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Crystal Cove Oceanside Campground, Tofino, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Odometer – 7929

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Today Orr and Shir are 23 months old. It’s hard to believe that next month they will celebrate 2 years! When we got up this morning, it was cold and cloudy. It looked like it would rain any minute. We left Ucluelet and drove to the Pacific Rim Park.

It was still cloudy and chilly when we started a 1km Bog Trail. (more…)

Ucluelet Campground, Ucluelet, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Odometer – 7902

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We had a long drive this morning so we left the campground in Nanaimo as soon as we could. The drive starts along the eastern shore of the island and then cuts through the middle through forests, lakes, and mountains until reaching the west coast. It was very scenic. We were surprised to see snow capped mountains on the island.

About halfway through, the road became narrow and very winding, so we had to drive very slowly. (more…)

Living Forest Oceanside Campground, Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Odometer – 7728

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We bid Vancouver farewell this morning and headed westward to Vancouver Island. It’s a huge island, about the size of Israel and can be accessed by Ferry.

We took a cab from the hotel in downtown to the campground where we parked the RV. I breathed a sigh of relief when we got there and everything was OK. While Paola unpacked, I played with the kids in the campground playground. We then drove a few miles west to Horseshoe Bay, not before fueling up the car and our fridge. (more…)

Hampton Inn, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Odometer – 7721

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Finally the rain stopped. As we have covered all the tourist attractions we have planned, today was set for doing locals’ attractions. We took a bus to the hip Kitsilano neighborhood on west 4^th street and spent the morning walking around the many specialty shops. Paola found a good pair of hiking shoes. Ron got a kaleidoscope. Orr and Shir got some tiny winding toys that worked well for 5 minutes. I got a sushi lunch that was very tasty. Ron had some of the raw fish too, and he liked it. (more…)

Hampton Inn, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Odometer – 7721

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We had a lucky break this morning and it didn’t rain. We walked over to Chinatown to visit Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Gardens. The doctor was the first leader of modern China. The Garden is the first of its kind outside of China and was constructed in 1986. It is a scholarly garden reminiscent of the Ming dynasty era, which means although it does not look too impressive, there are many delicate balances of materials, colors, plants and whatnot. We came just in time for an instructed walk, which Paola enjoyed as I overlooked the children. (more…)

Hampton Inn, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Odometer – 7721

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A cloudy drizzly morning did not stop us from touring the city. We walked a few blocks down Beatty Street to the marina where we caught an aqua-bus to Granville Island. The aqua bus is a small roofed boat with capacity for 15 people that takes you to various points along the water. Ron Shir and Orr were thrilled to be on a new type of vehicle.

Granville Island, not really and island, used to be a run down industrial area, but good planning turned it into a hip urban market, especially on the weekends. (more…)

Hampton Inn, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Odometer – 7721

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Shabbat Shalom.

Today it rained most of the time. We therefore planned indoor activities and went out whenever the sky let up for a bit. At the hotel we got up around 9:30am, and barely made it to the nice breakfast served till 10am.

When we got out of the hotel there was no rain, so we started walking up Robson street, THE street of downtown. After 4 blocks it started to rain. Luckily we were right in front of the Vancouver Art Museum, so we stepped in.

We spent 3 hours at the museum, covering all the galleries. The first and most impressive was an exhibit of Impressionist art dubbed “From Monet to Dali” on loan from the Cleveland Museum of Art. It was a good collection and by the end of the exhibit Ron already knew about Monet, Van Gogh, Picasso’s Blue Period and Rodin’s Thinker.

The rest of the exhibits were of modern art and modern Canadian art. Thankfully Shir and Orr fell asleep in the stroller and Ron was a good sport. (more…)

Hampton Inn, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Odometer – 7721

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After a rainy morning of packing things and laundries we finally left the campground after 11am. We drove a whole 5km to Stanley Park, which houses a great aquarium. Stanley Park is to Vancouver what Central Park is to New York. It is large, filled with interesting things to do, and unlike NY, in some places is very wild and untamed. (more…)

Capilano Campground, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Odometer – 7685

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We drove the last 100km to Vancouver today on the beautiful Sea-to-Sky highway. It probably is a very pretty drive when

a) The sun is out and it is not raining

b) There is no construction work on over 80% of the road, reducing the speed limit to 30-50km/h when not standing still waiting for a construction truck to get out of the way.

So instead of 90 minutes, the drive took us twice as long and we didn’t really enjoy the view. Se la vie, as they say. (more…)

Riverside Campground, Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Odometer – 7592

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Most people get to Whistler on the see to sky highway from Vancouver. We got here from inland, driving 250 miles today, mostly on side roads that were rather empty. From Clearwater we drove on highway 24, then took 97 and finally 99. There were plenty of forests, rivers and lakes along the way. (more…)