More outings to Stanley Park for picnics with pals and explorations including Earth Day excursions, aquarium visit, and horse carriage circumnavigation – after a few topsy turvy days – plus eats back at HQ with Ryoko, Ichiro, and free radical visitors before seaplane escape to Vancouver Island.
Exceptional humans who followed our cryptic geo-coordinate dispatches to various willow tree hobbit camps included:
* Rebecca B, on Stanley Park Eco committee
* Mikala F, of Backstage Rider fame, etc.
* Jess and Stewart M, ”the Antlers” #KBO
* Simon, Barb and Roland – creatives all, coming by bicycle with cake in Tupperware carrier
* Jon, Michy with son A – we’ll see these brilliant folks again
* Marcus with wife K and son O – yet another kid from the same era as our Ichiro… I’m hoping they all start an international club/band
* John and Elena– with commemorative meta-mug
* Vanessa T – with Weblos medicine
* Kei B – with New Town Bakery boxes
* Jess W & daughter L. – joining us on a horse carriage commentary circumnavigation
* Jason S. and Višnja M. – adorable brilliant newlyweds (among other qualities)
* Finlay – young poet, emerging hockey-ist and possible future pilot (son of Monique and James, met previously)
* David D. – modern classical composer
* Betty-Ann and daughter P. – from back in the olden Surrey days
* Jerry Kroll – super entrepreneur with a new book https://www.jerrykroll.ca/
Unsurprisingly, impossible to provide adequate commentary on each of the wonderful folks who took the time to commune with us, and my apologies to anyone who wasn’t able to find us or otherwise missed a snapshot in this dispatch. I’m doing my best, we did our best.
Topics & places, amongst others, include:
- Food – so much gifted (thanks!), ordered, prepared etc & all savoured at 1234 Hornby HQ with flowers and sometimes hockey
- Commemorative postcards preview
- Earth Day excursions
- Horse-drawn carriage ride with “plenty of commentary” about smallpox and horses
- Reminisces of childhood birthday, teenage hi-jinks and adult sojourns
- Sulphur pile (giant and unwavering in size) and floating gas stations
- Glimpses of Rose Garden, Robbie Burns statue, Lumberman’s Arch, and other scenes before…
- Glorious Totem Poles, a homecoming of sorts
- Japanese WW1 cenotaph, an important place of remembrance
- Zoo grottoes (abandoned & i wanna make a music video or concert here)
- Vancouver Aquarium sidequests
- Olympic torch assortment dealio
- Postboxes and shoelaces, as usual
And a riff about places we didn’t go: Gastown, Railtown, Chinatown, Seabus, as well as Vancouver’s bewildering lack of public restrooms & note to myself about “its about the future!” and reminder of theme “Family, Friends, Parks and Gardens” plus a special dedication to the memory of Darren Barefoot.
Finally cappuccinos and a flight via the wonderful Harbour Air from Downtown Vancouver to Downtown Victoria with the glorious Gulf islands and Cascadia scenes flashing below the pontoons – with water taxis, Legislature building and Seattle Clipper in the inner harbour awaiting us on the sunny docks.
