Be Still And Know: Trip to BC

At the end of September, Mike and I had an opportunity to take a trip together to British Columbia. Mike had a principal's conference and we went up a few days earlier and stayed a few days later. We were able to visit with the Zekvelds in New Westminster, I spent some time with my aunt in Abbotsford, and Mike and I did some sight seeing in the mountains and in Vancouver. It was a spectacular trip and we greatly enjoyed being able to share this time with each other.

It was so nice to spend time with the Zekveld family!

Panoramic view of Vancouver from the Cypress Mountain lookout point

Gary and Hannah took us to the Lynn Valley suspension bridge and we hiked along some trails

We were able to witness a lunar eclipse one evening

One afternoon at the conference in Washington, Mike went on a hike at Mt. Baker. They drove up quite high and then went hiking above the tree line. What a spectacular thing to see!

I went on a few solo road trips while Mike was at his conference. Tuesday I started off at Westminster Abbey, a monastery in Mission. The bells were ringing when I arrived and it was a beautiful day!

There was beautiful singing going on in the cathedral

Breathtaking lookout point over the Fraser Valley

From there I made my way to the Harrison Hot Springs

Soaking my feet in the hot springs... I must be much healthier now!

Next I took a short hike to see the Bridal Veil Falls

I dropped in on Oom Case and Tante Tita, my Mom's uncle and aunt, for a quick surprise visit

The next morning I drove up to see the Cascade Falls. It was beautiful, but also very remote and my cell phone didn't have a signal out there. I was glad to get back in the car and make my way back to more populated areas.

Cascade Falls

Returning from Cascade Falls, I stopped to find a few geocaches along the way

After picking Mike up from the conference in the late afternoon, we scooted over to Alouette Lake to see another waterfall. We really booted it on this hike because we were a little afraid of losing daylight and having to find our way back to the car in the dark

Another beautiful waterfall as a reward at the end of the hike - each one has its own particular beauty

My honey and me

We stopped in at Westminster Abbey on the way back to Aunt Yettie's place so Mike could see the view from the lookout point

Love this hilarious glamour shot of our ride!

Mike and I left on Thursday morning to head up to Whistler. We did a hike at Cougar Mountain, which was a pretty intense trail for an inexperienced hiker. Our poor rental car had to drive a treacherous road to get to the trail head, with a warning that tow trucks would not get you out of here! We made it in and back and saw some beautiful sights

When we got to the top of the trail, we were able to see these enormous Cypress trees. Just incredible how huge they were!

Enjoying the view!

Initially we were hoping to go on the Peak to Peak Gondola at Whistler, but it had closed for the season two weeks before we arrived. Instead we went on the Sea to Sky Gondola which was absolutely amazing. It just kept going up and up and up... and what a view. It was definitely worth the ticket. We were able to do a bit of hiking at the top although we had limited time before the last gondola went back down the mountain

We spent Thursday night in Vancouver and Friday morning we hiked along the sea wall in Stanley Park. It was the only rainy-ish day that we had for the whole week, and probably good to experience some more typical Vancouver weather! Even the rain wasn't too bad and we enjoyed our walk although it was a little longer than we had expected. We were both pretty tired by the end!