Olympic excitement building
 

On Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:53:01 -0800, "CalifBill"
wrote:


"jps" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:51:41 -0800, "CalifBill"
wrote:


"Vic Smith" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:05:29 -0800, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

"H the K" wrote in message


There's a Chinatown, a lot of "shoppes," beautiful shoreline vistas,
interesting flora, mountains, ferries, according to my wife.


I'm sure it'll be beautiful. They supposedly have an awesome place.

Forget that Chinese food and get over to Hope, about 100 miles east.
That's where they filmed "First Blood" which introduced Rambo.
And where Trautman said to Teasle,
"Vagrancy wasn't it? That's gonna look real good on his grave stone in
Arlington: Here lies John Rambo, winner of the Congressional Medal of
Honor, survivor of countless incursions behind enemy lines. Killed for
vagrancy in Jerkwater, USA."

Not that it's really Jerkwater, just saying...

--Vic

Hope is actually a very nice town. Close to the Shakespeare railroad
tunnels. The engineer read poetry to the workers and the tunnels were
named
after characters. Othello is the one you can visit.
http://www.findfamilyfun.com/othellotunnels.htm
Vancouver is a very nice city. Close to Whistler, take the Sea to Sky
highway for a fantastic view. Vancouver itself has good and bad
restaurants, Stanley park with rabbits running around. Some really
upscale
areas (Horseshoe Bay), and nice beaches. Actually Vancouver Island and
Vancouver BC have some nice ocean swimming. The tides are 13-15' and
expose
large sand areas, that warm up if sunny and when the water comes in it may
warm to the 70's. The Gulf Islands are also a neat area. Look a lot like
the San Juans but are geologically much different. San Juans are the top
of
mountains, The gulf islands are much shallower water, and are really small
hills. Rocky, but not real deep. I recommend a B&B in Ganges on Salt
Spring Island for a nice get away. Wife really likes that. I have towed
my
boat up there as well as just visiting, a few times over the last 41
years.

Last time we were in Ganges, they were still spilling raw sewage into
the bay. Cruising in was mighty stanky but got better towards the
marina. It is a nice town but getting kind of big.

I'd recommend a B&B on Galiano Island. Very pictureseque. They have a
great pub with bus service that cruises the island picking up and
dropping off with lots of singing. Used to escape to Galiano when we
were living in LA. Awesome getaway.

Agree on the Sea to Sky highway. Just did that to play golf at
Whistler and it's a fun drive (in the summer). The views coming out
of Vancouver are indeed spectacular.

I always wanted to take our boat up and moor it for a few months in
Burard inlet near Stanley Park. An easy drive from Seattle -- to live
in Vancouver on weekends and holidays for a summer. Maybe some day.

Hell, Victoria has finally agreed to build a sewage processing plant. Did
not notice skanky when boating. We moored at Salt Spring Marina and stayed
4 nights. Nicer over at Tofino for boating. RV park we stayed at left a
lot to be desired.

We've been everywhere up there. Ganges is nice because of the funky
nature of town but it's been built up over the past 10 - 15 years.

If you haven't spent time on Galiano, go to Montague Harbor. A super
sweet spot with a lovely bay, great walks, trail bike rentals, the
Sunshine Pub and incredible scenery everywhere.

Assuming you've been the Buchart Gardens but, if not, totally worth
the trip. If I remember correctly, go through the Saanich inlet and
at the southern tip of Brentwood Bay there's room to stern tie to land
and a dock to tie the dink up. If you or your wife are gardeners,
it's paradise.