Vancouver Trip - Day 10

TIMELINE

• 9:00 a.m. Awake
• 9:55 a.m. Cora Victoria - Breakfast
• 10:37 a.m. Rexall #7121 - DayQuil
• 11:45 a.m. Board BC Ferries Connector Bus, Victoria
• 1:00 p.m. Board BC Ferry Coastal Celebration
• 1:40 p.m. BC Ferries Cafeteria - Lunch
• 3:45 p.m. Bus disembarks ferry
• 4:05 p.m. Disembark bus at Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, take Blue Line to hotel
• 4:30 p.m. Hotel check-in
• 5:15 p.m. Leave hotel on Chinatown/Gastown walk
• 6:15 p.m. Trees Organic Coffee - Dinner 
• 6:35 p.m. Vegan Pudding & Company - Dinner
• 7:00 p.m. Black Lounge & Casual Kitchen - Dinner
• 8:00 p.m. Catfe cat cafe
• 9:00 p.m. Hotel

NOTES

• Cora restaurant chain has a sun very similar to one I used to draw 20 years ago
• BC Ferries Connector very nice experience, but traffic bad coming into Vancouver, so we got off early and took the Blue Line to the hotel rather than take the bus to Pacific Central Station
• Columbia Street between Keefer and Powell sketchy
• Heard steam clock chime 6:00 p.m., then watched it at 6:15 p.m. as it intoned the first four notes
• Maple Tree Square a lovely spot
• Hill's NW Coast Native Art store overwhelmed me with masks, heavyweight wool clothing, paintings, jewelry...great!
• Catfe:
• Walkin appointment late in the day
• A few cats out and active, a few asleep
• Purchased Catfe tee shirt
• Food
• Cora Victoria: 
• Strawberry-banana 3 layers of pancakes and a delicious mix of strawberries and bananas, drizzled with strawberry sauce and served with English cream Cora style. Also offered in a smaller serving.
• Ode to oatmeal: Oatmeal with English cream Cora style, blueberries, strawberries and harvest crunch*. All drizzled with pure maple syrup and served with toast. 
• BC Ferry
• Veggie Burger, fries, root beer
• Espresso shot
• Trees Organic Coffee - 
• Chocoholic Cheesecake For the serious chocolate lover. Layers of dark and milk chocolate will satisfy any craving
• Really great cheesecake!
• Vegan Pudding & Company - 
• Matcha Green Tea Pudding: with roasted black sesame sauce
• Cashier seemed like a sterotypical Japanese anime character, in a positive way...like a manic pixie with infectious enthusiasm
• Black Lounge & Casual Kitchen - 
• Pint of Guinness, Chicken Mushroom Alfredo spaghettini topped with pan fried mushrooms, spinach, fresh garlic alfredo, fresh tomatoes and green onion served with garlic toast
• Probably best chicken alfredo I've had
• Catfe - Chococat hot chocolate, Mulberry tea

Vancouver Trip - Day 9

TIMELINE

• 10:30 a.m. Breakfast - Jonathan's Restaurant
• 11:00 a.m. Royal British Columbia Museum
• Noon IMAX 4K Laser film - The Search for Life in Space
• 1:45 p.m. Lunch - Puerto Vallarta Amigos Food Truck (Behind museum)
• 5:00 p.m. Dinner - Fairmont Empress Hotel (High Tea)
• 6:00 p.m. Royal BC Museum
• 9:30 p.m. Leave museum
• 9:45 p.m. Hotel

