Let me get straight to it. Vancouver is the ultimate spring break destination. Period.

OK, let’s rewind a little bit and let me give you a bit of a background. After trying for a multiple years to go on a ski vacation and not succeeding, this year I was determined to make it happen. Planning a ski trip somehow seems overwhelming. You have to drive in the snow, rent equipment, stay near a ski place, sign up for classes, buy passes for the ski lift and so on… and to add to that, what would the adults do while the kids are enjoying their time skiing? Do we have to sit by for a week while the kids ski…. Well you can see where this is headed.
After some looking around, we decided on Vancouver. From what we were told Vancouver is a very cosmopolitan place to visit. We could ski for a day or two, and could spend the rest of the time sightseeing.
For our stay we picked North Van, see what I did there ;-). North Vancouver is a very nice suburban place close to all the destinations we had in mind. I made a list of places and activities that we would like to do while in Vancouver. These include (but not limited to): Stanley Park, Whistler Blackcomb, Grouse Mt, Sea-to-Sky Highway, Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, Victoria, Abbotsford, Lonsdale Quay Market, Gastown, Gondola Rides, Ski, Snowboard, Snowshoe… I kept the itienery flexible, that way based on weather and other factors, we could move things around. Also since our spring break was a week earlier, I knew we wouldn’t be facing crowds.

Day 0: Houston to Vancouver

Woke up at 7am, got ready, drove to the airport, parked at Parking Spot, and took the shuttle to the terminal. Our American Airlines flight took off on time, we had a smooth flight and landed in Vancouver on time. We went thru electronic immigration, picked up our luggage and are now on our way out to pick up our rental car from National Emerald Isle. We got a Mazda suv.

The drive to the Vrbo took us thru the downtown area. It looks really nice. Im getting getting used to the roads here. Took a wrong turn and ended up in Stanley park, LOL. Drove thru it and made our way out, and reached the Vrbo without any further missed turns. Parked on the driveway and took the stairs to the house. It is a nice and clean home. We took one bedroom and the kids got one room each. Went to bed around 11:30pm local time! It was a long day!

Day 1: Downtown Vancouver

Woke up and got ready by 9am. Our friend and her daughter got here by 9:15am. Our plan today is to explore downtown Vancouver. But before we do that we need some coffee and breakfast. When in Canada the obvious choice is Tim Hortons! We got coffee and bagels from the nearest Tim Hortons, and sat down to plan the route for the day.
We started out by going to Granville island. Parked and roamed around the market. There are an amazing collection of stores here. There were a couple of bakeries from where we bought doughnuts (Lee’s), eccles, croissants, eclairs, etc. I could have bought everything :-). We took a break at the food court and I got some fish and chips for lunch while the kids had sushi. 

We wandered thru various stores, picking up souvenirs, and finally picked up a couple of bottles of wine, one Canadian and one Italian. I highly recommend stopping by the lavender store. Granville Island is definitely a must see place.

On the way back we stopped at Safeway to pick up some basics. Back at the Vrbo we all had some tea and snacks, and wrapped up the day with some Fresh Pizza and sweet sparkling wine to wrap up an excellent day!

Day 2: Capilano Bridge, Stanley Park and more

Woke up in good time, had bagels for breakfast and headed to Capilano bridge, which was just a few min from the Vrbo. It was drizzling, but we were prepared! We had our raincoats on. We walked on the suspension bridge and then thru the various bridges and the tree houses, we had a wonderful time walking the various trails.

Came back to the Vrbo for lunch, and then headed out once again, to Stanley park. We drove around the park, parked at a few locations, paid for parking, and then took a nice long hike along the sea wall. It was wonderful seeing the sea planes land and take off, as well as the mountains and the downtown.

After we got our fill of Stanley park, we headed to Gas town, luckily just in time for the clock at 5pm. We parked (yes paid for parking) and then walked around Gastown. There are some nice stores we wandered thru, and then stopped for some pastries. Yummy!

Back home. Had dinner and went to bed. It was a day well spent spent!

