manymuddypaws

I have never seen so much green. Everywhere in Abbotsford and the Vancouver area is bright and blooming and fresh and very, very green. It was kind of depressing to come back to brown and ugly!

The trip was great and totally worth it. I actually relaxed and had a good time. I read three and a half books! The first day was mostly spent in the car. Natalie is petrified of semis, and mountain roads so it made from some interesting conversation..... ;o) Rayna was great and is probably the best behaved 5 year old in the WORLD! She never once had a tantrum, cried, or behaved badly. Boone was pretty scared on the drive there- he hates Natalie's truck to begin with so ten hours was a stretch for him!

We stayed at a beautiful little cottage like house in Abbotsford. Anne is a gardener and has many, many flowers, trees and plants. I had never seen anything like it. Of course I forgot to take pictures of the house and yard! They have a huge yard- a front yard, a side yard, a creek, and a few acres of wild grass and flowers behind the house. Boone had a great time in the back field galloping around, getting muddy!

Saturday was the best day weather wise- we went to WhiteRock and I saw the ocean for the first time! It was pretty neat and of course I brought home a little purple shell I found. We ate at a place on the beach called Moby Dicks which was an experience all on its own! The amount of people squished into a tiny space is quite amazing!

We did lots of nursery and garden hunting- and Natalie brought back loads of flowers and such. I was even caught up in the spirit and bought about $50 worth of plants and such. I know. They are just going to die. But they're so pretty! There was a little petting zoo at one of them-which is where Rayna and I spent most of our time!

Sunday we went to the Chilliwack Exhibition grounds and watched a bit of a dog show. Of course the conformation was boring and not very interesting so we shopped (I got a very snazzy pink leash for Wicca and a Cardigan Sticker...) and then went next door to watch the team penning. Rayna loved it and we ended up watching for close to an hour. She wanted to take some pictures...here is the best one ;o)

Monday we made the trip into Vancouver. We had planned on hitting two very posh pet stores but couldn't find either of them....We did manage to find Granville Island (by accident) and did some shopping there, and then headed to the Vancouver Aquarium which was lots of fun.

The Sea Lion was much bigger than I thought he would be- and it was neat to see his little tricks. I also really liked the Belugas...and of course the otters were cute!

My favorite part was hanging out at the house- it really was beautiful and Boone and I spent quite a lot of time in the back field- he even got to chase some neighbor cows who jumped the fence. He thought that was pretty neat!

The drive was pretty amazing. I had never been there before but am not new to the whole mountain thing (I grew up in the crowsnest pass) but the BC mountains far out do the Albertan ones! The view was breathtaking!I didn't take pictures on the way there, but snagged some on the way back. Banff was cool and I was surprised to see miles and miles of fencing all along the highways- there were tunnels too so that the wildlife didn't have to cross the highways- pretty neat idea....the explains where our toll money goes to! That's right. $10 each way on that highway....paying for the fence I suppose!

I mentioned earlier about how stressed Natalie was driving with the narrow roads, and the big semis....so of course I had to take a picture when we stopped for beer ;o) I should also mention that we got lost....alot. And spent quite a bit of time figuring out how to get places. It seems that people in BC don't need signs or anything- us Albertans however could have used the extra help!

The beer helped though ;o)

My dogs were very, very happy to see me last night- even Wicca cuddled with me for most of the night! Vito made his cute happy noises and Sam was amazingly quiet (with the help of a toy in his mouth) I missed them alot and was pretty happy to be sleeping in my own bed!!!

Holidays are fun, but it is always nice to be home!