NOTES

• Decided not to go to Butchart Gardens due to 5:00 p.m. tea time and rain
• Royal British Columbia Museum
• High quality exhibits, both natural history and modern history
• Our Living Languages and First Peoples exhibits/galleries outstanding
• Exhibitions:
• Terry Fox: Running to the Heart of Canada
• Our Living Languages: First Peoples' Voices in BC
• Natural History Galleries
• First Peoples Galleries
• Modern History Galleries
• Food
• Jonathan's Restaurant
• Oatmeal, side of potatoes
• Stuffed French toast with strawberries and brie
• Puerto Vallarta Amigos Food Truck
• Bean and cheese burrito
• Chicken burrito, root beer
• Fairmont Empress High Tea
• Savory
• Smoked Salmon On Blini - Classically presented with avocado cream cheese and pickled red onion garnish
• Hand Peeled Local Shrimp - Ginger lemon mascarpone, seaweed cone
• English Cucumber On Rye - Heirloom cucumbers from sunwing farms, fennel pollen, dill cream cheese
• Coronation Chicken On Brioche - Chicken breast, red pepper, red onion, almonds, pineapple; originally served for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and still a favourite at Buckingham Palace
• Signature Empress Warm Raisin Scones - House made clotted cream with strawberry lavender preserve
• Sweet
• Rooibos Provence & Hazelnut Delice - Rooibos tea infused provence served on a soft, local hazelnut delice
• Lemon Poppy Shortbread - A favourite of Lady Sarah Armstrong Jones, Princess Margaret's daughter
• Etenia Passion Fruit Cremeux Tart - Empress signature etenia chocolate with a balanced passionfruit cream centre
• Okanagan Apple & Crown Royal Spice Cake - Local blackberry butter frosting tops this classic royal spice cake
• Berry Pistachio Daisy - White chocolate cup filled with pistachio cream topped with fresh berries
• Tea
• Rose Congou Emperor - Five times layered with rose petals. A favorite of Princess Diana.
• Joie de Provence - An organic herbal rooibus tea. Fruity ripe berry notes balanced with mild lavender.

Vancouver Trip - Day 8

TIMELINE

• 9:55 a.m. Tim Horton's #2467 - Breakfast
• 10:15 a.m. Rexall drug store - anti-dizziness pills
• 11:00 a.m. Lucky Osaka Sushi at Pacific Central Station - Lunch
• 11:45 a.m. Depart on BCF Connector bus
• 12:45 p.m. Arrive at Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal, board ferry
• 1:25 p.m. BC Ferries Spirit of Vancouver Cafeteria - Lunch
• 2:35 p.m. Arrive Swarz Bay, depart ferry on bus
• 3:20 p.m. Arrive Victoria, depart bus, walk to hotel
• 3:30 p.m. Check-in at Royal Scot Hotel & Suites
• 4:00 p.m. Beacon Hill Park walk
• 6:45 p.m. Swan's Brew Pub - Dinner
• 7:35 p.m. Rocky Mountain Chocolate - Dessert
• 8:00 p.m. Hotel
• 10:00 p.m. Asleep

NOTES

• Took Fairmont Hotel Vancouver elevator to top floor, giving us a view of several gargoyles, a grand piano which Dawn briefly played, and a closed-off roof restaurant, but not much else
• Rose 31 perfuming body lotion a Dawn favorite
• Someone discarded their IROS 2017 tote bag on a fire hydrant outside the hotel
• Beacon Hill Park has flowers, ponds, fountains, ducks & geese, an overlook of the bay, a cricket pitch, and the world's largest totem pole
• Neither guidebook seems to say much about Victoria, so sort of winged it; used the Lonely Planet app to help narrow down what to see, but not much
• British Columbia Parliament Buildings and front fountain illuminated at night
• Horse-drawn carriages make clip-clopping noises through our windows
• Watched the Johnson Street Bridge open to allow a ship to pass
• Went to The Drake first, but found food selection not to our taste
• Munro's Books - Phoebe and Her Unicorn series has a new book which caught our eye, as did a new Sarah's Scribbles book, but we decided we didn't need more books to lug around...might buy when we get back
• Passed Bastion Square arch
• Almost all stores closed by 5:00 p.m. ... that was our running joke
• Pacific Central Station has columns in front and vestigial technology like empty phone booths inside; architecture of a different era (I liked it)
• Accosted by vendor wanting to show us the "eighth wonder of the world", which irritated Dawn further when he said, "How can you dismiss it like that?"
• Food:
• Tim Horton's - oatmeal (maple, berry), side of hasbrowns, pumpkin spice latte
• Lucky Osaka Sushi at Pacific Central Station - Veggie roll
• Central Station Cappuccino Bar - espresso shot, banana 
• BC Ferries Spirit of Vancouver Cafeteria - Veggie burger, fries, root beer
• Swan's Brew Pub - bacon mac & cheese, veggie panini & fries
• Rocky Mountain Chocolate - Chocolate covered brownie on a stick with M&M topping

