Saturday, April 20, 2013

A Trip to the Big Smoke

A word of explanation is required here. The Big Smoke is Vancouver. When you live part of the year in a town of 17,000 yet a city of 603,000 is only an hour away any trip to town takes on an adventurous feel. On this occasion I had a couple appointments and had to check the mail. Exciting no?

Here is a picture of Scooterchick at our first appointment. Adorable? I believe so!!!


This is the office where we were for our first appointment. We were there for about an hour more or less then we went to check the mail.


By now we were ready for a bite to eat. We chose a Greek restaurant this time, and shared some appetizers. The food was good and the company divine as usual.


We had to drive out to Port Coquitlam for our next appointment, then came back in along Lougheed Highway. While we were driving back in we passed through Maillardville  which grew up around a sawmill started by Frank Ross and James McLaren. They founded Fraser Mills and hired a group of 110 French Canadians to come and work the mill in 1909. They brought another group out a year later.

It was named for Father Edmond Maillard a priest who was transplanted from France to take care of their spiritual needs. Maillardville became the largest Francophone community west of Manitoba.


A little further on we stopped at a large garden center to look around. Apparently they have some new floral arrivals, these ones designed by Dr. Seuss.


They have a number of water features set up. I am a total sucker for any type of water feature or fountain. again, I don't know why....but the sound of running water just soothes my soul.


They have these of all different shapes and sizes to fit the available space. Depending on the room you have available, there is an example to fit all spaces. Here is Scooterchick admiring one such installation. This one features a waterfall and a pond.


Here is one for a limited space location. Although it looks like stone, it's resin cast so it's fairly light and maneuverable. Just add water and plug in.


At this store they are willing to help you to figure out anything garden related. They even have as display on how they can help you lay out a garden bed.....novel idea.


We carried on in our travels, and thought it might be about time to get a cup of coffee and a bite to eat. I decided on a cinnamon bun, Scooterchick got some lemon pound cake. She couldn't finish her cake......here let me help you with that.


This is a shot of the place we stopped. JJ Bean in Park and Tilford Center in North Vancouver. We are no longer using Starbucks since Howard Schwartz declared in a shareholders meeting that if we didn't agree with  his personal beliefs we should avoid spending money in his establishment. Okay!

This is the friendly Barrista, pulling shots at the bar.


We were waiting to attend a movie that started at 7:15. I took a picture of a flower bed in front of the theater just before going in. The movie we went to see was Oblivion, the latest with Tom Cruise.
While visually stunning, it was thin on plot but had a lot of special effects. It was the premier showing in this  market. I don't believe I've ever been to a premier show before. The place was packed.


Well okay then....goodbye now.

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