Monday, August 3, 1992 - Vancouver

Public transit here has three forms: street buses, elevated train ("Sky Train"), and ferry ("Sea Bus"). They're all the same fare, and you can transfer from one to another. For $2 each, we bought day passes that let us ride as much as we wished all day.
First, we rode the Sky Train to the end of the line in Surrey. Then we went back three stations to the 22nd Street station in New Westminster. Went over the Fraser River on a neat bridge. Saw acres of lumber and lots of log booms.
Got off the train and took the 154 bus to Colburne. Then we walked a block to the Kiwanis Care Center to visit my Aunt Marjorie.
As nursing homes go, the Kiwanis Care Center is one of the best. It's clean and attractive, without a trace of the odor you usually find in rest homes. The patients were nicely dressed and appeared well cared for. Nevertheless, it's pathetic to see people sitting around, waiting to die. When we entered, everyone looked up expectantly, hoping we'd come to visit them.
I doubt that Aunt Marjorie knew who I was, but she was glad to see us anyway. She's 87 and has had several strokes. Most of her memory's gone, but every once in a while she smiled and her eyes lit up.
Next, we rode the Sky Train to the other end of its line at the Vancouver waterfront. Rode the Sea Bus across the harbor to North Vancouver.
Beautiful, clear, warm, sunny day. Ate lunch at an attractive restaurant overlooking the water.
Took a bus up into the mountains. Visited an ecology center and then walked around in the beautiful woods. Crossed a suspension bridge high above a rushing stream. Walked some more, and then came to a stationary wooden bridge where some teenage boys were playing in the water. By "playing", I mean jumping and diving 60 to 80 feet into icy pools, leaping down waterfalls, etc. Watched them for a long time. How we envied them! If Roy had been fifty years younger, he'd have dived in with them.
Eventually we left the park and took a bus to a Sizzler that was almost exactly like the Sizzlers in California. Enjoyed a good supper.
When we got back to Vancouver, we strolled along the waterfront. At nine, we heard a tremendous explosion. Sounded as if a bomb had gone off. Looked around and saw smoke rising from the edge of Stanley Park, so we figured they were celebration B.C. Day. (Today is a holiday in Canada.)