Vancouver Skyline (taken a few years ago)
It has been almost two months since we returned home. It now seems like the trip was a long time ago. I had hoped to update the blog a lot sooner upon our return, and there are a number of people we still need to get back to. Sorry for the delay and we hope to catch-up soon. I spend so much time on computers at work, that I haven’t been using it much at home.
Our downtown Vancouver apartment
So, what have we been up to for the past while? We were at the hospital for the birth of Leanne’s first niece, Laura. I returned to work in time to see a competitor come to town (the first to Vancouver) and really shake up the status quo. We caught up on many of the things we were wanting to do when we returned home including visiting with friends and family. I went skiing a number of weekends at Whistler, and have been to a few NHL games. We revisited our favorite restaurants. I went to a rock concert, and participated in a foolish beer mile run. We went and saw the visually impressive Avatar movie in 3D on an Imax screen. And we’ve witnessed the evolution of our home city as it prepares to host the 2010 Winter Olympics in February. I was also lucky to get some great tickets for a number of the events.
Our 28 week trip around the world was everything we had hoped it would be and a lot more. We feel very fortunate to have been able to see so much of our world. We had so many highlights on this trip and here are a few of our favorites:
the Pacific Ocean bordering on Vancouver's largest city park
Gorilla Trekking, Galapagos, Easter Island, Rio de Janeiro, 4×4 through the Salt Flats of Bolivia, dinner at Carne des Res in Columbia, Iguazu Falls, visiting Nici in Cape Town, petting cheetahs, swimming with a whaleshark and wild dolphins off the coast of Mozambique, up-close safari encounters throughout Africa but especially in the Okavango, the world’s largest sand dunes in Namibia, getting drenched at Victoria Falls while sitting on its edge at Livingstone Island, visiting the world’s best beaches in the Seychelles, hiking on Kilimanjaro, being celebrities in little visited villages, walking with Rhinos, experiencing the many highlights of China (LiJiang, Li River, Mt. Hua, Terra Cotta Warriors, the Great Wall, Forbiden City, etc.), Mt. Everest base camp, exquisite Bhutan, Angkor Wat, Myanmar and its wonders, relaxing in southern Thailand, visiting the city of cities, Hong Kong.
We are happy to be home though. Our travel was so satisfying it may be a while before we do another adventurous trip. For now we will settle for little excursions, like the one we are doing to Portland Oregon next weekend.
Life is good.
Whistler Blackcomb, Wolfmother, Beermile