NOTE: as I was preparing to post this I received an email (which I honestly thought was a phishing scam at first) from YouTube that my channel has been removed because of “severe or repeated violations of our spam, deceptive practices and scams policy.” This took me a while to figure out, but what I gather (from it happening to other people) is that YouTube started using AI to scan new uploads on channels over the summer. Probably because so much new content on YouTube is AI slop (like fake movie trailers that get more views than the real ones). One thing they look for (other than obvious illegal material) is repeat postings of the same content. I don’t know how this garners a scammer any money, but I suppose it’s annoying to folks subscribed to the channel. So how does this relate to my channel? Well, to prepare for this blog post I uploaded all of Sam’s mobile phone videos. Most of them were of our whale watching tour, so I got lazy and just copied and pasted the same title on all the videos “British Columbia Orca Pod.” The thumbnails would have looked the same to a dumb AI (identical title + blue sky + blue water). The inane part is that this caused the entire channel, which I’ve been adding our vacation videos to for some 15 years, to be deleted. No warning, just all gone. Even a well written AI could tell the videos, despite identical names, were unique, since the FILE NAMES were all different on the backend and they all had different lengths (from 5 seconds to almost 40). Will a human ever look at it? I submitted an “appeal” of the decision to a text box on a scary all-black page and received an email that said “Most requests take 2 business days to review, but some might take longer.”

In the mean time I’m also blocked from my personal viewing history, saved or created playlists, and even YouTube Music (since they migrated Google Music to YouTube…sigh…).

I know what you’re saying, “just create a new email and make a new account.” Well, I’ve also read that when they see you do that they won’t grant your appeal, because that’s what scammers obviously do, just create a ton of different accounts to keep the scam going. Also, this would mean I’d have to log OUT of my existing email every time I want to watch a video… pretty annoying.

Hopefully by the time you read this they’ll have reinstated my account and the videos will come up below. If they don’t… you’ll see black box warnings where the videos should be and I’ll…keep waiting? From what I have read they keep the video files on their servers for a year while you appeal. Some resources say you can only appeal twice, some say you should just keep appealing through Google support as many times as it takes. I am also reading that they used to have a Twitter account with a dedicated team you could tweet if the AI removed your channel in error. Unfortunately, I’ve also read that twitter account is now dead due to the quantity of false positives they had to deal with and as a consequence, most of these AI purgings don’t get overturned.

I suspect this is also a crappy way to get “low value” users like me to leave, just like the corporate “Return to Office” push the last two years that’s really a layoff. Keep in mind everything I stated above that didn’t have direct quotes is just me making assumptions from reading about this problem, I’ve received zero communication from YouTube and/or Google detailing what content caused the termination or who or what flagged the content (or when). I keep waiting for some “oops, sorry!” but it’s been 24 hours now and not a peep.

This isn’t supposed to be a blog about AI so I’ll save it for another time, but I’ll say that this goes right along with my personal experience and evaluation of AI so far. It has a very narrow window of uses, hallucinates/lies constantly, and seems to hurt things more than help. ChatGPT continually tells me it can do something, and then when I tell it to do it it apologizes and says it actually can’t. When it does try to do something it forgets half the instructions. But I digress…

Thursday, September 11th

For this trip we upgraded to business class. This was my first time not flying economy. Before the flight we waited in the Maple Lounge with free food and drinks. When our flight was delayed an hour we decided to have another glass of wine or two. Among the non-economy customers there appeared to be a slightly higher amount of maskers. One fellow even flew in a well tailored blue suit and N99 mask. Other folks laughably wore their masks through the pleb part of the airport and took them off inside the Lounge. While I’m sure there are less humans in the lounge than in the regular gate area, thinking you’re “safe” from any airborne diseases in an airport lounge is just the height of “I’m rich, so I’m different/better” thinking. The air isn’t just rarified up here, why it’s positively antiseptic! And the business/first (they’re essentially the same on these shorter international flights) class treatment funnels you into that thinking. Sam and I were the only people in the lounge with the decency to bus our own table, which the staff seemed surprised by. I can see how those studies came to the conclusion that the wealthier you are the less empathy you have; everyone around you is just cowering in your shadow.

