Vancouver

Ger and I arrived in Seatle Friday A.M. and drove to Vancouver BC. We spentacouple of fn days there seeing the city. Spent a whole day in Stanley Parkseeing the aquarium and hiking about. The park is absolutely beautiful,colored with UNBELIEVABLE flower arrangements. Comporable to Golden Gateparkin stature.I booked a "reaonablely priced hotel" downtown and assured Ger that we werestaying at a first class hotel in Seatle so our stay in Vancouver shouldbean adventure. The hotel "Patricia" rivaled the impoverished dive we stayedinDublin. Street traffic consisted rimarily of Junkies and prostitutes andmadethe experience extra special. Walking home from dinner on Friday night waslike running through the gauntlet. On Saturday morning the rent a car wouldnot start so we waited in the parking lot for AAA. A friendly policeofficerafter completeing an arrest asked us why we had chosen this hotel? I toldhimthat my travel agent had booked it. He said that many Junkies were stayinginthe hotel aand that we should consider going elsewhere to be safe. WestayedSaturday night and propped suitcases up against the door in our room as ithadno inside bolt. The sound of sirens, breaking glass, and fighting prettymuchkept us up all night. Another little slice of life. I'm lucky that myspouseis such a sport! She treated herself to a lovely new purse at RootsAthleticsto help with the depression that often comes in the overcast Northwest.I did meet some Pacific Crest trail through hikers at the hotel that hadjustcompleted the 1800 miles and enjoyed talking with them.On Sunday we drove to Cascades National Park and had a great little hikefromDiablo to Ross Lake. We took a fun tugboat ride back up the river to thetrailhead.We spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday visiting a long lost brother and his family and got a grand tour of the Seatle area.We have been to Seatle many times but hadn't taken the time to see much ofit.We were both very impressed.