Life Is Like A Box Of Chocolates

  Well loyal readers, it's coming up on two weeks since we arrived in Surrey and we're finally getting out and doing stuff now that the car is fixed and most of our clothing has been replaced. It turns out we're located in South Surrey which is only a few blocks from White Rock, so we started our explorations at White Rock Beach, at low tide:

  White Rock is named for, wait for it, The White Rock (photo not mine):

  We continued our wanderings and happened upon Crescent Beach which is a ten minute drive from our front door. Bonus. We also happened upon The World's Best Gelato. Score. What a great afternoon!

  As promised, on Wednesday we saw Oppenheimer on the IMAX screen and it was terrific. We later found out we were part of a select few since there are only thirty theatres in the world capable of showing the film in its original 70 mm form. Apparently, tickets in California were being sold for as much as $500 each. The movie was very good but, if someone offered me $500 per ticket... SOLD!

  Later that evening we decided to go see some local baseball so we ventured to old Nat Bailey Stadium in the city to see the Vancouver Canadians, the Blue Jays High A level minor league farm team. On the way, Penny captured another in a series of Very Large Objects:

... then it was on to the ballpark.

  It's a great old time ballpark and the Canadians are having a good season so it was an entertaining time and, for some, very entertaining:

  We even guessed the correct answer to the trivia contest but some woman whose sister is married to the owner's brother's gardener won. Cheaters. Anyway, it was a good game (the good guys won) and a beautiful evening for a ball game.

  Thursday was reserved for golf and we had a very pleasant nine holes at a course also only ten minutes from our front door, right next to Crescent Beach. What a great neighbourhood 😉.

  Friday was back to the beach, with Makita in tow, for some walking and sunning. It was all good until some heathen decided it would be a good time to cook up some hot dogs on the hibachi. "Do you smell hot dogs?", I asked Penny. "Yep", was followed by, "How come we didn't bring food?", which was followed by, "Is there a hot dog stand around here?", which was followed by, "Nope", which was followed by us packing dog, chairs and bodies into the hot car and high-tailing it back home for lunch. We'll come up with a better plan next time.

  Yesterday we went with David and Michele to Canada Place, on the Vancouver waterfront, to see Fly Over Canada, which is an interactive multimedia attraction where the seats move to maximize the effect of the aerial photography making you feel like you're flying. We took the Skytrain into the city, finding it fairly cheap and efficient and a great alternative to traffic, stress and high parking fees, much like San Francisco (are you listening Toronto?). We spent some time wandering around:

  As we were at the waterfront we managed to see a couple of photo-worthy scenes, first, the Olympic Cauldron from the 2010 Winter Games:

... then there was the giant 3D orca which appeared to be made from Lego:

... and finally, representative of Vancouver's weather, the Giant Drip:

  Finally, it was time for the actual event. We were booked for two trips, Fly Over Canada and Windborne: Call of the Canadian Rockies. Now, those of you who know me know I don't get along with roller coasters or roller coaster-like contraptions. I have negative biological reactions to the kinds of things that cause most people to laugh, scream and experience joyfulness on such rides. My sister-in-law assured me this thing was not going to bother me although, to be fair, I'm sure she didn't know about my issues.

  We entered for the first show and, honestly, it wasn't bad. There were a couple of scenes where I had to close my eyes before my dinner surfaced but it was ok, overall, making me comfortable about the experience. That may have been a mistake.

  The second show was produced with the express purpose of making the viewer feel like one with the Rocky Mountains and, as we flew up, up, up to the crest of a 12,000 foot peak I just knew where this was going. Over the top into the Great Nothingness we flew and it was all I could do to keep dinner where it belonged. Okay, I thought, that wasn't too bad. Silly me.

  The next scene, which was only far enough removed from the first for my dinner to get partway back down, had us barrelling down into a river valley surrounded by glaciers then up over another peak into more nothingness. That was it. Eyes closed. Focus. Calming breaths. Grip the armrest as hard as you can. Think about something else like... not dinner.

  I think I managed to open my eyes for a total of thirty seconds. Not bad, considering the film took somewhere between twenty minutes and eternity to complete. By the time it was done I'm sure I was some unhealthy shade of grey but dinner did stay where it was supposed to, so that's a small victory. To my grandchildren, THIS is why I don't go on roller coasters.

  It was a beautiful evening, my digestive tract aside, and Michele finished things off by presenting me with her homemade chocolate and chocolate and chocolate and espresso brownies. I say "me" because they're full of sugar and Penny can't do sugar. Pity.

  Now, you may be wondering why this episode refers to a famous quote from Forrest Gump. This morning we met a very nice couple and their dog and they invited us to look after him and their house for three weeks. Of course, we met them on the Internet where young people like us make all our social connections. The connection to the Gumpian quote is, the house is in Alabama and the wife's name is Jenny. No, it's not in Greenbow, it's in Mobile and, if you've read the book you'll know that's really where Forrest Gump lived. It's also where Jimmy Buffett grew up so party time Parrotheads!

  Anyway, we're booked there from Oct. 20 to Nov. 11 and it sounds like a great area to see. Next, we'll try to fill the remaining month before we head north for Christmas.