On the flight they had the little curtain dividers to keep the riff raff out of first class and the attendants would harass them if they tried to breach the silly divider. The way the stewards spoke to us was very different as well, which made me laugh. Early on I went to the bathroom and a stewardess asked if I was a first class ticket holder. When I said yes “oh, my god, on I’m sorry! I didn’t recognize you I haven’t had time to meet all of you yet, my name is…” I wanted to say “Lady, it’s a three hour flight,” but I just chuckled, which she probably didn’t see or hear behind the mask and with the whine of the engines. Probably thought I was another rich jerk not even responding.

Apparently as a society we’ve decided that we have to be rich to expect service people to just be nice. And in return some of the first class folks were not nice, the man behind us loudly berated a stewardess for patiently explaining he couldn’t get his own bottle of water but would have to drink from a glass (the absolute horror!). He made sure everyone knew that Air Canada is the “only business class in the world that doesn’t give you your own bottle of water!!!” Yikes. Is that what happens when you splurge on yourself enough or inherit it?

[ side note: on the flight back they had bottles of water already waiting for each first class passenger before we boarded, but Sam and I didn’t even drink them because we were too busy drinking the better-than-water drinks they give you on request throughout the whole flight ]

Either way I should clarify we’d not fly first class on an international flight (yet?), but since we knew we’d need to eat on the flight (economy has no meal service) and check bags and pick seats it was somewhat cost effective to just upgrade for this three hour flight. Keep in mind all classes above economy can access the lounge and since it’s international you have to show up 3 hours ahead of time even though the flight itself takes less time than that. Also, for folks that don’t fly often, be aware that all airlines have been shrinking the size of “carry-on luggage” to the point that even after buying smaller bags a few years ago they’re already larger than allowed, so we have to check our bags now – which was included in Business Class, but charged in Economy (or something like that). And remember they’re handing gate agents bonuses now for grabbing luggage at the tunnel, we’ve had to actively avoid this a few times. We got lucky last year when one of these gate agents started our tags and then got a phone call. We moved to a different boarding line and stood in front of our bags and slid through without the other one trying to get their bonus. It’s such a hassle that we just decided to pay for checked baggage from now on (so we surrendered to the machine, I guess).

Also, all the airlines charge you a separate fee to sit together now, so that rolled up into Business Class too. We’ve not paid for that and just waited to see if they seat us together when we check in. Sometimes they do, but sometimes they don’t.

Etc. etc. It didn’t end up being such a splurge after all the incidental fees (plus buying 4 meals at the airport too) we’d rack up in economy.

I think Sam was happy when our flight was delayed again after boarding (something about overfilling one of the wings); more time in the big comfy seats and big entertainment screen. And drinks.

Another side benefit for me, of course, is the ability to take photos out the window without having to work around the wing and engine exhaust. Very helpful when taking shots of the sunset over San Francisco from 36,000 feet.

“Hey, I can see the house in El Cerrito I almost bought from here!” (on the other side of the hill in front of the tip of the San Pablo Reservoir)

Oh, and in-flight wifi is included in Business Class too, so I could take a picture with my phone like the above and text to folks in real time, which was kinda fun.

Ordinarily deplaning first would be a great benefit, but since our bags were checked it just meant we got to stand around longer at the baggage claim, although we probably scooted through immigration faster than the hordes deplaning after us. And I noticed they did plop out first class luggage … first.

(Also when checking in you go to a special line separate from everybody else when checking in your luggage at the airport. At LAX there was a couple ahead of us trying to check in that were told to scram when we walked up…)

At the rental counter they were out of “small SUVs” (probably because our flight was delayed so it was very late in the day) so they upgraded us to a bigger car, a Ford Escape “platinum” (ooooh fancy) with leather seats, AWD, and stuff (but still no navigation included).

