OurBigAdventure

After almost a month, we are finally back in Orlando!

We didn't tell many people we are leaving - we like to keep our adventures under wraps. A little insight - we have been married five years and we decided to do a really amazing vacation that we always wanted to do. We decided on Alaska. We started with almost a week in Vancouver, BC and then we got on a cruise ship for two weeks. Then we spent almost a week in Los Angeles, CA. We have tons to blog about - whales, helicopters, float planes, fashion, new friends and more! We are headed to bed for now - I really missed my memory foam mattress. And my dogs.

We were only in Canada for a portion of the trip, but for some reason I have the song "Back in America" in my head. It is the one from the end of European Vacation with the Griswolds.



Check back to hear all about it!

We have been crazy trying to catch up with work - I haven't even finished downloading all of the photos. But I wanted to post something!

We were in LA and I kept saying to Chris it was SO dry. If only they could get a day of rain. The locals love that it never rains. But I made the mistake of saying "I miss rain" and I got my wish.

We arrived in Orlando to rain and it has been raining ever since! The main problem with this is all of our fun rain gear is packed in a suitcase that was sent FedEx ground and won't arrive here until Thursday!

Here is the forecast from TWC tonight:

Our first stop in Vancouver was to see the Capilano Suspension Bridge. It was a bit "touristy" but still really cool.

The bridge was built in 1903 to replace the original hemp rope and cedar plank bridge that was used by George Mackay, the original owner, to reach his cabin on the other side of the river. The bridge is 450 feet long and 230 feet above the river below.



Here we are safely on the other side!



This is a fish pond that they built on the other side of the bridge. It is full of rainbow trout and you can see how incredible the scenery is.



Sandra trying to show you how big the trees really are.



Another view of the bridge from the deck on the other side.



And just to show you how high the bridge is above the river... (the white dot on the bridge is a person)



Oh, and did we mention that they have a set of treetop bridges as well? This was our favorite part, it was really cool to be able to look down on the entire park from up in the trees.





And here we are about to cross back over the bridge. Sandra is stopping for one last photo.



And because we know you want a guided tour...



See more photos here...

We looked at hotels several times and we couldn't decide where we wanted - a lot of the really nice hotels run over $400 a night. So I looked online and found a condo for rent right on Expo Blvd. It was a lot less per night than a hotel, and much bigger! We had a parking space underground, a kitchen, a balcony and a bedroom. The condo was really nice and we will stay there again if we go back.

Our bedroom:



Our living room:





Our balcony:



The weather was so perfect - we left the door open to the balcony and we opened the windows. For being a big city, it really wasn't even that loud. It really seems like such a residential city to me - everywhere you look there are condos and you don't see as many office buildings.

The driveway leading into the underground garage:



Look at these fun condos across the street!



I am a bit neurotic when it comes to travel and planning. The one thing I didn't plan - not having Canadian dollars! Luckily, our condo owner gave us the deposit back at the beginning - she trusted us not to trash the place! It really saved us when we went out for food and snacks around town!



Our view out at night:



The sun deck:



View from the sun deck of the Expo Center:



The pool and hot tub (there was also a sauna and steam room):



I was out on the balcony one morning and I looked down to see a bunch of moms and kids having a get together! How fun:



Looking up at our building (there were two tall buildings connected at the bottom by the pool area and parking garage):



Our place so you can see which one it was:

Chris was walking around the shop at the Capilano Bridge and he found this really nice necklace so he bought it. It represents salmon which is a symbol of respect in the Northwest Indian Culture: