Day 2 (August 24, 2021): A Day In and Around Vancouver

We left our Calgary tarmac-side accommodations at 8AM and headed to the terminal. Well, since we were technically already in the terminal, it was a pretty short commute! 

Remember last night, how I happily reported Air Canada had successfully eliminated the need for us to travel to/from Yellowknife, while protecting the rest of our flight itinerary? Well, it quickly became apparent this morning that the Air Canada agent who had done it did not do it successfully after all: the remaining five flights on our itinerary were deleted by the Air Canada system overnight!  So the day began with trying to get all those flights reestablished so that we could board the flight to Vancouver.  It was stressful, but we did get off to Vancouver at 9:45. 

The flight to Vancouver was on another Boeing 737 Max aircraft. But by that point, we were feeling more relaxed with Boeing’s claims that the plane’s issues have been safely addressed. Sitting in the back of the aircraft, we had to endure two full hours of the detailed recounting of the failed love lives of two flight attendants who were based in the back galley adjacent to our seats. We were amused for the first few minutes, but wow… it grew very tiring and tortuous very quickly. 

By 10:15, we had landed in Vancouver - a perfect sunny day in the Lower Mainland. We grabbed a bite at the Maple Leaf Lounge there and then picked up a rental car and started out on a journey up the Sea-to-Sky Highway to Squamish. The plan was to meet our long-time friend, Tamar, at a funky Squamish coffee shop and then head to Whistler, before returning to Vancouver Airport and continuing on to Whitehorse tonight. 

However, the normal 1.5 hour drive to Squamish turned into a 3.5 hour drive, due to a 10km-long traffic backup the likes of which we have never experienced, all caused by a small paving job at an intersection in the middle of Squamish. By the time we reached Tamar, the funky coffee shop had to be relocated to a Tim Horton’s, and our nerves were fried. Still, we had a great catch-up conversation, which made the journey worthwhile. 

Time was not on our side, so we headed right back to Vancouver after our short reunion, stopping just to take in the view at a couple of highway lookoffs and a Provincial Park. Vancouver’s rush-hour traffic frazzled any remaining resolve we had left, as we had to cross the Lions’ Gate Bridge again and pass through the downtown core.  Arriving back at Vancouver International just before 6, we got some dinner at the lounge again and boarded our flight to Whitehorse just after 7. But after sitting for the better part of an hour,  the pilot announced a problem with the aircraft, so we all deplaned, moved to a new aircraft, and finally took off at 9:15PM. 

It has been a good day, but one with some exhausting challenges, too. And two passengers directly behind us on the flight tonight are coughing mightily, which is causing us much concern. We look forward to crawling into our Whitehorse hotel bed tonight. And we pray that our N95 masks and Pfizer shots protect us from the Delta variant swirling around us. 

One last view of the Calgary skyline - this one at dawn - from our room at the Marriott In-Terminal Hotel. 

Just to show how the airport lounge experience has changed due to Covid:  at least in the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges, the ol’ buffet has been replaced by a table-specific barcode: scan it with your phone,  select what you want, and it’s delivered to your table. One food item per box. Ouff, the waste this system is producing is scandalous. 


No blogger can fly across the Canadian Rockies and not insert some mountain photos! These razorback  mountains west of Calgary were amazing from the air. 


As were these snow-capped mountains. 

Harrison Lake, 150km northeast of Vancouver. 

Mount Baker, one of Washington State’s dormant volcanoes. 

We were impressed with the never-ending building boom going on in Vancouver. Here are a few examples of some of the most modern designs we saw. But to start, here is an “oldie but goodie” - the Vancouver Art Gallery. 

The one above and the one directly below, we agreed, would not give either of us a lot of comfort as a stable earthquake-proof design!




From here, we outline our trip north of Vancouver on the Sea-to-Sky Highway, a mostly-four-lane engineering marvel that was twinned for the 2010 Winter Olympics, to provide easier access to the venues in Whistler. 

The Lions’ Gate Bridge, connecting Vancouver with North Vancouver. 

The sign says it all! 


The 40-car Sea-to-Sky Gondola in Squamish. Vandals cut the cable in 2019 and again in 2020, causing major damage both times. 

Simply referred to as The Chief, this distinct mountain is one of the most popular for climbing and hiking in the Vancouver region. It is located in Stawamus Chief Provincial Park in Squamish.

Shannon Falls Provincial Park. 

Howe Sound, North America’s most southerly fjord, which leads up to Squamish. 

Porteau Cove Provincial Park, situated on the most southerly fjord in North America. 



The highlight of the day was meeting with our longtime and dear friend, Tamar, who lived with us for a while when she first moved to Halifax back in 2002. We hadn’t seen her in over 15 years! Wonderful to catch up with her on her home turf of Squamish. That’s The Chief in the background. 

And just because he could, Dave jumped into the cowling of a Boeing 737-Max engine at Vancouver Internatioanl. Okay, okay, so it wasn’t real. 🤪

The second Bombardier CRJ-900 aircraft Air Canada used had better success than the first in getting us from Vancouver to Whitehorse.