Unfortunately all the flight delays meant we didn’t get checked into our hotel until almost midnight. It also meant that the in flight meal on the plane had been at 8pm. The combo of this didn’t allow me much sleep. Maybe a total of 2 hours broken into short erratic dream sequences.

Friday, September 12th

We both tried to sleep in to get as much sleep as possible, with Sam more successful. But we couldn’t sleep too late anyway because we had tickets to the Victoria ferry in the morning.

At the other end of the ferry we found an Indian restaurant for lunch and then drove out to the western coast, which turned out to be a slog in some of the worst traffic I’ve seen anywhere in the world.

By the time we got to Juan de Fuca Trail at China Beach we were so tired it wasn’t likely we’d do much else. We hiked down the 2km trail to the beach but found the tide was not out far enough for us to look back and see the famous waterfall that flows into the ocean.

After getting back to the car it was already 6pm, so we gave up the hours it would take to visit the tide pools to the northwest. We also knew that the tide pools and Sandcut Beach could probably deny the visuals we came for thanks to the tide still being in. We were hungry after the long hike through the forest, so we looked for restaurants, but apparently everyone else on the island did as well. At the fancy pizza place on the lonely coastal road they took our order and then told us it would be 45 minutes. No thanks. We found some food trucks further down the road in town. But they warned us it would be 25 minutes to make a burger. Yikes. Eventually we ended up at a little teriyaki restaurant and were able to submit the last order before the old man and his wife closed up and told everybody else to go away while we sat right outside by the door (which he refused to close even though they were closed?) eating. The restaurant was in front of some kind of children’s sports complex and games were finishing and families would come in the door to eat after the game just to hear “we closed!” The old couple must have turned down hundreds of dollars by not staying open another half hour. (this detail about our day is very interesting, I know!)

Saturday, September 13th

Saturday we slept in and then went in search of a proper meal. That proper meal was good, but took 30+ minutes to make (maybe this is the norm on Victoria island?). We went to Costco for gas and snacks before going back to the hotel to look for an orca tour. We found one online that started at 2pm. It was only 1:30 so we strolled over to their office on the harbor (which I could only find via Google since their ticketing site didn’t have an address) only to have the cashier tell us “you guys can make it if you hurry, maybe, the boats actually depart about 2km on the other side of the harbor, this is just our ticketing office.” What?! We thought about running for a minute but decided to drop in to the Prince of Whales office at the next pier instead because during my research earlier I knew they had a 2:30 tour. However, while we stood in line we heard them tell the couple in front of us that they only had 4 seats left on the last tour today. When that couple started an internal debate about their decision we rushed the counter and bought two tickets (before they were purchased online by somebody else). They were going to depart in about 40 mins from the harbor we were already standing in so we went to Starbucks up the hill for a snack and a sit before boarding the boat.

We headed out into the fog, covering our ears every 2 minutes because of the horn blast. The fog soon cleared up and we spotted a trio of Orcas. Not only did we spot them but the juveniles started breaching, which our guide said they only do if they’re excited.

We found out why they were excited: their mother had spotted a harbor seal alone and was preparing to teach them how to kill it.

See that little spec in the water to the right of the whales? It didn’t last long.

So for 15 minutes or so we observed the mama teach the kids how to plunge over the poor seal to drown it. After their success they they headed west towards the Pacific with the shipping boats and we followed along for quite some time before turning back.

Back by the lighthouse at the entrance to the bay we encountered what we were told was a rare sight: a large pod of humpbacks feasting on a shallow shelf in front of the lighthouse.

Because of all this unexpected action we arrived back at the harbor about an hour later than planned. But we’d have to leave in the morning for our next ferry trip so we made the 30 minute drive to The Butchart Gardens anyway. We arrived after dark, which casts a different light on the famous garden.

We didn’t realize it was so small, power walking all the way through in about 25 mins. As such, Sam had lots of time to peruse the gift shop. At the back we found amethysts with jade carvings of bears catching salmon. We focused on a smaller one and pledged to put it by our existing amethyst and green stone on our living room windowsill.

