Sunday Adventure

Spur of the moment, this week I decided to go up to the Vancouver Aquarium today, to take more pictures for my project and to see two more of the aquariums of the west coast.

I got up at 8, had a quick snack of blueberry muffins and an avocado with my sister, and then took off north up I-5 all by myself. The scenery is just incredible! Both the Cascades and the Olympics were clearly visible and much of the way was brilliant green... farmland just north of Everett, and woods north of that.

I listened and sang to my heart's content and then stuck on an audio book by an Easy Company Soldier from the famous "Band of Brothers". He grew up here, in the Pacific Northwest... Astoria, Oregon, to be specific. It was fabulous hearing about how he grew up here in the 20's and 30's. And JBL narrated it, of course. This is the second time I've gotten a book that he read... both incredible stories, read meticulously! Sometimes I even forget that it's him... as he does Irish accents and gruff voices. Very entertaining. And then he mentioned Pittsburgh once, and some spy that got caught by the Germans... No kidding!

I stopped off at Bellingham at 10:20, drove through the Western Washington University campus just to see it, then headed to the waterfront to take in the Marine Life Center of Bellingham. It was a tiny little thing with only 5 tanks, but number of tanks doesn't mean you can take any less valuable pictures... in fact, the smaller, the less distracting the aquarium. There are a couple images I got that will be contenders for the project! I took about 3/4 hour in that little room! On the way back, I stopped in a little marine supply/art gallery not far from the waterfront. I bought a print of a great blue heron for Mom. After that I went to Taco Time, back by the university, and then hopped back on I-5 North.

The border crossing was fast, around 1PM, but the Canadian lady was grumpy. What's funny is, coming back, the American lady was friendly. Usually, or in my past experience, this should have been the opposite. Only took a couple minutes to get through.

I got confused by the directions Google gave me, and took a wrong route. I ended up heading for the University of British Colombia's campus, which I wanted to peek at anyway (they have a good Library Science program). Nice campus! It sits on the southern tip of Vancouver, jutting out into the Straight of Georgia. Views of towering mountains from across the wide river's mouth. When I turned around, I finally got it straight, and after a little getting lost at Stanley Park... and seeing Clydesdales, of all things... I found the Aquarium. I was a little bewildered, but made it alright. I found that I dislike Canadian traffic. They rarely have turn signals and when the light is green, it blinks at you. Why? Also, the streets seem a little narrower and there is a serious lack of signs directing you to places. Gah! I felt like I was in downtown Seattle (which I also strenuously dislike) except with no turn signals. To tell the truth, it felt a little like driving in Beijing - except with English. Maybe it's an Olympic thing. :)

The aquarium was... concise. I was surprised to find they had an African fish exhibit, combined with exotic birds. It felt a little out of place, along with the frog exhibit, as the rest of the aquarium was Pacific marine life. But their layout was very good and they had many great tanks, including 3 lionfish, a giant pacific octopus, hagfish, and the usual set. Outside they had a pair of beluga whales, dolphins, seals and otters. There was also a hawk and bald eagle show going on when I walked outside. Very cool, indeed!

I headed straight home after the hour and 3/4 I spent there. Going back was much simpler. I made it though nearly 3 full discs of the book! It's a very good one.

Got home at 8:15, filled up the 3/4 tank of gas I used today, and then got a snack at home. 300 mile trip today! Good thing I was in my car.

What a day, again! Holy cow! I have to stay in one place tomorrow!

Can I handle it?
Jp