We had an amazing time resting up in Richmond at Nancy and Alistair’s. Thank you so much for all you generosity!
Day 116
We had a great breakfast and I headed out to Costco to make sure we picked up so soy-free groceries for the week. James and Nikki who are in Canada for a year from New Zealand, made the trip as well to witness Canadian commercialism at it’s best. I finally managed to get a haircut today, the first in 6 months. We had wonderful ham dinner in the evening, prepared by Alistair and Nancy. Also at dinner were Joe and Mikela, two local young people who we throughly enjoyed meeting and chatting with.
Day 117
Today we were headed to Nana and Papa’s for Thanksgiving dinner. This was our goal as we pressed for Vancouver on our bikes so we were quite exciting. From Nancy and Alistair’s we left for Port Moody with James and Nikki and Breanne (Alistair and Nancy’s daughter). We arrived to Nana and Papa’s and prepped so of the vegetables and helped get things set up. Then we went for a paddle on the canoe, checking out the houses on the shoreline and the local seal colony on the other side of the bay. For part of trip, Alistair towed us on the power boat and we decided this was definitely the way to travel. Soon after we got back, more guests arrived. There were so many people there that I can’t even name them all. The table was beautiful and Nana had really outdone herself, as usual. The food was outstanding…all the fixings of Thankgiving dinner finished off with three kinds of pie! Afterwards, we cleaned up and played board games. Thank you Nana and Papa for a wonderful evening.
Day 118
Today we were headed into Vancouver to explore. We decided to cycled in and take the Sky Train back to Richmond. The new Canada Line train goes right into Richmond and they allow you to take bicycles on it outside fo rush hour! We headed along the dyke North to the bridge and bike path leading to Marine Drive. After this, we followed the Seaside cycling route to UBC. We stopped at Elana’s residence and enjoyed a quick chat while we helped her procrastinate in her studies! After this, we headed around English Bay and False Creek. It started to rain, so we made a quick sushi food stop and headed for the sky train station back to Richmond. We had another lovely dinner with Nancy and Alistair.
Day 119
We decided that we would head to BodyWorld today with Nancy. She drove up downtown, giving us a guided tour on the way! We really enjoyed the exhibits. They were real human bodies disected to show form and function. It was truely incredible as the process they used involved plastination and managed to preserve the colors without any smell at all. After this, we went to Graville Island and bought some goodies at the Terra Nova bakery (they have an ingredient book and everything except chocolate items is soy free!!). We did some shopping and walked over the Granville bridge to Robson street. There we did some window shopping and continued our walk to the waterfront, Gastown and Chinatown. We took the sky train to Bronwyn (Nancy and Alistair’s oldest daughter) and Colby’s for dinner. We got to see their new house (very nice) and had an amazing dinner. Thank you Bronwyn and Colby!
Day 120
Adam flew out this morning for administrative work back home for a couple days (a long story). I spent the day doing gear maintenance and reading my book. It was sunny and I went for an afternoon run on the dyke. In the evening, I went with Alistair, Nancy and Breanne to a surprise birthday dinner for James in downtown Vancouver. We went to a culinary school restaurant ( I have forgotten the name of it). It was awesome food and they were great with the allergies! I had salad with beets and smoked duck as an appetizer and tuna with a special salsa as a main. Both were excellent and the complimentary wine was very tasty. Afterwards, we headed to James and Nikki’s apartment for cake and coffee! An excellent evening once again!
Day 121
I decided to go shopping in Vancouver today. I did some administrative tasks and then headed to MEC. We have been to almost every MEC across Canada this summer. I picked up some new shoes (mine were causing my knees to hurt) and some odds and ends. After that, I stopped at La Bicycletta, and drooled over the newest Cervelos and other road bikes. Finally, I headed to Whole Foods. This grocery store is amazing, they have tons of soy-free products. I can get graham crackers and cheese puffs and bakery items that are soy free! Best of all, they have a hot bar of food where each item has ingredients…if only all stores were like this! In the evening, I headed back to Richmond and met up with Elana for sushi dinner. We headed out to a restaurant near my old high school and had a wonderful evening! Thanks Elana!
Day 122
This morning, I finished gear maintenance by waterproofing the floor of the tent. After that, we headed to airport to pick up Adam. We headed back to Richmond and picked up our biked and headed for the Seawall on the Sky Train. We cycled the Seawall in the sunshine and it was glorious. After that, we headed to MEC again and Adam picked up new shoes and we exchanged some gear. We headed back to Richmond and went to the Yaohan Centre. Adam was amazed as they had a Japanese grocery store with all the items he remembered from Japan. We headed to a sushi restaurant for the late-night all you can eat sushi special. We ate lots of food and I’m not sure that we were profitable for the restaurant.
Trip Around The World 
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