Tuesday, September 26, 2017

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 

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