Vancouver & Victoria

I've finally gotten around to organizing pictures from our trip last year to Canada.  To celebrate our 1 year anniversary, we picked up and went to Vancouver for several days, and then took a ferry to Victoria on Vancouver Island for a few days.  It was spectacular, and the best part was that we found out I was pregnant at the end of the trip!  I'll never forget that bathroom.... ;)  Anyway, here are some pictures from our adventures.  

We stayed just outside downtown, in the Commercial Street area, in an apartment.
Found a coffee shop that we loved, and indulged in yummy baked goods for breakfast!

One of our favorite adventures was renting bikes for the day and biking the 9km
(5.5 miles) seawall route all the way around Stanley Park.  Picnic lunch included! 

Leah on our bike tour; this is the Lions Gate Bridge heading north off Stanley Park. 

Went to the Vancouver Aquarium, also in Stanley Park.

On the ferry from Vancouver to Vancouver Island.  We stayed in Victoria in
the loveliest bed & breakfast, very close to the water.

Victoria at night, lights reflecting into the bay.  The well-known Fairmont Hotel is on
the left in orange.  The British Columbia Parliament buildings are well lit on the right.

We stayed near Beacon Hill Park, in which Leah would run in the mornings in the cool
Canadian weather.  She found a petting zoo, which had goats!!  Eeee!

We rented a car and drove from Victoria all around V. Island, along the Pacific Rim Highway.
Final destination: the remote but beautiful surfing town, Tofino.  Oh how I miss that weather right now!!

Heading back to Victoria, we stopped along the Pacific Rim National Park.
Gorgeous beaches along the way!!

I had recently bought a tripod and insisted on packing it in the suitcase.  Leah dutifully
obliged my stopping every 3 feet in this gorgeous forested area near the beaches to set it up and try to
capture a picture of the two of us worth saving. I think this one is pretty good, no? 

One more V. Island destination: the renowned Buchart Gardens, which definitely
held up to their name!  Just beautiful.

Thanks for a great vacation, Vancouver!  We really appreciate it, especially now that going to CVS seems like an exciting outing...