We woke up and then drove to the Mount Hood. There we walked around the whole area, saw snow IN SUMMER which is crazy as in South Aftica we don’t even see snow in winter (besides a few days later in Joburg). Alex and I then took a ride up to be closer to the top and walked exploring around and watched people skiing. We chilled up the mountain and it was great. We also ate this cinnamon cereal which was delicious and I’m not a cereal fan.
We then stopped to get delicious cherries, went to buy Alex a bag and then helped prepare a dinner for Alex, Alex’s aunt, Alex’s aunts friend, Alex’s granny who only came there to meet me which was special and her grannies friend. It was a great dinner and was super entertaining. We all had a great time. Exhausted from the long day we went to bed.
Morning! Today we woke up, had brekkie and then went downtown to explore.
We looked/bought things from shops and it really was a great – we spent 3 hours exploring downtown and I happened to leave my phone at the house which meant I couldn’t take photos of every single little thing.
After the shops we came back and walked to the park and spent time with Alex’s amazing aunt and her friends. We spent the rest of the day having fun and just chilling.
Heyyyy, so we started off the day packing and by 10 we got going for the long driving day ahead of us. We were going to Oregon. We drove for a while until we were hungry and Alex who was driving needed a coffee. Sandwich and coffee in our stomachs, we continued to journey.
The next stop we went to was Costco as I had never been. It was a humongous store with literally everything and anything in it. I found these amazing vegan chocolates that tasted like lindor which I truely needed.
After a long drive we were 10 minutes away but there was bad traffic because of the fire going on in Hood River, Oregon. That took us about an hour and finally we arrived.
We chilled at the house and then went to a beach to walk the dog. It was a beautiful day and we chilled there for a while until we got back, talked and ate supper. We were exhausted and went to bed.
Hello! We started the day off at Target where I saw how big the store was (spoiler alert- it’s massive).
We came back, relaxed for a bit and then went out on the boat again. This time we
we’re tubing on the boat. It was my first time and it was amazing- it was so fun and scary and exciting. We did that for a while, then swam a bit more and went back to the house.
We got ready and went off with Alex’s family friends brothers house to celebrate 4th July. We got there, ate supper. Then the celebration began. We started throwing the cracker snaps which was the best as I have so many memories of me doing that as a kid before people started becoming overly cautious about them. We then lit some snakes that grow (tbh it did not look like a snake – you can decide what you think it looks like).We had these things that when lit sprayed out colours.
We then went on a boat around the lake to see everyone’s decorations and the sunset. When arriving back we had dessert and it was getting dark enough for fireworks to go off. We saw so many people’s fireworks and had a few fire shows as well. We sat and watched the amazing lights.
There were so many dogs that actually had to be drugged because the fireworks were so loud and the dogs were so frightened.
We then drove back to the house and had a good sleep.
Good morning we are going on a road trip to Renton, Seattle today.
We take a long long ride to Renton and stop along the way at Goodwill where we look at clothing and try it on for long enough for me to have a low blood sugar moment. After that we get a coffee and some food and continue our journey.
We arrive at Alex’s family friends house and it is AMAZING! It’s on a lake with a stunning view. When the family arrives after us we chill for a bit and then decide to go on the boat to the other side of the lake.
We get to the other side where we get good food and then go exploring on the boat. We swim and go past famous peoples houses, like Bill Gates and watch the beautiful sunset on the boat.
We arrive back at the house exhausted after a long day, so we relax in the jacuzzi. We call the phone company that is not allowing me to put in any sim card that isn’t theirs and eventually manage to get them to remove the restrictions they put up. Afterwards we go to bed.
Ahhhhhhhhhh, I get to see Alex today (the reason for this trip)!!! I wake up at 4 and manage not to snooze as I set a million alarms incase. I get ready and leave the house. I manage to get to the bus station take the train and then walk to the Amtrak station with good time!
I sit in the train for about 2.5 hours and then hurrily get out and then this person starts taking my bag out of my hands, stealing my stuff – it’s Alex and she dyed her hair red. We jump up and down and make our way to the car. From there we go out to eat and wow the food was great. We then meet her uncle and cousin outside a relatives house where they pick us up and we head to watch a baseball game!!!
Alex’s grandma kindly gave me her old iPhone 12 which looks brand new and the transfer works besides the data so I Hotspot myself through my old phone as the new phone has a camera I can use.
We get really close tickets to the field and can see everything. We were all so into it by the end of the game and guess what the Mariners won (Seattle) yasssss no one thought they would but they pushed through at the end. We then went out to dinner right next to the sea.
After dinner our plan was to go to the ferry which would get us and the car to Whidbey Island (where Alex lives) and then drive to her gran’s house but OFFICIAL GIRLS TRIP DRAMA there was only one ferry and we would have to wait 3 hours so instead we drove all the way around to the top of the island and then go straight to the bottom. It wasn’t bad at all as we watched the sunset and saw the most amazing full yellow moon which was magical.
We arrived and the dogs welcomed us in. The house is beautiful inside and out – make by Alex’s grandparents. We get everything packed and then both exhausted we go to bed.
I wake up at 12:00 which is amazing, eat breakfast and then go to a pre-booked pool and beach. It’s Canada Day so everyone is dressed in red and white. I swim and relax in the sea and pool which is great – just having a day where I don’t need to be hectically busy.
I pop by an amphitheater where people are singing mostly for the enjoyment of children but I jam along with the others. There is a parade and then after a few hours out I go back to the house. I start getting ready to go and as soon as shabbos ends I test my phone but the camera and data are still not working.