Vancouver Trip - Day 7

TIMELINE

• 7:30 a.m. Awake
• 8:57 a.m. Blenz Coffee - Breakfast
• 9:15 a.m. Tractor Foods - Breakfast
• 9:45 a.m. Festal Paleo Cafe - Breakfast
• 10:00 a.m. On Canada Line
• 10:20 a.m. Begin False Creek walk
• 11:00 a.m. Pass Science World
• 11:25 a.m. Terra Breads #1 - Lunch
• 1:00 p.m. Ended False Creek walk
• 1:20 p.m. Stuart's @ Granville Island - Lunch
• 1:25 p.m. Rogers' Chocolates
• 2:30 p.m. Ainsworth Custom Design Art Studio
• 2:50 p.m. Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts - Lunch
• 3:05 p.m. Hotel
• 4:50 p.m. Met Dawn, ate dinner at Thai Express
• 6:00 p.m. Attended Jorge Cham talk at IROS 2017
• 8:25 p.m. Starbucks decaf to go with celebratory dessert
• 8:45 p.m. Back at hotel; news, blog, receipts, book ferry, and so forth
• 11:30 p.m. Asleep

NOTES

• False Creek Walk
• Pleasant walk, good weather
• One boat flew Soviet flag
• One boat name seemed vandalized, with "Blow Me" crudely painted
• Graffiti art of startled cat under Cambie Street bridge
• Watched a crow open an unattended backpack and remove a paper bag of food
• Jorge Cham talk:
• Points delivered humorously, in collaboration with PowerPoint 
• Credited Stanford professor Bernard Roth with challenging him to change his thinking on "things we have to do"--Dr. Roth proposed we do the things we do because we want to do them
• Proposed guilt as the main reason we avoid procrastination
• Food:
• Blenz: decaf coffee
• Tractor Foods: Cold day-old oats with blueberry and raspberry compote and granola, apple muffin
• Festal Paleo Cafe: espresso shot
• Terra Breads #1: mushroom, leek, and quinoa soup, with stecca bread
• Stuart's @ Granville Island: Turtle Cheesecake
• Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts: Lime Coconut Puff, Chocolate Eclair, Tropical Fave
• Thai Express: mediocre vegetable fried rice and yellow curry

Vancouver Trip - Day 6

TIMELINE

• 7:00 a.m. Awake
• 9:00 a.m. Blenz Coffee Bentall 5 - Breakfast
• 9:15 a.m. Vancouver Convention Centre - Breakfast
• 10:42 a.m. Capilano Suspension Bridge
• Noon Bus to Grouse Mountain
• 12:20 p.m. Start Grouse Grind trail ascent
• 2:24 p.m. Finish Grouse Grind trail ascent (2 hours, 4 minutes)
• 2:30 p.m. Grouse Mountain summit cafe - Lunch
• 2:40 p.m. Grouse Mountain summit gift shop
• 2:50 p.m. Board gondola to return to parking lot
• 2:56 p.m. Disembark gondola
• 3:10 p.m. Board bus to Lonsdale Quay
• 3:45 p.m. Lonsdale Quay - Boarding SeaBus
• 4:00 p.m. Canada Place - Disembarking SeaBus
• 5:30 p.m. Dawn's conference presentation
• 6:57 p.m. La Taqueria Pinche Taco Shop - Dinner
• 7:30 p.m. Hotel - shower, change clothes, receipts, blogging, and so forth
• 9:40 p.m. Dawn done with convention dinner
• 10:00 p.m. Vancouver Lookout
• 11:00 p.m. Back at hotel
• 11:30 p.m. Asleep