What we didn’t know (yet) was that this “jade bear catching a fish while standing on an amethyst” is the most numerous (non clothing) souvenir offering Vancouver has. We ended up seeing them everywhere after that, painfully evaluating whether we’d got a “good deal” or not at Butchart. Turns out we did, since theirs were way at the back other shops clearly sold out of the better looking amethyst samples quickly. At least that’s what we will tell ourselves forever when we look at ours in the living room.

Sunday, September 14th

We drove up to Nanaimo to take the ferry back to the mainland. We picked up burritos to eat in the line first since BC actually has a burrito place that offers corn burritos.

Off the boat we drove to Whytecliff Park, but the parking wasn’t free and it was drizzling so we decided to skip it and head to Shannon Falls.

By the time we got to the falls it was starting to rain more solidly with low hanging fog, so we decided to skip the Sea to Sky Gondola since there would be no visibility at the top.

We headed next to Brandywine falls, which was wet but visible as the rain started to taper off.

In Whistler we checked into our hotel and went to one of the bars with outdoor seating for dinner. Then had some ice cream and visited gift shops. Since it was Sunday and off-season the town was kind of dead, even the restaurant was closing down as we arrived.

Monday, September 14th

In the morning we did the short hike to Nairn Falls and then drove south to Alexander Falls.

There was supposed to be another hike at Alexander, but all we found was a viewpoint. It’s just as well since we were getting hungry. We went to north Whistler for lunch at an Asian fusion restaurant.

Then we went back to the hotel to drop off the car and walked to the gondolas in the village to do the Peak-to-Peak. However the cashier told us the gondola in our village was out of service so we’d have to take Blackcomb gondola up, go to the other peak, and then backtrack, and we only had two hours to do it because they close early in the off-season.

Oh, and the big sell, the suspension bridge high up in the clouds…that’s closed.

^^ my face when I found out the Cloudraker was closed!

When we got back we just walked around aimlessly for a while before settling on the 2 for 1 fish and chips at the Irish pub, which was surprisingly good. Like ranking up there with top ten fish and chips good. Or maybe the cheap happy hour wine was clouding our thoughts on that, we’ll never know!

We bought postcards at a gift shop and went looking in vain for postage. (this would continue for many days until giving up and finding a post office in north Vancouver)

Back at the hotel after dark we went to the outdoor hot tub. Folks were chatty until they found out we were Americans, which I suppose we’ll have to get used to everywhere (outside the US) we go for a while.

Tuesday, September 15th

We had one planned excursion today: Crooked Falls. Originally we were going to do this hike on the way down to Vancouver on Wednesday, but we ran out of things to do in Whistler proper when we discovered the helicopter glacier flights were no longer $200, but $999 and only last…15 minutes.

So we drove an hour south and turned onto a local road, then turned again onto a sand and gravel road riddled with potholes. Even with our upgrade to an AWD Escape Platinum this road was shaky and shady, puns intended. There were warning signs here and there about how there are no services, the road often floods, and you might be trapped. Even on a completely dry day with not a cloud in sight part of the road was still flooded, apparently some kind of overflow from a creek next to the road. Oh, and bears too. Lots of warnings about bear sightings.

A couple of little exposed wood bridges over the rivers and creeks later we reached a gravel parking lot by the side of the road. At first we started walking through the woods by the parking lot, but there were no trail signs, which got us a little spooked. I opened up the phone and looked at the GPS (GPS often works in areas without proper cell coverage) and discovered there was no “crooked falls trail,” but a different trail called Sigurd Creek Trail that passes by the waterfall. But that trail started up the road and around the bend, so we went back out of the forest and started walking up the road. We passed by another couple walking the other direction before we found what looked like a trailhead marker further down the gravel road (and over another exposed bridge) which had no trail information on it, just a warning about dangerous animals and pack in pack out rules and so on. [looking this bit up later I saw that even this sign was new, as the google streetview capture of the road only has an electric pole by the trailhead as of 2019] But the GPS said the trail started there. As we were discussing it the other couple we passed earlier on the road had turned around and come back to us. They were looking for the Crooked waterfall trail as well, so we decided to go up the Sigurd trail “together.” I put that in quotes because they went back to their car to get something while Sam and I started ahead of them. They were younger, though, so they would eventually catch up and pass us. In the miles before that we found ourselves collecting lots of silk, apparently being the first humans on the trail after a very productive night (or more) by all the local spiders.

