just in time

On Saturday the three of decided to take a daytrip to Vancouver... much better than attending the four hour-long graduation ceremony for the entire university.

Picked out a sweet rental car...

Kia Soul... so boxy!

The lady at the rental counter said that it was a new car, and I sure believe her! Driving this car was like driving through melted butter... the steering and gas pedal were so smooth... I ended up netting my first moving citation! Lesson learned!

Getting to Canada didn't take as long as I thought... probably because I napped part of the way.

waiting in line at the border

Less than an hour more of driving and we were there at Granville Street! Popped by the waterfront and visited old Gastown, which has a semi-steam-powered clock:

Water Street, Gastown 

the Steam Clock

but only the top bit is steam-powered!

Had a hard time deciding where to eat but ultimately decided on Chill Winston, most likely because of the huge outdoor seating area.

the Outlaw, alright but a "Canadian version of a caipirinha" it was not

arctic chard tartare

scallops with apricots and bacon... can't go wrong with bacon!

the perfect brunch: smoked steelhead eggs "benny"

The flavors weren't terribly smashing here but I will say that all of the seafood we had was pretty darn fresh.

Continuing our trek through Granville Island...

we stumbled across Chinatown... 

nothing says Chinatown like a decorative gate! 

sunning by the pond at Dr. Sun Yat Sen park

...and a tank?

remember Goldeneye for the N64 and how you could pop inside a tank for a breather?

Honestly, we had a downright difficult time locating Granville Public Market... I knew we had to get off the island and look west of the bridge but I didn't draw a detailed-enough map. So we headed back to Seattle and beat traffic.

forgot to ask for stamps both ways... oops!

By the way, did you know that at the time of our visit - last weekend - the conversion rate was approximately 97 cents to $1 US!? America Jr. beat us!?

Not really... looks like some people went a little too far with the loss to Boston... but there also seems to be an appropriate show of remorse. Between the attack on Giants fan Stow and all of this locura in Vancouver, people need to remember that all the emotion of the game needs to stay in the stadium.