A Birthday to Remember!

Good evening!
Happy Monday, sorry this post is a day later than the usual Sunday ritual. We had a busy day yesterday and I just didn't get to it! As many of you know, we spent the weekend in Vancouver, BC to take a little vacation for my birthday. Trav went all out planning a great weekend full of exciting plans and surprises. I am so lucky! He truly made it a birthday to remember.

We started our journey by taking the Amtrak train on Friday morning. It was about a five hour ride since the train stops several places along the way from Seattle to Vancouver. It was a fun way to travel, especially since we were pretty close to the water for a majority of the trip. Since I work in Transportation (and I am a nerd in general), I have a higher than average enthusiasm level for trains. Trav was nice enough to oblige my desire to travel by rail : ) He did enjoy the extra leg room versus the usual air travel though!

View from the train window, you can see we were very close to the beach most of the ride!

Once we got into Vancouver and cleared customs, we went to grab a quick lunch (and margarita) before heading out on a tour of the city. The afternoon tour stopped at a lot of key highlights in the city and it was a great way to get a quick overview of many touristy spots. A few of the highlights were stopping at Stanley Park, Harbour Center Tower and Granville Island. 

Harbour Tower was a great place to visit since it gave us a birds eye view of the entire city in all directions from the center of downtown Vancouver. 

We explored Granville Island down by the water and visited some of the local markets and shops. This included a stop at a handcrafted broom shop. My inner Harry Potter nerd was thrilled by this. I was so tempted to buy my very own version of a Nimbus 2000. We were even able to watch the brooms being made by the shop owner, it was a very unique process. 

A view of Lionsgate Bridge. Designed by the same architect of the Golden Gate Bridge. You can see the similarity, just a smaller scale. 

The Totems at Stanley Park.

As if Friday's fun wasn't enough, I had no idea what I was in store for Saturday! Trav wouldn't give me any hints on what he had planned, so we left for the day heading to an unknown destination. We wound up at Grouse Mountain, just across the water from downtown Vancouver. Getting up to the top was gorgeous, and I still had no idea what was in store. Once we arrived at the top I found out what the surprise was...We were going zip lining on the highest peak in the city! 

As if my excitement weren't at a 12 out of 10 already...the mountain had a few other things to offer before the zip line adventure began. We had "breakfast with the bears!" The two grizzlies were orphaned with they were just a few months old and were found in the while underweight and near death. They were brought to the sanctuary and are living happily on the mountain. 

Once we said goodbye to the bears, it was time to get the adventure started! There were a total of 5 zip lines, each had it's own unique set of scenery, speed, height and length. What an amazing experience it was, flying up there in the mountains with water on one side, mountain peaks on the other. 

Surprisingly, I wasn't scared or nervous at all. The whole experience felt very safe, I didn't question it for a second. There was a moment when it was all over, however, where I realized that my entire existence had just hinged on a steel cable. I guess that's what people mean when they talk about living in the moment. That feeling really represents what we've been trying to do the last few months in this new chapter of our lives in Seattle. It has been a very special experience and we are discovering new parts of ourselves along the way. 

Trav took a video of our flight on one of the lines: click here

After our zip lining fun was complete, there was one more stop in store. The Eye of the Wind is a large windmill on top of the mountain, which has an observatory on top. We made a quick stop up top to take in the amazing 360 degree view. 

And we caught part of the lumberjack show on the way out...why wouldn't we?!?

Saturday night we walked around the harbor and Stanley Park for a few hours to unwind on our last few hours of vacation. It was a beautiful evening and it was so nice to just relax and take in all the gorgeous scenery. 

As you can see, we had a pretty phenominal trip. I couldn't have asked for a more special way to spend my birthday, especially my first one far away from friends and family. I've already started thinking about how I can return the favor for Trav's birthday this January...hopefully I can meet the very high standard that has been set! 

As for this week, we have some familiar faces visiting. My sister Jamie (bones) is coming tomorrow! Then my favorite twin sister duo, Katie & Steph will be joining us on Thursday. This should make for one exciting week and weekend! We are so excited to have them! Until next time...

Cheers!

KP