Giants of Vancouver Aquarium

Being a couple of prairie folk that saw maybe one fish a year, the Vancouver Aquarium quickly became one of our favorite spots. We've had memberships since moving here and now that we're downtown and 15 minutes away we get there even more often. Since there's so much to photograph I'll likely do a few segments on the park starting with this selection of some of the larger animals.

The belugas have been doing very well lately, having a new baby born both of the summers we have been out here. Kathryn volunteered this summer as an observer to monitor the baby's behavior and help gather data on the early months of their lives.
The arapaima is a massive (8ft long or so) Brazillian fish which ranks among the most primeval creatures I've ever seen. In their natural habitat they live in the rivers of the rainforest and are one of the few fish out there that actually go to the surface to breathe.
The aquarium is so full and busy these days that the sea lions aren't always even out on display, but they are consistently among my favorites, being so agile and playful. The tank here has an underwater viewing window where I never tire of watching these swim around with the seals.

Much Ado About Kodiak

Kodiak has been a member of our family for a little over 2 years now and he's certainly mellowed out a lot since we got him. He's still pretty bad about having his feet touched, but he's much better about his belly and general temper. That said, he and I still have our scraps but thats just how we both are. Here's an excellent picture Kathryn got of him recently doing his best impression of a Robert Bateman painting.
And just to show that he occassionally does things other than resemble a meatloaf, here's a picture of him hypnotized by the Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas DVD menu. While he's generally not much of a movie buff he was particularly captivated by this disc and has shown a regular interest in James Bond movies in general.

The Lava Cast Forest

While we were in the Newberry Volcanic Monument this fall we also took a rough gravel road through 11 miles of forest to see the Lava Cast Forest.
While the other area of the monument we had a look at had been one of eruption and subsequent destruction, the lava cast forest was a spot where an ancient forest had been standing in the path of a lava flow.
As the lava had flowed through the forest, it built up at the bases of many of the larger trees. Although they were killed and burned away in the process, they survived long enough to leave their imprints in the lava as it cooled, creating a sort of arboreal Pompeii

Nk'Mip Reservation

Passing through the Okanagan Valley this fall we stopped by at the Nk'Mip Indian Reserve which features all manner of things to draw in tourists. While we passed on the golf and massages, there was undeniable appeal in the desert museum section.
This section featured a nice walking trail through regional plants and several areas showing the traditional native ways of life. We were there very early in the morning since we had lots of ground to cover in the afternoon so we were also there before anyone had scared off the wildlife. There were a few mule deer to be found and it was very nice having the place entirely to ourselves.Though the desert is more scrubland and less sahara it was interesting to see just how close to Lake Okanagan it was, with the town of Osoyoos huddled on either side. This area is very agriculturally developed with vineyards and orchards everywhere, but a little way from the water and its interesting to see what the area was like before irrigation.

Oregon Dunes

Rewinding time slightly to our adventures on the east coast earlier this summer, we spent an afternoon in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area which runs along perhaps a quarter of the coast of Oregon and is entirely a State Park.Besides people such as ourselves that were out for a walk there were a ridiculous number of people with ATVs or tricked out pickups that were driving around as fast as they could on parts of these dunes. Fortunately the areas for driving like a crazy and walking were separated but I still don't get the appeal of going very fast through something that you could be walking through and enjoying instead.

There were also a great number of little blobby shapes washed up on the beach. We asked around and were told they were a kind of jellyfish, but poking them with sticks we were unable to see any resemblance between them and the other jellyfish we've seen. Very neat.

A Space Odyssey

One of the great things about guests is they give you an excuse to visit all the neat tourist places that you never get around to otherwise. With my parents providing a handy excuse we finally got to check out the McMillan Space Centre which shares a building with the Vancouver Museum and knows how to start things off right.
Thats right, a giant statue of a crab shooting water... perhaps the most awesome thing ever. They even have a plaque explaining it so that anyone that doesn't buy the notion of "Giant metal crabs are fantastic" can have an artsy rationalization.
Once inside it was imperative that I expand my collection of pictures of "Kathryn In Big Hats." There were also some neat displays about space, rockets, shuttle tiles and the like as well as a ride where you get to deliver science fiction madness to Mars, very much like the Star Tours ride at Disneyland.
The price of admission also includes planetarium shows which run every hour or so and are pretty fantastic. I also think that everyone can agree that in the robot uprising, the battle between the crab out front and the projector will be epic.

The Theatre

First off, an apology to any of my 5 readers for being so slow to update lately, 2 of you were visiting and then we've had a bit of a cold in the apartment lately so everythings been a little sedate and behind pace, but I'll try and get things regular again.
So being patrons of the arts, Kathryn and I went to see the Evil Dead Musical around Halloween which combines the best of 'Evil Dead 1 + 2' and 'Army of Darkness' into a campy two act musical.
Anyone familiar with the material should understand exactly whats going on when a zombie moose head starts driving a one armed man insane... in song. The songs are all uniformly hilarious and the acting is campy and winking-at-the-audience enough that its thoroughly enjoyable throughout and I would recommend it to any fan of the movies.
Like all great artforms, this musical also incorporates a 'splash zone' in which the first 5 rows cost extra but result in you being doused constantly in fake blood. We sat one row behind this area so we could enjoy watching other people get it but not quite have to go through it ourselves.