Day 3: Grouse Mountain

Woke up early, got ready, had bagels and tea for breakfast, and headed out to Grouse Mt which is 10 min from our Vrbo. Walked up to the counter and explained to the person, we had no clue what to do, but we wanted to go up the mountain and the kids wanted to Ski. He patiently explained to us what we needed. Basically, 2 gondola tickets for the adults, to get to the top and back, 2 gondola + ski lift tickets and we need to rent ski’s, ski boots, a helmet and the ski poles. We also had to purchase goggles and gloves, which are not rented out. That would take care of us for the day. With that purchased, we lined up to take the red gondola to the top of the mountain. It was a very scenic ride up, in spite of the slight drizzle and the cold temperature.
The kids spend a couple of hours skiing the beginner paradise slope, while we walked around.  After a couple of hours, we took a break and had lunch at the cafe. Mac and cheese, Caesar wraps and fries. It was pretty basic but good quality food.

After lunch the kids tried one level higher on the ski. They were having a wonderful time. Once they were done, we returned the equipment and came back down on the blue gandola. 
Came back home and had some snacks and then went to Lonsdale Quay. Unfortunately the market was closed. We went to Thrifty Mart close by and bought some basic supplies and came back home. Had dinner and then we were ready to call it a day. It was a tiring but really fun day. 

Day 4: Sea to Sky

Our friend planned to spend the day with us, show us around and get us started with samosa and jalebis for breakfast! Can’t beat that…. The plan for today is to take the sea to sky road and go to the summit on the sea to sky gondola, Squamish, and then take the day as it goes. 

We are headed to Squamish around 10:45am, parked and purchased tickets to the gondola ride. The ride up was breathtaking. We went from a drizzle, thru clouds to snow. Once up top, we identified a couple of trails for going hiking. We were dressed for the occasion with hiking shoes, gloves etc. The hikes were out of this world! walking thru snow covered forests, with a lite snow falling made for some amazing photo ops.  

Once we were done with the hikes, we made our way down, and headed to Howe Sound Inn and Brewing for lunch, which consisted of beer and burger for myself, burger, fish and chips for the kids and salad for the ladies. Service and the food were outstanding.

After lunch we headed to Shannon falls. It is a beautiful waterfall, very close to the parking lot, so no long hike necessary. After admiring Shannon falls, we needed back to the Vrbo.

Day 5: Abbotsford 

Plan for today is to head to Abbotsford. Once in Abbotsford, we headed to a Veerji’s Haveli for lunch. Strongly recommend the Mango Chicken! Everything was very authentic and delicious! 

After lunch we got our steps in by talking a walk around Mill Lake park. Once we had our steps, we headed to our friend’s home, and spent the evening “hanging out” and watching a movie.

Day 6: Abbotsford

Today’s plan is a bit interesting, I am meeting my colleagues for lunch in Vancouver, at Locus Restaurant and Lounge, which was excellent…


while my family spent the time in Abbotsford visiting the cascades and then Clayburn Village Store, which is a candy store/museum. 

I got back in time and them at the Dosa Club, another excellent establishment, a nice fusion place. 

After lunch, I wanted to take a hike, as I had missed the earlier one, we drove to Steelhead falls, but had to cut short the hike as everyone was tired. Interesting tidbit, moss on plants signifies the air is pure and oxygen rich. Lots of moss on the plants here.

Back to our friend’s home. She got some cake to celebrate each of our daughter’s birthdays, and after a bit we had to say goodbye, and head back to the VRBO. Cleaned up, packed and went to bed around 10:30pm.

Day 7: Back to Houston

I slept well. Woke up at 2:45am. 

Got ready and headed to the airport by 3:45am. Filled gas at the airport and then returned the car. Put the keys in the off hours drop box and headed to the terminal. Went thru security immigration etc bought some maple cookies, and waited a few min before we boarded the flight. Flight took off on time, I used my miles that were about to expire, to get access to the internet on the flight. Bit of a bumpy landing, as there were some strong cross winds. Picked up our luggage, our car, drive to Discount Tire, to get a tire check, as we had a low pressure warning. It was all good, just a bit under inflated. Drove back home, all in good time.

Overall this was an excellent trip. We had a lot of fun, and were able to do quite a few different activities. We would definitely love to go back to Vancouver! Maybe when we do the Alaska Cruise… well, that’s something to look forward to…