Sea Cruise Part Deux

Notice how I used my bilingual skills in the title.  Impressive, non?

Ok, so we arrive in Vancouver early Friday morning, passing under the Lion's Gate Bridge

It's another lovely day, weather-wise, as you can see from the photo.  We have a bus tour of downtown Vancouver scheduled along with a trip to the Capilano Suspension Bridge so we troop off the ship only to be stopped in the terminal because Bippy and Lisa didn't have their Government Identification with them and therefore they were not allowed to go any further.  Since *I* had my State of Confusion California Drivers License with me, I was all, "see ya!" and headed to the bus.  Just kidding.  The two of them sprinted back to the ship for their ID while I loitered about and then we were allowed entry into Canada.

So we took our Bus Tour of Downtown Vancouver and of course every route our bus driver took had some sort of street construction going on.  Still, it was exciting to be in a foreign country and try our best to translate the foreign language, i.e., "Harbour," "favour,"  "colour," "eh."  The hockey fan in me was tickled to see where the Vancouver Canucks play their home games although I am not a Canucks fan because I don't like the Sedin brothers because they're Gingers and have no souls.

We went through Stanley Park and saw the totem poles of tribes of the First Nations (we call them "Indians" in the USofA):  

I took a picture of the lovely view of Vancouver "Harbour" and the ship terminal:

I was kind of bummed we didn't get to spend more time in Stanley Park.  It looked absolutely beautiful but we had places to go and suspension bridges to cross.

When we booked our cruise and were deciding on our shore excursions, Bippy told me we were going to experience the Capilano Suspension Bridge.  And I laughed, "Ha Ha!" because as everyone knows, I am deathly afraid of heights. And snakes and clowns but we're talking about heights right now.  I said I would wave at Bippy and Lisa from the safety of the platform but I ain't gettin' on that thing.

Hello!  It's not like it's just a few feet over the river!  And it moves!  And swings!  And tilts!  Hell no, I won't go!  Um, yeah.

The got me on it.  If you look closely, you can see the absolute terror in my eyes although I'm trying very, very hard to smile, which is more of a grimace because did I mention I was terrified?
 
Once we made it safely across (I refused to look anywhere but straight ahead to the end of the bridge because if I had stopped to look over the side my eyes would have rolled back in my head and I would have dropped like a sack of potatos) we went on a hike and saw a family of raccoons who refused to pose for pictures, some ground squirrels and beautiful foliage.  I was thrilled to see my favorite flower in the entire world blooming:

I had only seen Lily of the Valley in pictures in books so this was a thrill.  Oh, and the rhododendrons!  They were EVERYWHERE!  I had never seen rhododendrons before because we don't have them here in Sunny Southern California (something about the climate) and they are so gorgeous!  Look!  I'm using exclamation points!


So I survived the Capilano Suspension Bridge and we headed back to the ship to fuel up with lunch before hoofing back to The City and see the sights.  Which meant going into every. single. furniture/homegoods store we saw.  Furniture which all looked exactly the same to me.  But in one store, we got to meet Rufus, which made it all worthwhile to me:

Rufus never met a stranger and had the body mass of a buffalo.  His Daddy insisted Rufus only weighed about 35lbs (Canadian weight?) but um, no.  I think he was in denial about his doggy.  But oh, Rufus was just the friendliest, sweetest boy and while Bippy and Lisa shopped and admired, I sat on one of the sofas and played with Rufus.

We went to the Hudson's Bay store, went in more furniture and home goods stores and finally called it a day and headed back to the ship to rest and relax before dinner. 

The next day was Saturday, our "at sea" day.

Luckily, we had absolutely glass-like conditions as we meandered around Vancouver Island and the little islands to kill a whole day "at sea."

I had my Body Composition consultation at 9:00am, which was interesting, depressing and informative but nothing I didn't already know (give up the Del Taco, kid, and you'll lose weight).

We rested some more, ate some more, circled around some more and then headed off to the lounge/niteclub for Bingo.  Because you HAVE to play Bingo on a ship.  Plus, the jackpot was $500.  In American Dollars, which is righteous bucks.  We lost.  The lady who won the jackpot gave a barely audible, "bingo" when she won which made me want to demand she be disqualified.  I know if I had won the $500 I would have been leaping into the air bellowing "BINGO, BITCHES! I WIN!!!!" at the top of my lungs.  Because I'm a gracious winner, doncha know.

We rested some more and ate some more and finally it was time to get ready for Dress Up Night.  Now, the last time I had been on a cruise, which was the first time I went on a cruise, I didn't make it through the appetizer course on Dress Up Night before I had to make a run for a toilet.  Which I didn't get to in time.  A slot machine was the recipient of the contents of my stomach.

So about the time we headed to dinner, the seas got rough.  So maybe it wasn't Winter on the North Atlantic rough but it was bad enough for me.  And I had foolishly forgotten to take a Dramamine because a) it had been quite calm and 2) I was afraid it would knock me out.  This time, I made it through the appetizer AND the salad course before I had to escape back to my cabin, swallow a Dramamine and fling myself on to the bed where I proceeded to moan and groan with every pitch and roll of the ship until the Dramamine knocked me out.  Which means I was sound asleep before it was dark outside.  Needless to say, I was 0 for 2 in the Formal Dress Up Night on a Cruise stakes. 

To be continued...