Day 1: Vancouver

All journeys of a thousand miles start with a single footstep.  Or, in our case, our journey began with missing luggage.  

We started Tuesday by waking up at 5AM so we could hop on a plane and fly back to the West Coast.  The plan for the next week and a half or so is to fly to Vancouver, spend a few days there, spend a few more days in Seattle, rent a car and go to Olympic National Park, visit my brother for my niece's 6th birthday, drive to Portland, and then fly out to New Zealand, where we will spend the entirety of Boston's winter before flying back in late April or early May.

Whew....

But first, we have to make it to Vancouver.  The first leg, despite starting way too early in the morning, went without a hitch.  We disembarked our plane in San Fransisco, ready to sprint across the airport to make our connection, only to find that our connection is to hop back on the same plane as it travels on to Vancouver.  Keep that in mind.

Upon arriving in Canada, we get off the plane, and go to pick up our luggage.  My backpack, packed with care but still to the gills comes off the belt just fine.  Molly's, also packed as full as it will go, is a no show.  Which is bad.  Very bad.  We had packed everything we will be carrying for the next 6 months in these bags, and temporarily misplaced luggage always has a chance of becoming permanently misplaced luggage.

Undeterred, and still full of hope for this trip, we venture into the city.  After dropping our stuff at our Airbnb, we walk into Stanley Park, a gem of Vancouver.  

Quite lovely, no?  The park is a spit of land sticking out northwest from downtown and is very close to our place.  Natural, full of trees and the wondrous mysteries of Pacific Northwest forests.

After walking along the sea wall for a few kilometers...wait....what's that sound?

Is that, drums?

Why yes, yes it is.

It's a group of wonderfully friendly (and impeccably polite--they are Canadian, after all) people, having a drumming circle.

 They've also lit a fire on the beach, so we warm ourselves, and do what we always do when surrounded by strangers.  That is, make friends.  Soon enough, a man straps a jimbe to my neck, and I'm banging away with the rest of the drum circle.  Molly is dancing, and there are crazy people stripping and diving into the water, which is not frigid, but it is still Fall here, so it is not warm.

So, United Airlines, you still suck.  Vancouver, though, you have started by making a real good impression on us.