On our last day of our Canadian Adventure we had to visit the Capilano Suspension Bridge, just had to. If you cut through downtown Vancouver, weave and bob across the famous Stanley Park, you will eventually arrive at the suspension bridges. We were told to be prepared for quite the hike so we were dressed in layers, jeans and sneakers... the most hiking friendly attire we had brought. We even brought water bottles and everything. Little did we know, "quite the hike" turned out to be a short trek on level ground, a quick jaunt across the bridge, and a few turns within the tree house. Eh, better to over-do it I guess. I was wondering why all the people standing in line were dressed in slacks and heavy jackets. Silly Americans.
The Lion's Gate Bridge from Stanley Park to North Vancouver. We became quite familiar with this bridge on our numerous passes over it within the same trip on the same day. After our short "hike" on the suspension bridges we had planned to rent some bikes and ride around the Seawalk before heading back to the states later that night. Well... as almost everyone knows, Shawna and I are prone to taking wrong turns. We almost always come out shortly after and unscathed. This time, not so much. Took us about 3 minutes to get across the bridge going Northbound, about 2 hours to get back to our original starting point. Needless to say, we were then unable to fufill our desires so we decided to have some Indain food at Vij's instead. More on that later when I download pictures from my other camera.
What is really cool about the Lion's Gate Bridge (and a lot of roads in Canada actually) was that there are 3 lanes of traffic able to change directions depending on traffic flow (or lack of, as we found out). They have little green arrows and red X's hanging on overhead wires to let you know which lane is headed your direction. We were like little kids in a candy store pointing at all of the oddities and differences in Canada, this one being my personal favorite.
I wasn't sure how Molly and I were supposed to fill that entire giant picture frame.
This was my best attempt.
Shawna figured she fills enough of it with her extreme stature, apparently.
Not quite sure the significance of the totem polls. Ingnorant Americans. We blazed past all the educational stations teaching you about the history and whatnot. Get me to the stinkin bridge already!
Molly really wanted to be in that picture, can't you just see it all over her face?
Just a few little tidbits for you.
Yup, those are indeed two Boeing 747's wing to wing.
And that is a picture showing what 96 fully grown elephants would look like on this bridge. It was proven to indeed be this strong when a super huge storm quite a few years ago snapped one of the oldest and largest trees in the park. It fell... right on top of the bridge. It stayed put! The problem wasn't the landing of the tree on the suspension bridge, it was getting the tree safely off of it. They had to be careful of the rebound effect if they would have lifted it off all in one fell swoop. It would have caused the cables to shrink back to their previous size so quickly that it would snap the whole thing in half (with enough force to take out everyone in the area). So instead they had guys go out there over a process of a few weeks to cut up the tree, piece by painstaking piece. It worked, and the bridge was reinforced but still swaying today! You can still see the fallen trunk of the tree and numerous blocks they cut out of it strewed on the ground.
There it is folks! It was obviously the only tourist attraction open that day, or so you would have thought. It was a little ridiculous how oblivious people were to others around them.
The view from the top.
Looking over towards the Cliff Walk. See that walkway hanging off the side of the cliff? We will visit that shortly.
Shawna trying to find her suspension bridge legs. :) Never did find out where they were hidden.
Wait... which way?
We both got a kick out of this. This is called a "Nurse Log" because after it dies and falls down to lie on the forest floor for whatever reason, little baby trees and ferns and all sorts of other life attatch to it and nurse the nutrients off it. So pretty much anyone will suck the life straight out of a dying nurse while they themselves thrive. Seems about right.
Some pond that was along the path as we were headed to the TreeTop Adventure.
I still never found out what "Extreme Nature" they were referring too. Maybe it was to direct you to the other sign that read "Warning: Slug Crossing."
The treehouses were all connected by individual suspension bridges. It was actually pretty cool. Wish they could have figured out a way to put some zip lines in there. That would have topped off the experience.
This is the Cliff Walk. Not sure what made them decide to do this, but it was pretty trippy. Especially with the lady behind you walking backwards, not paying attention to where she was going and bumping into you while you're trying to keep your dog from freaking out. Molly was such a trooper! Handled it better than most of the people on the tour.
See said lady? Seconds before the attack...
She was the only dog on the tour and worked it like a champ. She was prancing around and had every human eating out of her paw. Everywhere we go with her, all we hear is, "Look at the puppy, she's so cute!!" Meanwhile, I'm sure all she hears is "whah-whah-wah-TREAT-whah-whah-wah" since everyone in the northwest has doggie treats on the ready.
Shawna has to stick her bum on something every opportunity she gets. :) Don't worry... my turn is coming when we get to the Tennessee stuff.
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