NOTES

• Sick - runny nose; moving forward nonetheless
• Capilano Suspension Bridge:
• Arrived around 10:30 a.m. and glad not later--coming back across the suspension bridge was a crawl by 11:30 a.m.
• Bridge wobbles but has fine chain fence enclosures and thick cable at my elbow height, so didn't feel afraid, just a bit off balance
• Skipped bathrooms by parking lot (line) and found bathrooms inside the gate empty
• Treetops Adventure was well done but I moved through it quickly...wanted to get through it and get to Grouse Mountain
• Cliffwalk was also well done but moved through quickly
• Wifi password: "csbguest"
• Grouse Mountain's Grouse Grind trail:
• Facts (via):
• 2.9-kilometre trail up the face of Grouse Mountain, commonly referred to as “Mother Nature’s Stairmaster.”
• Elevation Gain: 853 metres (2,800 feet) 
• Base: 274 metres above sea level (900 feet)
• Summit: 1,127 metres (3,700 feet) 
• Total Stairs: 2,830
• Completed in 2:04:00 (average time: 90 minutes)
• Saw woman with baby climbing
• Took a slow methodical climb and finished feeling tired--but not wrecked...rest of day was able to function OK
• Entrance was quite a bit away from the gondolas, out on the road
• Regretted not wearing technical shirt--cotton tee shirt soaked up sweat and shocked me with cold when put backpack back on
• Stopped a few times to rest, eat a bit of a cheese muffin, and drink water...really out to enjoy
• Quite a few people out for speed and let them by; easy to hear huffing and puffing as they approached
• Lots of trees and a few chipmunks...saw bits of the bay far below nearer the top
• Getting to "1/4 Mile" sign put in perspective how far/long ascent would take
• Another woman complained of asthma and stopped frequently...I trailed her and her daughter for some time, until I took a break and they disappeared on ahead
• Lots of handy ropes and stairs...helped me a few times keep balanced
• Gave up caring about wiping away sweat after about 30 minutes...realized no way to finish without getting drenched...accepted it and moved on
• Gondola down took only six minutes
• Proud I finished
• SeaBus: 
• No problems at all; super easy to board/disembark
• Saw a helijet with rotors spinning on the Vancouver side
• Learned "quay" gets prounced "key", not like "quail"
• Dawn's presentation: 
• Thought she did a great job; sounded confident and slides looked professional
• Enjoyed seeing other presenters discuss microrobotics topics, including a mini robot that follows plumes of aerosols to the source using Levy Walk and spiral surge techniques
• Vancouver Lookout: empty when we visited (10:00 p.m.)...beautiful city lights
• Food:
• Vancouver Convention Centre coffee shop - pumpkin muffin, sausage biscuit, cheese muffin, espresso shot
• Capilano Suspension Bridge - Earl Gray tea to help soothe throat
• Grouse Mountain Summit - Espresso shot
• La Taqueria Pinche Taco Shop - breakfast burrito special (black beans, soft egg, mini potatoes, etc.)
• Canada Place - Jugo Juice Acai Protein 

Vancouver Trip - Day 5

TIMELINE

• 8:00 a.m. Awake
• 9:00 a.m. Blenz Coffee - Bentall 5
• 9:20 a.m. Tractor Foods - 335 Burrard St.
• 10:00 a.m. Back at hotel
• 10:30 a.m. Left hotel for laundry
• 11:00 a.m. At Laundry Valet, 1238 Davie St, Vancouver
• 12:15 p.m. Heading back to hotel
• 1:00 p.m. Back at hotel
• 1:22 p.m. Hotel Fairmont Vancouver - Business Services print/scan/email
• 1:45 p.m. Caffe Artigiano - 763 Hornby Street
• 2:00 p.m. Vancouver Art Gallery
• 5:30 p.m. Pendulum Gallery
• 5:45 p.m. Vancouver Convention Center, West Building - Meet Dawn
• 7:00 p.m. The Hastings Warehouse
• 7:53 p.m. Bella Gelateria
• 8:15 p.m. Returned to hotel - put away laundry, receipts, blog, and so forth
• 10:30 p.m. Asleep

NOTES

• Laundry day
• Laundry Valet:
• Staff super helpful; best laundromat experience I've had
• Total cost: $CAD 5-6
• They name the washers and dryers: ours were "Samuel" and "Lady Gaga"
• Fairmont Hotel Vancouver charged fees way out of our price range
• Good deeds:
• Helped guy get back to his cruise ship at Canada Place
• Helped three young travelers looking for Vancouver Info Centre
• Vancouver Art Gallery:
• Claude Monet’s Secret Garden
• Paintings primarily from the Musée Marmottan Monet, I believe
• "The exhibition culminates in a major series of paintings executed in his famous gardens in the French village of Giverny, where Monet lived from 1883 to the end of his life. This series reveals Monet’s astute and sustained visual exploration of plants and water. His distinctive renderings of weeping willows, waterlilies and the Japanese bridge in his garden are among the most iconic imagery in Western painting today."
• Cataracts affected his ability to paint during his last two decades--later paintings seemed more abstract (though not all!)
• Stephen Shore: The Giverny Portfolio, another exhibit, showed 25 photographs of Giverny, including weeping willows, lilies, and arches
• Emily Carr: Into the Forest
• Contrast between new and old
• She painted most of her works in later life -- found myself wondering how age affected her perception of old and new trees in the art
• Easy for me to see the waving grasses she witnessed
• Elad Lassry
• A film projector displaying a motion picture art piece - I enjoyed the technology more than the art
• Pendulum Gallery - per a security guard, the pendulum was not moving due to work on the roof
• Bella Gelateria
• Cone with chocolate brownie and chocolate cherry gelato
• This place won first prize at the 2012  Firenze Gelato Festival with a "pecan and Canadian maple syrup gelato"
• Tractor Foods: they lost my sandwich order but gave me a free lemonade to say thanks--food so good!
• Caffe Artigiano - had an espresso shot and a ham/cheese pastry
• The Hastings Warehouse - meals for only $4.95! Slow but super good...best deal in town
• Kind of an overall catchup day today: apartment rental, tee shirt, Amazon return issue, laundry, and so forth. 

