I’ve never been to Canada…officially. I canoed into Ontario once and spent a frigid spring evening on an island in the Boundary Waters; and I briefly crossed into Quebec when visiting a friend in Presque Isle, Maine; but this time I crossed at the border station on I-5 north of Seattle.

The drive to Vancouver is about three hours, but there is a wait at the border. It was less than thirty minutes entering Canada…

It was beautiful weather, so we did as many outdoor activities as we could in the short time we were there. Our first stop was the University of British Columbia, which has about sixty thousand students. It is a very large campus located on the Strait of Georgia. This photo is looking westward towards Vancouver Island.

We spent the night near Stanley Park, which was filled with locals enjoying the weather. These metal statues are about eight feet tall, depicting the same shirtless man laughing and gesticulating. He was actually kind of creepy, but humor is in the eye of the beholder.

The Museum of Anthropology at UBC has a permanent exhibit of sculptural artwork by several native artists.

Totem poles are very popular still among the indigenous people. Several originals are on display as well as recent creations.

The outdoor display includes mock-ups of a tribal living area, including several poles. Apparently these are updated now and then as the family grows. They aren’t religious, but simply a traditional way of recording major events.

This recent creation represents a successful life, including owning saves; that’s right, the locals had slaves but not in recent times. This is a historical piece of art rather than reflecting modern times.

These two pieces represent the east coast, on the left with a rising sun; and the west coast with a setting sun.

I was surprised at the variety of carved artwork the locals have created. Some of this is old and some is recently created by the active local artisans.

We drove to Shannon Falls, which cascades over 1000 feet.

Then we rode a gondola for the 2300 foot climb to the top of Stawamus Chief and followed a good trail around to see the glacial topography from several vantage points. It was impressive, but I declined to use the suspension bridge for a better view. It’s a LONG way to the bottom.

These pointed peaks are the remnants after alpine glaciers carved away at the mountain. Note their similarity to the famous Matterhorn in Switzerland.

We had to say goodbye, but we’ll probably return to Vancouver. It’s a beautiful city filled with friendly people who speak just like Americans in a city that could easily be mistaken for Seattle; perhaps some day Seattle and Vancouver will bridge the international border and merge into a megalopolis. I think we’re halfway there already.

The southbound border crossing wasn’t as pleasant as entering Canada; the American border was understaffed, ill-equipped, confusing and, generally, a cluster fuck. We spent 90 minutes to move three-hundred yards, to find that the passport-reading equipment in our line wasn’t working properly.

We plan to get a Nexus card for future trips…