Tuesday, August 2, 2011

I drove in to Vancouver with no problem, the signage being fine, and I stopped at the River Rock casino to park for the Sky Train. I was in town in a few minutes and I decided to go to Stanley Park and rent a bike first. There certainly were no scarcity of bike shops over on Denham, and in a few minutes I was on a very comfortable comfort bike and pedaling along the eight mile bike trail through the park. That was a real treat even though some cyclists were fast and few announced themselves as they passed. I then had a terrific lunch at a Thai place recommended by the bike shop. I stopped at a Telus store and the fellow there helped me get the GPS and the internet working. I then went back to the downtown Sky Train station, headed back to my SUV and then drove to the Comfort Inn, one Tracy and I stayed in. I was able to check in early¸ and after a nap I had the pleasant surprise to find that Tracy had e-mailed me a kind e-mail thanking me for showing her how to drive through a boulder strewn road. I unfortunately took it too positively and sent her a long e-mail telling here what I was up to (and wishing she could have joined me on the Elk) and also detailing the hollow easement. I ended with a strong apology for ruining the relationship, but when she e-mailed back the next day she just wished me well in my travels.
I went into town my nap and yoga and I ate at a very nice place called Whet, then walked around Granville Island for an hour, particularly enjoying that amazing market they have. I took one of the aquabus tours of False Creek and then had dessert and coffee at a place on the water . I returned to River Rock and played the slots for an hour, winning 25 dollars.
On Sunday I decided to head back to Stanley to go bike riding and that jaunt was even more fun since I went a little earlier and it wasn’t as crowded. I had bunch at a little French restaurant (first rate) and then headed back to my room for a nap and yoga.
After that it was time to head to Yaletown for my dinner at the Fodor recommended C restaurant. It was very good but not top tier.
I then took the train to waterfront and walked around a little but I was too tired to walk much. I went back to River Rock and played some slots and broke even this time after played for 45 minutes.
The next morning found me very restless to get going to the ferry and despite calming myself I ended up near the terminal at 10:30 but fortunately they let me catch the 11:00 boat so that saved me an hour. I wanted to play golf and then get a campground but that plan wasn’t working since the golf courses were crowded and the RV parks wouldn’t take tents. Finally I drove to Goldstream Provincial Park and got a lovely campsite, set up my tent and then went to play golf at the Bear Mountain Resort. The Mountain Course has to be one of the most beautiful and most difficult courses I have ever played. I started from the much easier red tees for the first four holes but after that I tried to hit from where my three partners were hitting from and I ended up with a 9, an 8 and two 7s. Still Sid and his nephews were a lot of fun and though the whole enterprise (with clubs) cost me 90 dollars I did get a sleeve of balls, a few extra practice balls, and some tees to cover me on my next course. I drove into Victoria after that, but it was pretty late and I was tired so I decided to come back tomorrow morning so I can really enjoy the town. I had problems locating a good restaurant but I finally ended up at a highly recommended one, Il Terrazo and had a wonderful diinner of halibut, pasta and mixed vegetables. I walked around for fifteen minutes but I was worn out so I drove back to Goldstream and slept reasonably well in the fresh air.

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