Vancouver Trip - Day 4

TIMELINE

• 8:00 a.m. Awake
• 9:10 a.m. Breakfast - Tim Hortons #4944
• 10:30 a.m. Check out, walk to new hotel, check in
• 11:00 a.m. IROS 2017 registration
• 11:53 a.m. Lunch - Tractor Foods @ 335 Burrard Street
• Noon - Bus to University of British Columbia
• 1:30 p.m. Nitobe Memorial Garden | UBC Botanical Garden
• 2:00 p.m. Museum of Anthropology at UBC
• 5:00 p.m. Bus back to downtown
• 6:10 p.m. Dinner - Yah-Yah-Ya Ramen
• 6:30 p.m. Back at hotel; blogging, news, UCSC CPSRC web page editing, receipts
• 10:30 p.m. Asleep

NOTES

• Scratchy throat...getting sicker
• Hotel Fairmont Vancouver:
• Resident black lab in their lobby (Ollie?)
• Roof access (?)
• Toilet handle needs jiggling to get the flapper down
• Electric/USB ports built-into nightstand
• View of Tiffany, Dior
• Large walk-in closet
• Rainfall shower head
• University of British Columbia:
• Nitobe Memorial Garden - lush, green, stone, grass, waterfalls, wooden bridges, tea house, koi fish, pond
• Museum of Anthropology - totem poles, masks, masterworks, pottery, exhibit on the Amazon, Dawn wondered about wearing the masks with the movable lower jaws, potlatch
• Fall colors appearing
• X̱wi7x̱wa Library (Squamish language-the number 7 represents a shorthand for glottal stop)
• Student Nest
• West 4th Avenue has a lot of commercial activity
• IROS 2017 registration went smoothly; found the room Dawn will present at; the conference wireless password starts with "v" and represents the name of a city....
• CityPass coupon saved us $18 already, so almost break-even ($25 cost)
• Called Toyota of Vacaville about car...corrected my email address, authorized car repair...way more than what it should cost and probably doesn't include labor, but there it is
• Make store at Granville Island responded and we settled on a color (heathered purple) for Dawn's tee shirt -- Lauren great at customer service

Ainsworth Custom Fabrication - Art Collective Storefront

This place represents my favorite Vancouver place, to-date:

http://granvilleisland.com/directory/ainsworth-custom-design

Felt right-at-home. Quirky and positive. Lots of care and thought put into almost every piece.

Wanted to purchase everything. Ended up with a Little Rabbit Notecard from Mary Kim.

Other links:
https://www.instagram.com/ainsworthcustomdesign/ (sporadically updated, since 2013)
https://www.facebook.com/Ainsworthcustomdesign/
https://www.yelp.ca/biz/ainsworth-custom-design-vancouver

Artist links:
https://chop-logik.deviantart.com/gallery/
https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/claudiasegovia/
http://www.sunny-shah.com/

Vancouver Trip - Day 3

TIMELINE

• 8:00 a.m. Awake
• 9:33 a.m. Tim Horton's #4944 - Breakfast
• 10:15 a.m. Canadian Crafts on Robson St - Magnet
• 10:30 a.m. Picked up Vancouver CityPass from ICE Currency Exchange
• 11:00 a.m. London Drugs - mailing postcard and greeting card
• 11:30 a.m. Vancouver Public Library
• Noon - Cartems Donuterie - Lunch
• 2:25 p.m. Ten Thousand Villages - two greeting cards
• 3:22 p.m. Roger's Chocolates
• 4:39 p.m. Ainsworth Custom Design
• 5:15 p.m. Omi Japan - Dinner
• 6:15 p.m. 7-Eleven #35667 - Ibuprofen
• 6:20 p.m. Back at hotel

