Weekend in Vancouver

I spent the past weekend in Vancouver, Canada as part of a trip with my community group from Quest Church. We usually meet for a few hours every Thursday night in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle to hang out, study the Gospel of John and pray together. We're only used to seeing each other in a pretty specific context. Well, we did a volunteer project at a homeless shelter awhile ago - but on this trip lets just say we go to see different sides of each other that we never knew about.

The plan was pretty simple: Drive the 2 hours to Vancouver. Eat. Eat some more. Walk around a bit. Eat again. Go out for the night, have a few drinks. Eat a late snack. Go to sleep, wake up. Eat a big breakfast. Do a little shopping. Walk around the park. Get coffee and desserts. Go out for sushi. Eat Gelato. Fall asleep on the way home.

That's pretty much what happened. Of course we had a lot of good conversations, jokes, laughs, a few crazy stories, but mostly a lot of eating.

I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Of course we left on St. Patrick's day and I wasn't wearing any green outside of the crumbs on my face from my green bagel.

Lindsey and Han Mae are ready to hit the road.

Our first stop: Dim Sum.

Chris is ready to rock and roll.

Yeah, only one meal down and Linda and I already felt like exploding.

We definitely ordered alot, as Nick found out when he opened the check.

Of course the next stop was for some pearl milk tea.

We then proceeded to Granville Island where they had a nifty public market.

Inside they had all kinds of colorful fruits, vegetables and other foods.

Don't foget about the arts and crafts.

Did I not mention that it was pouring rain all day? Here's a shot of a metal table with a neon sign reflected on the surface.

Nick finds shelter under an umbrella.

A little rain didn't ruin the gelato for Lindsey and Crystal.

For dinner we decided on Malaysian food. Here's a sample of one of the eggplant dishes.

Chris and Laurel, our resident married couple on the trip, at the dinner table.

Me, Mark and Jeff anxiously await our food. No, we aren't falling asleep. Our eyes are just that small.

We had some fun stuffing 15 people into an elevator.

Later that night we headed out for some drinks. I chose the Granville Island Honey Lager - and highly reccommend it if you're ever in Canada.

The girls chose a little classier wine.

Lindsey and Robin with their drinks. Props to Robin for knowing how to enjoy a good dark beer.

Nick and Linda chose mojitos.

Carrie and Jeff share a Pina Colada.

At some point that night, Nick, me and Mark decided we were too cool for school somehow.

The whole group outside of the hotel on Sunday morning. Luckily the weather had dramatically improved.

Tina and I were feeling particularly gangsta before breakfast.

Han Mae eyes her french toast hungrily.

Our hotel.

Boats from Stanley Park, with downtown in the background.

I caught a sea plane taking off from the harbor.

There's a Chevron station on an island in the middle of the water. It's a gas station for boats!

The coast with a lighthouse in the background.

A family admires the crashing waves.

There was a small totem pole exhibit in the middle of the island.

I stood at the base of the lighthouse until I caught a bird flying overhead.

Me, Tina, Lindsey and Esther pose by the waterfront.

Another group trekked around the island on bikes. The trouble with bikes is that I tend to fall on my face while trying to ride them and take pictures at the same time.

Another shot of the coast with downtown in the background.

You can see the convention center with its cool looking roof.

A fountain framed by cherry blossom trees in downtown.

Someone supporting the http://www.freehugscampaign.org/ cause.

Mark looks a bit disappointed with his chocolate dessert.

However, Lindsey is quite excited about her sweet treat.

Nothing like some chocolate and coffee to keep you going.

We stopped for more gelato before heading home.

It's apparently so delicious that Nick can't take his eyes off of it.

I think this is my favorite shot from the trip. I spotted a bird flying towards me and had to whip my camera out and take a quick shot. It ended up a bit crooked, but I kind of liked the effect so I left it that way.

Overall this trip was a lot of fun packed into less than 48 hours. There was definitely a lot more that happened than these pictures (by that I mean we ate a lot more but I was too busy stuffing my face to take more pictures.) But, you can see more pictures from Sunday here. I have a feeling that our C-group will have a few more fun outings before the year is over...