Vancouver Before the Olympics!

Isn't it cool that I live only a 2 hour drive from Vancouver?

I think it's pretty awesome! I really wish I could have gone there during the Olympics, but prices for everything were through the roof. Instead, I got to go there towards the end of January with my friend Miranda. Yep, a whole weekend in Canada, just the two of us, no kids. Do we have wonderful husbands or what???

I learned that Vancouver is a HUGE city! Here we are in the Vancouver Harbor. I love how Miranda was 7 months pregnant and still up for this adventure! It's become sort of an annual tradition for us now, since we went to Victoria, BC in March of last year when I was pregnant with Natalie, and now we went to Vancouver this year.

Gorgeous, yes? I had some fun with my new Nikon while we were there. What do you think, should I round the edges of my photos more often? I kind of like the effect.

The whole time we were there I was wondering, "Why haven't I come here before?" I've lived in Seattle for over three years now, and hadn't been to Vancouver yet! It's close, easy, and there is a TON of stuff to do there! We took it easy and kept it simple with lots of shopping, eating, and going to a movie, but I could make a huge list of things I'd want to do there in the summer.

I really liked this bridge! We got lucky with pretty nice weather while we were there, too. It was a little cold, but no rain!

We spent a good part of our Saturday shopping at the Granville Island Market. It was so awesome! SO much delicious food and fresh produce, and tons of really cute boutique shops. I'll bet during the Olympics it just got flooded with people! I loved the vibrant colors in the fruit.

It was sooooo nice to have a girl's weekend away to relax, sleep in, explore the city, and pretty much do whatever we wanted. I had such a great time!

After we left the city on Sunday, I drove us to the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge. I was blown away by how beautiful it was there!

This was pretty much the longest and coolest suspension bridge I've ever been on. It was a miracle to get a photo of me on the bridge without other people on it. I don't know how we did it!

Standing in the middle of the suspension bridge, looking down, this is what the view was like:

Amazing!!!
I LOVE the Pacific Northwest, including British Columbia. I hope to explore LOTS more of it throughout my life!

This might sound crazy, but one of the highlights of the trip was on our way home, not too far into dear old Washington, I took a random exit looking for some food. It was like I saw the heavens open and heard angels sing when my eyes beheld this sight:

SONIC!!! Oh, how I've missed you!!!
Miranda got a kick out of how excited I got when I saw this place. I gasped and I think I was bouncing in the driver's seat. (Just so I don't sound too crazy. . . I loved Sonic when I lived in Utah, and I thought there weren't any of them in Washington west of Spokane. But I was wrong!!! Next time I'm craving Sonic, I can just drive an hour and a half north and there you go!!! Okay, maybe I won't drive that far just to get Sonic. But it was just SO lucky that I happened to pick that exit, and they didn't even have a sign visible from the freeway! Oh, it was meant to be!!!)

I got my Route 44-sized Dr. Pepper with Cherry and Vanilla flavoring. . . my favorite drink EVER, and just as good as I remembered it. . . and my mozzarella cheese sticks, and I was happy as a clam the rest of the way home!

So I hope this post fully expresses my love for Sonic, girl's weekends with friends, my husband who watched the kids by himself for two days, and Canada!!! Such a great weekend!