The trail started off with large rocks tumbling down a wide path. As the path wound up the hill and into taller trees it narrowed. After a mile or so another trail marker appeared at a fork in the path, but with no information on it. However the trail started to be marked with orange cards tacked to trees. This became extremely valuable when the tree line changed from maple to pine and blotted the sun while the trail transitioned into what was often a literal climb over mossy boulders and well worn (slippery) pine roots. The ground was bouncified with layers of compressed pine needles, feeling more like the springy rubber surface on a collegiate stadium running circuit.

As we bouldered up through the moss covered granite switchbacks we remarked that this felt more like a Lord of the Rings hike than many of the hikes in New Zealand.

Just like in childhood, picking your own special hiking stick was key to surviving “the woods.” Note the red dot pinned to the tree indicating we were still going the right way.

There was only one real viewpoint in the climb, a brief slash through the trees looking out at the valley and the river.

At every twist in the trail we’d look up with a bit of dread to see the next orange card was straight up above us, but after about an hour of climbing the trail flattened out. It was here that we found the other couple looking lost and seriously considering turning around. I explained that somewhere up ahead the trail would pass the waterfall, though it clearly wasn’t on the actual trail. At that point we had no indication whether the trail would actually provide any access to the waterfall or if we’d been deceived. Keep in mind we’d climbed about 1,500 feet and waterfall trails usually go to the base, not the top. And, the photos I’d seen of Crooked Falls looked like they were from the base.

Fun random unrelated fact: The Empire State Building is 1,454′ to the tip of the spire.

Fun also random unrelated fact: Upper Yosemite Falls (not counting lower falls) is 1,430′ tall.

I didn’t know any of those random facts on the trail. However, I knew we’d already come so far (two hours of arduous vertical hiking) and the trail was flattening out, so why not take the trail to the point parallel to the falls and just take a look?

We started up (or, across, I guess) the hill again and the young couple soon passed us again.

In another twenty minutes or so the trail markers ended, but no matter, we could see and hear the waterfall through the trees.

There’s no marked trail to reach the falls, but there are multiple viewpoints that human feet have beaten paths to and we took full advantage of. The unique thing about this view is that the trail dumps you out right next to the waterfall, but with the water falling into a ravine right under you.

You can also find your way to sort of sit behind the ravine too. I’d seen pictures of this online and misconstrued it for the bottom of the falls, but it’s actually the backside of the top.

We sat and watched the falls and snacked for about twenty minutes while the sun slunk behind the pines crowning the top of the waterfall. At one of the cliffs next to the waterfall someone had dug something in the sandy dirt and left their shovel and a multiple page hand scribbled note. I didn’t intend to read it, but the couple got there first and English wasn’t their first or best language, so when the man handed the crumpled paper to me and asked me what it said, I read. It was something like (more mysterious and spread out over many many more words) “Oh, Kevin, when you were alive you used to love coming here, so I had come here and bury-” I kinda noped out at that point, explained what it was, and left it right were we found it. The other couple soon left and Sam and I had the whole place to ourselves for a while.

The long dark slippery slope back went quicker than the way up, even with me stopping to photograph millipedes, slugs, and snakes.

After the hike we went to Squamish to eat at the diner outside by the river. This (plus a wood fence) was our dinner view:

Then we got fruit ice cream and drove back to whistler.

Wednesday, September 17th

After checking out of our Whistler hotel we drove to the Sea to Sky gondola. We had lunch on the overlook patio before walking the little suspension bridge and trying out a few of the trails with views.

