Moving on Up

Hello!

We are northern bound as we travel along British Columbia on the way to Prince Rupert.  Today, we are a few kilometers outside of Whistler in the town of Pemberton.  Steve has to say, the more northern you get in Canada, the more the Canadian accent comes through.  It's awesome.

Also, for those who don't watch the Colbert Report, he did an amazing bit two nights ago about the United States being ranked number 11 by Newsweek in its recent ranking of countries.  We both got a really big laugh out of why he thinks Canada should  be ranked below the United States.  His comment: "Canada?!  Really?  Their national anthem begins with 'oh . . . Canada . . . .'"

(Watch it Here:  http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/350635/august-17-2010/newsweek-ranks-the-world-s-best-countries  NOTE:  Comedy Central does not allow Canadians to watch the videos on its website, so hopefully that link works . . .) 

This, of course, led to Steve's telling of the greatest Canada-based joke ever.  
Question: How did Canada get its name?
Answer:  They just started saying letters.  C, Eh?  N, Eh?  D, Eh?

Yesterday, we took every Vancouver resident's recommendation and toured Stanley Park.  The day started out a bit cloudy, and the bridge we needed to cross was closed from 3:30-6:30p, so we decided to skip the 9k bike ride and just walk around the park instead.   It turned out to be quite the nice day.  We started by touring the totem poles in the park.

Tammy says her fun fact is that the totem poles were neither worshiped nor idolized.  Instead, the totem poles tell stories, both true and mythical.  We actually spent some time reading the plaques to find out what story and characters each of the totem poles contain.

We then decided to do a short walk along the sea wall.  It was a rather pleasant day, with lots of people fishing, and made for some really nice views of the city.

We then spent last night camping a few kilometers outside of Vancouver.

Today, we drove up to Whistler along the Sea to Sky Highway.  This is a somewhat detour route that provides incredible views of the mountains and lakes.

We did a few detour trips along the way to look at magnificent waterfalls and roaring rivers.

Now we're planning on hiking around the Provincial parks and visiting Whistler tomorrow.  Then we'll spend a few days driving up the coast, making stops in historic mining towns and looking at First Nation artifacts, and then we'll jump on the ferry on Tuesday evening.  Internet may be a bit spotty between now and then, so there will be some updates but probably not every day!

Until then, have a great rest of your week/weekend!

P.S. For those interested, we have hit approximately 4,000 miles, and so decided to take the car in for an oil change and inspection.  All is clear!  They say the car is doing great, the brakes have a lot left in them, and it will make it to Anchorage no problem!  Hooray!