Posts by: Shoelady

I recently had the pleasure of taking a trip on Via Rail from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to Vancouver, British Columbia.  Via has some amazing deals available this year, offering fares that are 70% off the regular price.  The train fare was less than it would have cost to make the trip on the Greyhound bus! After a visit with family in Saskatchewan, my daughter and I greatly enjoyed the train trip home to Vancouver.  The train we took was Via Rail’s flagship Western Transcontinental, the Canadian.  It travels from Toronto to Vancouver and Vancouver to Toronto three times each week.  The […]

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Victoria, British Columbia, is a wonderful place to visit because it boasts the mildest climate in Canada.  Therefore, visitors can enjoy many different outdoor attractions and shopping opportunities.  One of my favourites is checking out the public markets.  There are several different markets open between the months of April and October. Public markets are appealing because they offer a wide range of different items, sold directly by the artisan or grower, which makes it much more personal.  Markets may sell a variety of local produce, meat, seafood, cheese, bread, bakery items, along with artwork, handicrafts and jewellery.  Even when I […]

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The first full week of my daughter’s summer vacation has ended and it was a busy one.  I took care of her and one of her friends during the week, and we trekked to various activities around the city. The day we chose to go to the Burnaby Village Museum was the only rainy day all week.  The rain didn’t bother us, as most of the exhibits were indoors.  The museum is celebrating its 40th Anniversary this year, so gate admission is free. The Burnaby Village Museum is meant to give visitors an idea of what life was like in […]

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Living in Vancouver for many years, my family and I have visited Victoria several times.  We do not own a vehicle so when family members come to visit we often rent a car to make the trip over to Vancouver Island.  But we’ve also gone as foot passengers, from downtown Vancouver to downtown Victoria.  It’s actually quite easy for those that prefer not to drive. Victoria, BC is the fittest city in the country, according to Statistics Canada.  Victorians make more than 120,000 trips a day by foot.  City planners are working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and hope to […]

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I recently returned from a trip to central British Columbia to visit two of my sisters and their families, living in two different towns.  My daughter and I made the trip together and we were gone for about ten days in total.   We had good time visiting and playing with various aunts, uncles, cousins and dogs.  We were lucky to have the opportunity to visit some heritage sights and be tourists, which was great fun.  The weather was wonderful and we spent most of our time swimming, sunning and relaxing.   I wasn’t actually missing Vancouver too much while […]

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The best part of living in the heart of Vancouver during the summer is being in the centre of all the action without having to fight the crowds by driving anywhere.  Sure, there are a lot of tourists, but most of them are pleasant and happy to be here.  The parks, pools, beaches, and community centres mean you could have a wonderful summer with the kids, without even leaving the downtown peninsula, if you didn’t want to. Here are a few places and events happening: Klahowya Village in Stanley ParkThis attraction is new in 2010 and is an aboriginal tourist […]

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It’s summer in the city.  The kids are out of school and hopefully not driving parents too crazy.  Summer weather finally arrived in Vancouver just after the Canada Day long weekend.  Good thing as people were starting to get grumpy, waiting for our best season to begin. Summer is truly glorious in Vancouver.  Usually not too hot, but warm enough to swim, sunbathe, sail, bike, whatever outdoor activity you’re into.  My husband and I are from Saskatchewan and we go back to visit our families every Christmas, and have since we’ve had our eight-year-old daughter.  We don’t often go back […]

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The best part of living in downtown Vancouver during the summer is being able to take part in celebrations and events without having to fight the crowds by driving anywhere.  The parks, pools, beaches, and community centres mean you can have a wonderful summer with the kids, without even leaving the downtown peninsula, if you don’t want to. Last Saturday my family attended “Rockin’ in the Park” above the Coal Harbour Community Centre.  It ran from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and was great fun for the kids.  The community centre was celebrating their 10 year anniversary.  We joined up […]

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My daughter and I first visited the Fort St. James National Historic Site in July of 2008.  I have a sister who’s been living in Fort St. James for the past five years, and we’ve gone to visit her almost every summer, since my 8-year-old daughter was born. The town of Fort St. James is on the shores of Stuart Lake, 164 kilometres northwest of Prince George.  The town is small (more of a village, really) and the scenery in this part of BC is beautiful.  The lake is quite large and is great for swimming, boating and fishing in […]

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We decided to meet up with friends and check out the festivities for Canada Day at Canada Place this year.  In previous years the kids’ bouncy castles, games, face painting, etc., were under the five sails inside Canada Place.  This year they were all moved to Harbour Green Park along the Coal Harbour Seawall.  This was actually a better location.  The weather was not the greatest with mostly clouds and a bit of rain, so not many kids actually went in the water park, but the washrooms were handy, the restaurant was very busy, and families had a lot of […]

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