcas.
On the whale-watching tour, we passed by this island that had a bunch of seals sunbathing on the rocks. We also saw bald eagles, reindeer, and sheep on the same island.
A waterfall we saw on our way up to the top of Mt. Constitution.
The only time Kyle could ever be considered a "tree-hugger". He was really just trying to show the massive size of this Douglas Fir tree.
The view at the peak of Mt. Constitution. Fortunately for us, we didn't have to hike the mountain to see this - we drove all the way to the top.
From left to right: Melanie, Marisa, Jill, Courtney, Katherine, and Deborah.
Pregnant together! Deb is due in December.
My college roommate, Katherine. We shared the same room for 3 years in college!
We had a lovely dinner at the Yacht Club. The group surprised me with baby gifts and a cake.
