When two separate “ships” merge and decide to form a relationship, there are plenty of things the new ‘ship’ must agree and compromise on. Of course, every ‘ship’ has it’s own thing that the two just can’t seem to see eye to eye on, for mine and Dave’s ship- it’s milk. We just cannot seem to agree on milk and what kind to get. He likes 1% (chunk crap as I say) and I like Skim (chalk water as he says). Well, he won the compromise this weekend and we had to get 1% for our cereal and Oreos. As Dave was pouring the milk into the cereal Sunday morning, chunks of frozen milk fell out of the carton and into my cereal bowl. Thinking I wasn’t looking, he tried to chop up the frozen chunks but soon we were both laughing. To most, this wouldn’t be a big deal or even funny, it was just frozen milk. But, to us it was hilarious simply because I call his 1% milk “Chunk Crap” and sure enough, there is a chunk of milk in my cereal bowl. The best thing to keep in mind wen you’re sailing on that ship together is to keep the sense of humor alive. I’m so thankful we are both able to do that- frequently.

What an absolute gorgeous Sunday morning it was in Vancouver. The sun was finally out; the cherry blossoms in full bloom rustling around in the soft breeze, and the temperatures were promising a mediocrely warm day for us. We were heading a few miles up the road to spend the day at Capilano Suspension Bridge, one of the must sees in Vancouver. It was one of the places the border patrol had told us to check out and coincidentally featured today on one of our favorite travel blogs.

Off we went, with only a slight detour- Canadian roads are confusing- twisting around the outskirts of Vancouver, through North Vancouver and finally arriving at a dirt parking lot labeled “Capilano Suspension Bridge Parking.” Grabbing our parking permit and tickets we raced inside the venue in hopes of passing in front of the large busload of tourists that had just pulled up. We were surprised to see that inside there was actually a bunch more things to do other than just the suspension bridge. Although amazing to see, I’m not sure it would be worth the cost to just see that. We noted that the suspension bridge was awfully busy so we decided to venture around the other aspects of the park first.

Making our way through the “Story Centre” and through the Giftshop we started our adventure on the Cliffwalk. The Cliffwalk follows a granite cliff over looking the Capilano River. Walking along, we crossed bridges, climbed stairs and hung out on platforms overlooking the gorgeous Evergreens and forest. It was neat to be up so high and what I enjoyed was that we were basically alone for the first bit of our adventure. There weren’t many tourists crowding us so we could take our time along the Cliffwalk, taking in the nature around us. Dave noted several times how fresh the air. It was true, both of us living in such large cities we get used to the polluted and human infested air, but out here in the midst of the Rainforest- it was so clean and fresh. It felt different even just to breath.

We finally decided that as the day went on, the Suspension Bridge wouldn’t get less crowded so we might as well just take our time crossing. I could already see the nauseous-ness coming before even stepping on the bridge. The Capilano Suspension Bridge was built in 1889 and stretches about 450 feet across the Capilano River. And let me tell you, it’s quite high above the river too, about 230 feet. With those kinds of dimensions it’s no wonder you get a little queasy and wobbly when you step on the bridge. Getting photographs was proving to be quite challenging but we made due.

Once we crossed, there was even more to do on the other side. Unfortunately, my knee was beginning to act up, the rain was starting to fall and we were both letting our wuss sides take over and started to get cold. We looked around for a bit longer, followed a few more trails then decided that we needed coffee, chai and some dry spaces. We stopped at the little café for our warm beverages before bidding our farewells to Capilano and then Vancouver.

We took a different route towards the states hoping for different scenery. Instead, we just got pounded with rain, thank you Pacific Northwest. Vancouver did not disappoint despite its rainy weather. We are already definitely planning another return during the 70 days of sunshine they receive. ‘Til next time Canada!

Bucket List: Explore Vancouver- Check!