Alaska Chapter Five -- Vancouver & Seattle

Friday was disembarkation day. We decided to carry our own luggage and get off of the ship as early as possible, which supposedly was 7:00 am. Well.... disorganized is one word you could use to describe the process. We were late docking and getting cleared by Canadian officials. So, by the time we were allowed to start disembarking, the people scheduled for 7:15 and 7:30 were also standing around waiting to get off. Craziness!! Once the process actually started, it moved pretty quickly, and we were able to get through customs without much delay. Our car rental company was supposed to send a shuttle for us, but we had to wait nearly an hour for the van to come. We were taken to Canada Place and rented our car, finally!! We drove to Stanley Park and drove around a bit. We didn't stop and take any pictures though. I think everyone was kind of tired and just wanted to get going. It was a beautiful park, and I would have liked to walk around.

We drove to Capilano Suspension Bridge, which is the longest suspension bridge in the world.





It was lush and beautiful! They had a great collection of totem poles. Here are a couple.



The bridge goes over the river in a pretty deep gorge. It swayed quite a bit, and the ends were pretty steep to get up and down. We just held onto Dad for balance, his, not ours.



This is a picture looking down from the bridge.



On the other side of the bridge, they have a series of other suspended bridges and platforms in the rainforest canopy. It was pretty cool. There were also some boardwalks and nature trails.


We then drove to Seattle. The border crossing was easier than we dared hope. I had heard of 1-2 hour waits at the border, but it only took us about 15 minutes. We got checked into our hotel, which was ok, but nothing special. Then we walked to the Space Needle. We took the elevator to the top. It was clear and gorgeous. Here are some pictures from the top.




The next morning, we went to Pike's Place Market and walked around awhile. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was very colorful!! There were lots of fish markets and flower markets. Then we got on the plane, and came home.

I was very pleasantly surprised when we got home. I had geared myself up for a disaster at home. After all, leaving six children alone for a week just spells disaster. I told the kids not to worry so much about enforcing the law, and to just have fun with each other while we were gone. I came home to a beautifully clean house, and six happy, well behaved children!! I am so grateful to them for making this trip possible. They all stepped up and helped with caring for the younger ones and taking care of things. It was nice to be able to leave and not have to worry about what was going on at home. I'm so proud of my kids, and I love them!!