NOTES

• "My Name is Citizen Crane" - sign outside Vancouver Public Library
• Canada Post employees friendly
• IGA supermarket lives on in Vancouver
• Granville Island
• Ainsworth Custom Design
• Kevin's favorite find, to date
• Vendor for local artists and quality very high
• Pickle Punch
• Cartems Donuterie: 
• Purple Yam (Ube Halaya) donut, Poached Pear donut, and strawberry mint tea
• While eating, a male passerby kicked over their A-Frame sidewalk chalkboard, punching a hole through one side...the man continued walking and the employees let him go
• Omi Japan - mushroom udon soup, chicken donburi rice bowl
• Roger's Chocolates - cashier had same name as my mother
• Dragonspace seemed run by really friendly people
• Fruit Buddy pear holder
• MAKE Vancouver at Granville Island - Dawn spotted a shirt design she liked and will custom order with women's fit and sage green color
• OSGEMEOS mural
• Really wiped out -- will have to do better about fueling
• "Trump name to be removed from Trump Tower Toronto—could Vancouver be next?" (via)
• Vancouver Duck Lady on Granville St. with pet goose (link)

Vancouver Trip - Day 2

TIMELINE

• 8:00 a.m. Awake (7.5 hours sleep)
• 9:30 a.m. Breakfast (Doolin's Irish Pub buffet, next to hotel)
• 10:30 a.m. Left hotel
• 10:42 a.m. Canada Post - mailed postcards
• 11:15 a.m. Entered Stanley Park
• 11:31 a.m. Entered Vancouver Aquarium 
• 3:45 p.m. Left Vancouver Aquarium, walked to Prospect Point (Stanley Park)
• 5:10 p.m. At Prospect Point
• 6:00 p.m. Totem poles
• 7:04 p.m. Refilled Compass transportation cards
• 7:17 p.m. Japadog @ 530 Robson - #8 Yakisoba, #11 Croquette, Shaked Fries Umekatsuo
• 7:30 p.m. Return to hotel, receipts, blogging, etc.
• 11:00 p.m. Asleep

NOTES

• Doolin's Irish Pub buffet: mediocre quality by 9:30 a.m. (closes at 10:00 a.m.)
• Stanley Park
• Vancouver Aquarium was great
• Ate: sting ray-shaped sugar cookie, kelp brownie, screamer sundae (ice cream and slush), latte
• Favorites: harbor seal, otters, rays (cownose, southern stingray), two-toed sloth (asleep, barely visible in upper corner), dolphin, false killer whale 
• A baby seemed fascinated with me and started crawling toward me; very cute
• Prospect Point: purchased moose pajamas
• Pacific Banana Slug (Ariolimax columbianus) sighting along path between Prospect Point and Pipeline Road
• Black squirrel sightings
• Japadog was great
• Ordered CityPass book for discounts on attractions
• Will check on Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (season opener was 9/22)
• Claud Monet exhibition
• Called pet sitters this morning and they said they incorrectly texted us about not having our key x_x So, much ado about nothing
• Everything with maple syrup tastes good this week

Vancouver Trip - Day 1

TIMELINE

• 9:00 a.m. Awake (11 hours sleep, with some interruptions)
• 10:00 a.m. Dawn meeting with academic advisor
• 10:50 a.m. Tim Horton's #4944 - breakfast of pumpkin spice muffin
• 11:06 a.m. Davie Village HH hardware - precision screwdriver set to fix laptop
• 11:18 a.m. Tim Horton's #4944 - breakfast of egg/ham muffin and pumpkin spice latte
• Noon Left hotel
• 1:59 p.m. Left Old Navy #4218 (purchased sweater for Kevin)
• 2:53 p.m. Grand Maple Gifts - tee shirt, maple tea, postcards
• 3:33 p.m. Ma Dong Coul Korean - Beef bibimbap and kimchi fried rice
• 3:47 p.m. 7-Eleven #33036 - purchased DayQuil 
• Stanley Park
• Six mile walk along entire seawall
• Walked to Prospect Point overlook
• 8:30 p.m. Rocky Mountain Chocolate - Chocolate brownie
• 9:02 p.m. Harvey's 946 Granville St. - Chicken Build-a-Bowl
• 11:00 p.m. Postcards, journaling, receipts 
• 11:45 p.m. Asleep

