MY FAMILY TRIP TO VANCOUVER

ABOUT FIVE YEARS AGO OUR FAMILY TOOK A TRAIN FROM OAKLAND TO SEATTLE. IT WAS A WILD TRIP AS WE THOUGHT THE SEAT WOULD BE COMFORTABLE. HOWEVER, WE COULD NOT SLEEP IN THEM. AND THE FOOD ON THE TRAIN WAS NOT THAT GREAT IN THE CLASS WHERE WE WERE STAYING. WE BROUGHT QUITE A BIT OF FOOD. THE SIGHTS WERE GREAT. HOWEVER, WE HAD TO DELAY ON MANY STATIONS BECAUSE THE FREIGHT TRAINS COME FIRST AND WERE WERE ON THE SIDINGS FOR 45 MINUTES TO AN HOUR. WE DECIDED TO TAKE AN AIRPLANE BACK FROM VANCOUVER.

MY SON PLANNED OUR TRIP TO STAY AT SEVERAL BED AND BREAKFASTS JUST BY THE THE RIVER IN VANCOVER. THEY HAD A SMALL BOAT THAT YOU COULD TAKE OUT AND EVERYONE FROM ALL DIFFERENT COUNTRIES WAS ABLE TO COOK THEIR MEALS THERE. WE WALKED DOWN THE STREETS OF VANCOUVER AND VISITED THE BIG ANTHROPOLOGY MUSEUM THERE. WE ALSO WENT THROUGH THE HALLS OF THE CAPITAL BUILDING WHICH WAS VERY BRITISH IN DECOR.

WE DROVE UP TO THE MIDDLE OF VANCOUVER AND STOPPED AT OUR NEXT BED AND BREAKFAST NEAR A PLACE WHERE YOU COULD SEE THE GIANT CRUISE SHIPS FROM THEIR GARDEN. WE JUST WALKED AROUND THIS TOWN AND DECIDED TO GO ON A FERRY ACROSS TO THE NEARBY ISLAND WHERE THERE WERE KWAIKIUTL INDIANS MAKING ALL KINDS OF CRAFTS. THEY HAD A ROUND HOUSE THAT THEY DID NOT USE. WE SPOKE TO MANY NATIVES ABOUT THEIR CRAFTS - INCLUDING A LADY WHO SEWED DESIGNS ON T - SHIRTS; A MAN WHO MADE CERAMICS; AND WE SPOKE FOR A LONG TIME WITH A GUY WHO HAD BUILT HIS YURT LIKE HOUSE AND HIS STUDIO - HE WAS A GREAT CRAFTSMAN OF TOTEM POLES. HE SOLD THEM TO PEROPLE ACROSS THE ATLANTIC OCEAN - TO GERMANY, ENGLAND AND OTHER COUNTRIES. HIS CRAFTS WERE VERY BEAUTIFUL AND HE KNEW THE MEANING OF THE DESIGNS HE PUT ON HIS TOTEMS.

WE ALSO TOOK A NICE HIKE FROM THIS VILLAGE TO A STATE PARK THAT HAD SOME WONDERFUL RIVERS AND WATERFALLS. IT REMINDED ME OF THE SINKYONE AREA HERE. IN FACT MOST OF THERE VEGETATION REMINDED ME OF OUR NORTHERN CALIFORNIAN VEGETATION. I HAD THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO BE SO DIFFERENT IN VEGETATION. WE HAD ALSO GONE TO A HUGE INDIAN MUSEUM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VANCOUVER. IT HAD SOME WONDERFUL COLLECTIONS OF CARVED MASKS OF THE KWAIKIUTL INDIANS AND A REPRODUCTION OF THEIR VILLAGE OUTSIDE BY THE OCEAN. I REALLY ENJOYED THE CARVINGS OF THESE ORIGINAL TOTEMS AND MASKS.