After that we drove to north Vancouver to visit Cypress Falls, which was over with very quickly.

We went over to Capilano suspension bridge and walked around the tree bridge area with ice cream.

There was a raptor section that had three bird experts and a live hawk and horned owl. We showed one of the experts our photos of the owls and red tail hawks that have been visiting our house and to our surprise she said they were all juveniles. (I am still not really believing this as it implies that in 3+ years we’ve still not seen the larger hawks and the juveniles from year 1 haven’t grown)

After leaving the park Sam found a nearby Pho restaurant for dinner before checking into our last hotel of the trip.

Thursday, September 18th

We started with breakfast at a cafe in the downtown section of North Vancouver (by Whole Foods) before driving to bridal veil falls.

We had originally planned to go to Flood Falls, but that would have made the day even longer and recent online reviews said the creek (and most of the falls) had dried up, so we skipped it.

Bridal falls is easy to see, as was the next, but driving there is the hard part. Everywhere we went outside of Vancouver was under construction and the roadways were filled with huge trucks, even on the back roads in the country we’d have to wait in long lines of trucks and take detours because of construction.

Anyway, the next waterfall, Cascade Falls, was interesting; an easy short hike up to two wooden viewing decks on either side of the waterfall with a steel suspension bridge connecting them over a stream with smaller falls.

Looking at the green pool from the closer viewing deck we remarked that this waterfall looked more like Gollum’s Pool (in spirit) than the shooting location we visited in New Zealand.

Another bit of a drive and we made it to Steelhead falls, which was a slightly longer hike down, but still nothing like Crooked Falls.

After that we were done with waterfalls and headed to Deep Cove for a slightly fancy (where the salmon is great but the steak is overcooked) dinner overlooking the lake. Afterwards we got ice cream and walked around the park while the sun set far away to the west.

Friday, September 19th

On Friday morning Sam wanted a proper breakfast so we set out for a place only a few miles from the hotel. However, once there it was apparent due to construction and restrictions there was absolutely nowhere to park (unless you’re a local). So she found another cafe by the shipyards in North Vancouver, but as we drove around it was clear there would be no free parking here. We found a pay spot around the corner from the cafe and discovered it required a different app than the other one we’d been using this whole time to park at the gondolas, etc. (I feel like Hank Hill griping about all these stupid apps I have to download and register to park somewhere ONCE I probably won’t ever come back to – but to be fair Pasadena is doing this too now) While winding our way through the setup process a guy in a city worker jacket came up and asked if we had any questions. Turns out the pay parking scheme started that day, the signs about the app were added just an hour before we arrived.

Because this was Canada he explained that on day 1 anyone found not paying would only receive a reminder card to pay next time. So we didn’t pay and walked to our cafe, where I had gluten free grilled cheese and tomato soup (I had just remarked a few days ago how long it had been since I’d had a good grilled cheese and tomato since I can’t eat wheat). And I’ll note here how much easier it is to navigate restaurants with a complicated diet compared to the United States. Menus are (usually) marked and you’re encouraged to ask your server. Also everything in the Air Canada Maple Lounge is labeled for gluten and nuts (and other things). When I ask in the US it’s usually an “uhhh” and a wide eyed anxious look before “let me ask the cook.”

Of course they still have to ask the cook here, but they’re prepared and nice about it. And, only one place (in Gastown) didn’t know what the “gluten free bread” ingredients were (“we threw away the package”).

(and no, I can’t hear “gastown” without whispering “your produce ain’t going to gastown,” under my breath either)

After breakfast it was nearly noon, we drove to Grouse Mountain and discovered that even on Fridays it was very busy; or at least much busier than the other two gondolas we took on this trip. We waited in line for about 40 minutes to get our gondola tickets.

At the top we were similarly meh’d. Unlike all the other locations there’s no outlook point at the top. There are some places where you can sort of look down, but the view is obstructed by the gondola it self or the tall pines.

So, we walked past the lumberjack demonstration and the bear cage to the second (ski) lift, taking us to a higher point.