NOTES

• Felt mildly tired today...not sure if sick or just stress/lack of sleep catching up to me
• Rode Vancouver bus (TransLink) twice, using our Compass cards
• Tap and pay very popular
• Chocolate covered brownie: brownie core, one side had chocolate truffle filling, with a hard chocolate shell...very good after a long walk
• Stanley Park
• Clear water and blue hues to surroundings along seawall
• Saw the Siwash Rock, a great blue heron, raccoons, Teahouse Restaurant, a cruise ship, rowers in racing shells, and--after sunset--the Lions Gate bridge, the Lumberman's Arch, the 9 O'Clock Gun, the lighthouse, the Girl in Wetsuit Statue, RMS Empress of Japan masthead, the HMCS Discovery building, and the Vancouver Rowing Club building
• Called Toyota Vacaville as no word on car status...left info and later in the day received text requesting approval to text me...so I'm getting some kind of texts
• Realized SMS texts not going through due to lack of US cellular network...installed Google Hangouts Dialer app which I think also allows me to send SMS via Google Voice...works great

Vancouver Trip - Day 0

TIMELINE

• 7:00 a.m. Awake (five hours sleep)
• 9:00 a.m. Left home
• 9:15 a.m. Left Companion coffeehouse on Mission
• 10:05 a.m. Arrive economy lot, Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC)
• 10:30 a.m. Arrive ticketing counter
• 10:50 a.m. Arrive TSA PreCheck security
• 10:55 a.m. Eat soup and salad at deli First Class
• 11:15 a.m. Arrive at gate
• 11:20 a.m. Board
• 11:50 a.m. Takeoff (Air Canada Flight 8115)
• Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (first hour watched)
• Things that didn't work on plane:
• Dawn's in-flight entertainment screen (as others)
• Rear bathroom
• Velcro holding up the emergency exit aisle's door release handle cover
• Things that did work on plane: everything else thankfully
• 2:00 p.m. Arrive Vancouver International Airport (YVR)
• 2:34 p.m. Currency Exchange
• 2:50 p.m. Collect WifiCube cellular hotspot rental
• 2:56 p.m. Tim Hortons #595 (Pumpkin Spice Muffin, Pumpkin Spice Latte--verdict: creamy, not sweet)
• 3:03 p.m. Load Canada Line cards
• 4:00 p.m. Arrive Comfort Inn
• 6:03 p.m. Poutine at Smoke's Poutinerie (Traditional poutine)
• 6:54 p.m. Dessert at Tim Horton's #4944 on Granville (Cold Stone Creamery)
• 10:00 p.m. Asleep

Vancouver Trip - Day -1

TIMELINE

• 5:30 p.m. Leave work in Sacramento
• 6:35 p.m. Prius throws error code P0A93 - "Inverter 'A' Cooling System Performance" (Vacaville)
• 7:10 p.m. Better World Club requests tow truck
• 8:00 p.m. Tow truck delivers car to Toyota Vacaville 
• 8:20 p,m. Lyft arrives
• 8:55 p.m. Arrive Amtrak Suisun Fairfield station (after navigating to Amtrak Fairfield–Vacaville station, opening October 2017)
• 9:15 p.m. Schedule Lyft 11:30 p.m. service, from Oakland – Jack London Square station, to home
• 9:49 p.m. Depart Amtrak Suisun Fairfield station
• 10:00 p.m. Eat on Cafe Car (bean and cheese burrito)
• 11:00 p.m. Arrive Oakland – Jack London Square station
• 11:30 p.m. Lyft arrives
• 12:45 a.m. Arrive home, pack, clean
• 2:00 a.m. Asleep

NOTES

• As Dawn says: Planes, trains, and automobiles
• Vacaville rental services closed
• Toyota Vacaville had no rentals to offer
• Amtrak Capital Corridor Suisun Fairfield station train service to San Jose ends with the 7:34 p.m. departure
• Chose to keep going rather than stay in Vacaville overnight