Friday, June 23, 2023. Apparently, tucking the sheet between mattresses worked because both girls slept in late; I actually had to wake them up! Our day started with ginormous banana crepes for the girls and blue crab eggs Benedict’s for the adults at OEB Breakfast Co. TOTALLY worth the stop if you are ever in the area!
After breakfast, we went up the road to explore Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. The Capilano bridge is about 40 billion meters long and built in 1920 for the express desire to get to the other side. Then, in 1921, the Capilano family started promoting the bridge as a tourist attraction. (This entire paragraph needs to be fact checked before publication.)
Editor’s note: The original bridge was built in 1889, tourist attraction promotion began in 1953, and the current bridge was totally rebuilt in 1956. It is 450 feet long.
Wisely, Carson had purchased our entry tickets ahead of time, so we were able to skip the line and go right in. Just inside gates there was the gift shop and a cafe. After winding through their informational signage and some totem poles, we got to cross The Capilano Suspension Bridge. Despite its length, bounce, and sway, this is a very strong bridge. So strong in fact that back in 2006 a bad snow storm knocked a 17+ ton tree across the bridge causing no real damage to the bridge. (Editor’s note: These facts are accurate!)
Ellie was a little nervous at first but quickly started to enjoy the crossing. Mackenzie, on the other hand, wanted to get off of it even before we got on. But to her credit, she went all the way across without much issue.
Once on the other side we started exploring the boardwalks through the lower portion of the rainforest. Oh my these must have been a lot of work to build and have been meticulously maintained. Along the boardwalk there were informational signs teaching us about this micro biome. We also happened across three ornithologists displaying a hawk and an owl.
After we made it out of the boardwalks, we picked up a couple of Rainforest Explorer booklets as we made our way up to the Treetops Adventure (suspension bridges through the rainforest’s canopy). The booklets included activities for six different stations across the suspension bridges and lower boardwalks asking the explorer to answer questions, solve problems, and make some observations. This booklet mission kept the girls preoccupied and helped to settle Mackenzie’s nervousness with the heights. Then, once completed, they turned in their booklets for recyclable bracelets made with seeded paper to plant later.
The Treetops Adventure was very fun! It’s not everyday that you have the opportunity to walk through a canopy. Along with enjoying the views and the experience, we marveled at the engineering that it has taken to build such an experience without causing harm to the trees and surrounding environment.
Like most things, our time in the canopy and the park had to come to an end. But first we had to get back across The Capilano Suspension Bridge. This time, we gave Mackenzie the binoculars as we crossed and she had no hesitations. Then we passed through the gift shop and were off to lunch.
We had lunch at La Taqueria Pinche Taco Shop. This, like most really good local joints, felt like a random eatery in an industrial park. And it was not a let down! I don’t remember what all we ordered but it was all nummy.
After lunch, we had some unaccounted for time, so we found a playground nearby for the girls to play while Carson wandered around the neighborhood attempting a couple geocaches. Some days geocaching is kinda like fishing, it’s about the adventure and not always the results. Right??? Anyhoo…
Once we had all regrouped, we headed down to Granville for our next adventure: a boat tour of Vancouver. We arrived at Prince of Whales right on time but were delayed a bit by a group of passengers that were running late. After that was all straightened out, our group of ten headed down to the docks to load up. Our arrival at the boat was greeted by one of three sisters hoping that we would have scraps to share. She was disappointed.
Our boat was a small rubber zodiac, slightly larger than a dingy. As we disembarked from the docks, we made our way out of the inlet, past tankers, around Stanley Park, through the shipping lanes, past mountains of sulfur at the Port of Vancouver, and made our turn around at the hydroplane runway. The tour was fine, but the most fun was watching the planes takeoff over our heads and when our guide cranked the boat to full speed.
Our high adrenaline day ended with steaks at Earl’s. (Sorry, no pics this time.)