Day 27 - 11/12/07 - Escape from Vancouver

Attempting to sleep off the seafood/driving induced fever, we stuck around the hotel for a good portion of the morning. Once our stomachs were settled, we ventured into the city to see Stanley Park and the aquarium. Stanley Park is absolutely the most beautiful city park I have ever seen. It is like a rain forest within a city. Tall trees, bushes with lush leaves and vines abound. The drive to the aquarium took us around the perimeter, where we looked across the bay to the city and the mountains on our right while admiring the forest on our left.

By the time we found a parking lot, we felt like we were in the midst of the jungle. With our eyes to the canopy, we wandered into what looked like the set of some twisted claymation slasher. A commanding Mrs. Gingerbreadman stood victoriously on the second floor of her house, rallying the gingerbreadman troops who surrounded her house. In the fields, there was an army of slain Santas. This little park was probably for kids, but it seemed that it would make any normal child break down in tears.

Convincing the aquarium ticket-salespeople of our student status, we immediately began ogling sponges and small fish while hordes of screaming seven-year-old girls made oral communication temporarily impossible. We split up for the afternoon exploring the shark tank, giant Amazonian river fish tank, bat cave (with a camera we could manipulate), rainforest (with sloth!), and the outdoor habitats of sea lions, harbor seals, dolphins, sea otters, and beluga whales. The otter feeding was adorable (they eat ¼ of their weight per day!) and the whiteness and smoothness of the beluga whales looked unreal, like accomplished CGI.

From Stanley Park, we found our way to Kitsilano, the crunchy corner of the city. Brad and Bryan were still plagued by the seafood pasta, so we found a vegan place "Sejuiced" to chow down. We silently filled our bellies hoping that the Salvation Army we saw on the drive in would be open for us to finally purchase our cheesy Canadian tourist t-shirt. Apparently I was the only one harboring such hope, as I wailed in disappointment while Brad simply stated, “I don’t think the lights were on when we drove by.”

We drove out to Wreck Beach by the University of British Columbia before our descent to God’s country. Darren and Brad were tired, so they took naps.

Bryan and I descended a couple hundred steps through tall trees to emerge on a strange beach. Old felled trunks were strewn about as if they had been placed there for benches. Many of these trunks were standing erect in the sand, in the night appearing like sunken masts. Bryan went for a stroll while I meditated, thinking that this setting was straight out of Myst or the Legend of Zelda or Pirates of the Caribbean. We then climbed back up, drove to the U.S. border, and were greeted with an enthusiastic, “Welcome home!” America, fuck yeah.