Once there we found the much ballyhooed glass floor wind turbine view experience was closed and “has been for a while.”

After leaving Grouse Mountain we drove west to cypress lookout, which was similarly obstructed by pines.

We gave up on views and went to another suspension bridge: Lynn Canyon. We walked across the bridge and hiked to the 30 foot pool. There were a plethora of folks wading out into the pool and no easy views to be had from above (we hiked up the long stairway and then back down), so I gave up on trying to photograph it. We backtracked east to another suspension bridge in the park over a waterfall (Lynn Falls?). Here we saw a group of daredevils doing canyon dives from every high point in the canyon into the narrow rock pools below. It’s important to note here that at several such waterfalls B.C. authorities had put up barricades and fences to prevent people from even leaving the trail. In fact, I’ve never seen such an overwrought Darwin award prevention tactic in all our park travels. And it still failed. As we watched the divers a woman remarked that she’s a local ER nurse and sees severely injured idiots from this park show up in her hospital all the time.

Afterwards we went to a restaurant with outdoor seating closer to our hotel.

Saturday, September 20th

Saturday was our “city day” after more than a week of nature activities. We started off with a restaurant in Gastown right across the street from the famous singing clock.

Then we went to Granville Island and walked around looking at art and souvenirs and ice cream.

Then Sam directed me through an impromptu driving highlights tour of Vancouver city ending with a drive all the way round Stanley Park.

At the end we drove back to the hotel and didn’t know what to do next. After some debate we decided to go to Whole Foods for dinner, then try to hike the Iron Workers Memorial Bridge for sunset. We’d driven across the bridge three previous days and Sam would say “this would be a great photo place for your sunsets.” So today I found the path (a bicycle route, actually) to go up on the bridge. However, this turned out to be the one day in Vancouver where there was barely any sunset at all, just dull gray clouds hiding the sun that eventually faded to black. Not only that, but the path was very loud and dangerous with fast bicyclists zipping by at random. And the path actually shakes all the time from the cars, so it would have been difficult getting great shots anyway.

Out of pity Sam suggested we go back to Stanley Park after dark and take pics of the city and the bridge.

I should note that doing all this today required us to drive by the homeless area in Chinatown three different times. We were a bit flabbergasted as this area seems worse than any other city we’ve visited. It’s worse than Oakland, worse than Los Angeles, worse than Portland, worse than Paris (pre-Olympics). 

Why was it worse? Well, there were, in places, large groups and a lot of them were just passed out or lurching around, clearly on drugs. And this went on for block after block after block after block. In LA you see homeless people hanging out on the sides of the freeways inside tents or begging at offramps with cardboard signs. You don’t see folks passing paraphernalia back and forth and literal lines of folks laying on the ground.

Note: I’m 100% sure there is drug abuse in skid row in Los Angeles, I’m just saying this seemed to be what the majority of the folks on the streets in Vancouver were doing day and night for maybe half a mile of city blocks. 

Turns out Vancouver is now known as a “Fentanyl Capitol of the World” and what we witnessed was called “fentanyl zombies.”

Sunday, September 21st

We’d run out of things to do (that we could complete before our return flight) so we went to the VanDusen Botanical Garden and walked around. There were still more spiders to be photographed, after all. Coincidentally we’d find a big fellow identical to this one setting up shop outside one of our windows at the house after we got back.

Online, the Maple Lounge in Vancouver is legendary, with chef prepared meals and all that. In practice it wasn’t even as good as the Los Angeles lounge. That isn’t to say it was bad. It was fine, it was larger, so we were able to find a more private place to eat, but there was only one entrée. (see? I’m already one of those first class elitists complaining about it!)

I still got the good photo taking seat though:

This time it was Mt. Rainier at sunset instead of San Francisco.

Back in LA, the BMO soccer stadium was setting off fireworks underneath us to celebrate our return home (I mean what other reason would they have for fireworks? I’m a rich first class type of guy now, a VIP!)