I get ready for bed and figure out that I need to wake up at 4am to get to the train so I really do need to go to sleep and sleep I do.
Morning! Today is nice and sunny. So I have seen a lot of Vancouver and decided to go West. I started off going down broadway passing the Vancouver Mural Festival which I may have seen. I don’t know if it was the artworks on buildings as the data package I got requires that roaming is turned on and I received a message saying I had used up all my high speed roaming data and it now was capped which meant that only WhatsApp and google maps worked and they were both so slow.
Anyway so I think I saw it and then went down Main Street which is a really busy street. I then went to Queen Elizabeth park which online said that you could play disc golf for free but it wasn’t. After that sad tragedy I went down Arbutus Greenway which was let me see the most amazing pathway filled with so much green. I honestly felt bliss – it was so calming and definitely a highlight. Like it made my heart so happy.
Next I went to Vanier Park which had a great view of he city. Then OFFICIAL YAEL DRAMA, I needed the bathroom and there was literally nowhere to go until I got to Vanier Park – there I put my bag on top of the toilet paper and my phone on the toilet flush thingy…yeah it’s what you think, the horror, I KNOW HOW BAD. So my phone falls in the toilet as soon as I put it there and I realise it quite late. I take it out and dry it with the hand drier and to my amazement it’s working perfectly fine.
I ride to Kits beach which is a highly recommended place to go and I agree. I see a pretty kite and get out my phone to take a picture and the back camera doesn’t work even though I was able to use it straight after it fell in the toilet. I am freaking out and hope it will fix itself so I wrap it in my towel. It’s lunchtime and I’m hungry so I get out my phone to find a vegan place and my power button and volume button are not working as well as my SIM card. So I am stuck with a broken phone and no data. I don’t know what to do so I start getting up and asking people where the nearest phone store is. Everyone I ask is a tourist.
I try to breathe and decide that I may as well try phone my friend Alex who I’m visiting in Seattle. The call goes through and I ask her to look up where the nearest phone store is which she does and I figure out between which streets it is and go there. As I get to the store they tell me they sell phones but don’t repair them but seeing that I’m wearing sunglasses he guessed I’m in a crisis and tells me where the nearest one is. I go there and the price to fix my phone is extremely expensive- I can’t make this decision without my dad ok’ing it so I use the WiFi and phone him and he has the audacity to not pick up. I ask how much a new phone costs and there isn’t a massive difference. I decide not to do anything until my dad contacts me so I leave the store and make my way to get something to eat as it is already 16:00 and this event messed up everything. My power and volume start working again after a few more hand dryers and then I realise it’s Shabbos in Southern Africa and that’s why my dad wasn’t picking up.
I get something to eat and try my best to navigate my way back. There I shower and change and eat a Shabbat dinner celebrating someone’s bat-mitzvah. I am up until 1.30 talking.
Morning, today I started off at Granville Island. I had wanted to go everyday before but the timing worked out that when I was going to get there the market would have been closed so instead I decided to start with it. The island was cool but the market was not as great as people say it is. Then off to False creek promenade I went which was extremely pretty and a good place to just sit and stare at for a day.
I then went to Yaletown as they clearly named it after me, to Bill Curtis Square which was actually so much better than I thought it would be. I came at the perfect time as there was live jazz playing and people just stood up and started dancing. I sat there for half an hour as it was so vibey and just amazing.
I made my way to Gastown as yesterday I saw the steam clock but didn’t get to explore what seemed like a great town. It’s a great town – so much is hip and happening and it has great energy- they actually have quite a European atmosphere with flowers on streetlights which creates the mood.
I went on to Lions Gate Suspension Bridge which I walked across as I videoed praying my phone wouldn’t fall in as I leaned on the side letting cyclists pass. The bridge was so much longer than I expected even though I did know it was one of the longest suspension bridges, it took me about 20 minutes to cross. Afterwards my phone battery was extremely low and my power bank had died so I took a bus back to the house to recharge.
I then decided to go to the beach to watch the sunset. Along the way there, there was a park filled with people staring at the perfectly angled sun, so instead of the beach I sat at the park with a bunch of people watching the sunset.
After sleeping later than 4:30 I was refreshed and ready to explore more of Vancouver.
Starting off I was dropped off at Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge by the bus which really awesomely has a place for bikes to go. There I crossed the bridge thinking that that was all that was there. Little did I know that there is a walk around the area, tiny waterfalls compared to Niagara Falls and people were swimming. Luckily for me I was wearing my swimming costume anyway so after crossing the bridge and videoing it I explored and swam in the water – very refreshing!
I then cycled down to Lonsdale Quay Market and got some food to eat, then I checked out New Brighton Park and cycled down Commercial Drive to Gastown.
I then had to go see the steam clock in Gastown even though I had planned not to go today – for a few minutes I see a bunch of tourists taking photos, videos and staring at a clock with steam coming out and I was like yeah it’s cool but I wouldn’t do that it’s just weird and then the clock starts making the train noise. When I researched where to go I didn’t exactly read too much about the places as I was happy to find out when I went there. I was in awe it was really interesting. Every 15 minutes the steam clock has an ‘alarm’ and starts going choo-choo like a train.
After still processing how the clock works I went on my way to Canada place and the Olympic Cauldron. Canada Place is a strip near the sea that has Canadian flags everywhere and the Olympic Cauldron is a torch built in 2010 for the Winter Games. It was a really cool site to see.
I then headed back to the house, ate supper and went to bed.
robinsinflight 