Holiday Inn Vancouver-Centre, Bc

Vancouver is a wonderful city to discover by bike. Its streets are lined with trees, its hills are gentle, and it boasts the beautiful Stanley Park, fully accessible on two wheels. Cycle paths follow the ocean, passing wave-lashed coast and lovely beaches. Alternatively, inland there is shady, peaceful woodland, and the lovely Beaver Lake. <br><br>Fortified by a breakfast of pancakes and maple syrup, Jim and I set off to explore. From Coal Harbour, we found ...

... raining but it was a nice walk. We got back to the hostel and got ready to go out for our final night together. We met Lucy an Bex and their moose group in my hostels bar (the Beaver). Will their driver was keen to take us to a proper Canadian bar. The girls werent sure as they had early flights to Toronto (another coincidence -Peggy happened to be flying to Toronto on the same day as Celene and Christie! so they are spending the next few days together ...

... about a 15 minute walk, we reached the oldest part of Vancouver, Gastown (named after sea captain "Gassy Jack" Deighton who in 1867 told millworkers that he'll sell them whisky if they built him a saloon). We wandered around some of the shops and art stores. Then decided to check out Chinatown which was only about a couple of blocks or so away. <br><br>We started heading away from Gastown but quickly found ourselves in very unfamiliar and dodgy territory. The next block ...

... any problem with that. Also putting together little "goodie bags" for children who live in Sao Francisco a small Indian village on the Amazon right where the Valeria river joins the big river. I am so looking forward to this stop and I will delight in telling you all about it after the visit. So we plod along getting closer to the big day and more excited as each day passes. I suspect the next entry will be from the ship after we leave Vancouver.

... natural areas. Downtown Vancouver architecture is unique and inspiring; everywhere you look there's another gorgeous building. Then we head back to the room and I take a two hour bath in the huge tub that I can swim around in, we listen to Jeff Buckley and drink wine treating ourselves to a gourmet dinner.<br><br>Day Five:<br>We take the drive back to the U.S. which by all accounts is boring and sad as all last days of a journey generally are. I ...

... kept the saw from cutting down - obviously the script called for him to lose that part! Their various skills were really most impressive and entertaining to watch. Having to be on the bus to the train at 6.20 after getting back to the hotel at 11.00, it was another night of insufficient sleep, exacerbated by Michael getting back from the casino about 1.30! At least the actual train trip the next day was not at all arduous, but every time I drifted ...

... out that I have paid less for my booked flight so, no way. My flight is delayed and I spend quite a few hours there. Thanks again for the Ipod, Martin. When I finally get to Vancouver, Kristina and Björn (Swedish friends from Vancouver Island) are still there so we can get together in the bar, and after a good night's sleep we have breakfast together and lots of time to catch up. I receive a birthday card ...

... to already know these things beyond a shadow of a doubt. From all that rambling, I guess what I've come to learn from my trip, is that it is time for me to put my insecurities behind me... look back at them in the past, look at myself as an adult in the present... and look forward at my future, pursuing the life I want as the person I am unabashedly proud to be. I guess that's the lesson. A pretty good one too... now that I've managed to work it ...