playing tourist

For the last 10 days, we've had hubby's second cousin, Julian staying with us. He's from Germany and was on a student exchange program. Once the term was over, he decided to do a little travelling before returning home. Julian spent a few days on Vancouver Island and the rest of the time with us.

I drove Julian out to Stanley Park where we stopped at Prospect Point for a little lunch. A brazen raccoon came out and begged for food. It was sad to see people feeding him. I carefully guarded my french fries and was ready to scare him off with my purse. After lunch, we stopped at the Hollow Tree. When we first drove into the park, Julian exclaimed over the size of our trees. I told him those were puny compared to others inside the park.


I made him stand in it so that you can see how big the Hollow Tree really is. For scale, Julian's about 6 ft tall.

Another attraction are the beaches. Here he is at Third Beach with North Vancouver in the distance and Siwash Rock on his left (my right).


Unfortunately, the weather didn't want to co-operate. It was pretty stormy and rainy at times. He got caught downtown one day without an umbrella and got soaked. So we piled into the car on a rainy day and drove up to Squamish. Along the way, we stopped at Shannon Falls.


Apparently, the part of Germany where he lives is pretty flat so this sort of thing is unusual to him. In Squamish, we stopped at the base of the Chief (a huge hunk of rock that is popular with the rock climbers in the summer) and I drove him down the 5 blocks of the city center. It was pretty cold so we stopped at Tim Hortons for coffee (for him) and sugar (donut for me). On our way back, we stopped in Porteau Cove which is a popular diving spot for locals.

On the crafty side of things, I've started quilting both Ride2Survive quilts. And I also finished a crocheted scarf that I started almost 2 years ago as a store sample. Now that the guest bed is free, I can wash & block it.

There's still time (10 hours to be exact) to bid on Gladys' True Love stole. And if you print a copy of the pattern, please consider making a donation. And keep your eyes on this blog - I'll be posting the auction quilt tomorrow.