Ben and I weren't sure what our weekend was going to entail but when I got my new passport in the mail on Friday afternoon we knew we were heading to Vancouver to check out the Olympics. We had heard so much and seen so much we knew we had to check them out being only 40 miles from them. So Saturday morning I packed some treats, since we figured we could be in the car for awhile at the border, and off we went. We were pretty excited.
We started driving and saw that the border wait was 100 minutes...YIKES! It actually ended up going pretty fast. There were some pretty views along the way! There was a national park called Peace Arch Park. It started in Blaine, WA which is right on the border and it goes past the border into British Columbia.
So now our first task of getting across the border was complete. Our next task was finding the hotel where we were going to park and figuring out how to get on the sky rail. We found the hotel pretty easily and headed right to the parking garage...we then found ourselves driving around for almost 45 minutes in a garage with no open stalls left. Now, In MN there would have been a sign outside saying the garage was full, but in Canada they must not do that. :) Ben, was a little irritated to say the least! :) We ended up parking on the road...not even sure if it was legal. We were just hoping our car would still be there when we got back that night. Once we were parked we knew we had to find a bathroom since we had, by then, been in the car for 3 hours. After that we found the sky rail and packed onto a car like sardeans. At this point we saw there were about 4 different places we could get off. We had no clue where to get off, so we got off at Yaletown which was the street with a lot of vendors and entertainment. We had no idea that our first step off the train was our first step into total chaos!
We, again, really had no clue where we were going and things were not labeled well at all. To make it even a little more difficult the streets were so packed with people you could barely move. Ben told me to tell him if I saw anywhere I wanted to stop, but we couldn't even see anything because people were everywhere. We just started walking. That walking took us absolutely nowhere. We did see some pretty scenery!
This was the clock used for the countdown until the opening ceremonies. Now they are using it to countdown to the closing ceremonies.
This is the Vancouver Art Gallery.
The side of the gallery was beautiful!
After about an hour and a half of just walking, in the much colder weather than expected, we decided to head back to the street we had started on to look for a map...or something. To no avail, Ben finally asked a worker where the flame was. He pointed us in the direction and we were off walking...again. By this time we were tired, crabby and hungry. And we really weren't talking to each other much because it was so loud and crammed there wasn't much to say! The closer we got to the torch the crazier it became. We saw a few neat things along the way.
There was a zip line in one of the main areas that people were waiting 6 hours to ride on for 6 seconds...crazy! There were long lines everywhere we turned.We finally got to the torch...WOW...not really Ben and I thought! It was so crowded and there was a huge fence around it so you couldn't get very close.
As you can tell we were a little cranky by now. We decided we saw what we wanted to see, now we were outta there. I was a little bummed because I wanted to see the Olympic rings, but we had no clue where there were. I felt like I didn't get many pictures that even looked like we were at the Olympics.
Our next adventure was to find our way back to the train, oh boy!We found a train station and went to buy a ticket. We knew this wasn't the right place but we figured somehow it would get us where we needed to go. Thankfully a young guy asked us if we were lost :) We said yes and he led us in the right direction. We got to our destination and waited in line...again! We finally got on our train and it was unbelievable how they packed us on there. Ben and I couldn't believe it. We were literally on top of eachother and then other people were RIGHT on our back. After what seemed to be a very long train ride, we made it back to our car. I don't think I was ever so excited to get back to Bellingham! :)
Sorry this seems like such a bummer day, but we really didn't have much fun. I know, I know...we were so fortunate to even experience that, right?? Hmmm, we aren't sure! :)
At least we can say we went!
On Sunday, I had my first day of helping in the 3 year old room at church! It was great! They were so cute and I was able to meet some really neat people. Then we went to church and had lunch with some friends. It was another beautiful day so we went for a run and then Ben got to hit some golf balls! He loved doing that! Now here is where the rest of the "poopy" weekend comes in...I went #2 and somehow clogged the toilet...oops! :) Ben gets so annoyed, even though he is always laughing about it! So I went to get the plunger while Ben was in the shower and I couldn't find it. Ben said he would look when he got out. Now remember, we live in a 700 ft. sq. apartment so there really aren't too many places too look. Ben started looking and couldn't find it either. So for the next hour we tore apart closets looking for that goofy plunger. We were so frustrated! And sorry folks this story desn't have a happy ending...we never found it, even though we know we have used it since we have lived here. So, now we have the case of the missing plunger!
And that was our "poopy" weekend! :)
Hope that didn't gross anyone out! We love you and miss you all! Thanks for reading this downer of a blog! Even though it was a crazy weekend...we still enjoyed eachother and can laugh about it all!
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18
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