Visiting Vancouver

Checking in from a cafe in Vancouver. I've been up here for a few days, staying with my aunt and uncle. Having been here a couple of times in the past, I was happy to have the chance to trip around it a bit while the weather was perfect. Vancouver is picturesque given the industrial architecture framed by calm ocean water and majestic mountains.

Over lunch with my friend Rachel I was told that Vancouver boasts the highest per capita dog ownership rate in North America -- and while I wasn't able to verify this with a cursory web search, there's no doubt that they love their pooches here. Also (as with Seattle and Portland) they love the outdoors here. It would be hard to miss a jogger if you threw a dog in any direction. (Not that I'd advocate that).

Another random Vancouver note - hosting the Olympics in the winter? Gonna be interesting. Not sure I see that coming off without a hitch... traffic is going to be a big problem.

Overall, it was generally a pretty mellow visit. Home cooked meals. Sitting around the house. Time in the Internet cafes. My aunt is crazy on the Inuit art so we checked out a few of the local galleries. On my last night in town, we also had the chance to drive down to Bellingham WA to take in my cousin's band Taarka. My aunt and uncle were on babysitting duty as they played -- I enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere -- some interesting folk in Bellingham, had no idea...

Heading back to Seattle today for a few more days there. Will update again soon.