Here is a poem that Dan wrote while we were on the bus to Seattle:

There once was a Dan and a Bri,

who wanted to marr-y.

They hoped to live in Granada,

but poverty led to Canada,

and a fair city by the sea.

They had a landlord named Ruby,

and saw lotsa folks smoking a doobee.

Rain darkened the mood,

but the food was good,

hard to get work for a newbie.

Bri found work at Rona you see,

Which, standing all day, hurt her knee.

But it made enough loonies,

for some trips to the boonies,

and she never had to clean up no pee.

They also got work in their ward,

and certainly never were bored.

Dan taught the teenagers,

and Bri the wee ages,

while in Utah Bryce cleaned a gourd.

The weather it started to turn,

for freedom they started to yearn.

Straya gave their permission,

for Bri to transition,

so escape became their concern.

The bed was still really quite nice,

it was lacking completely in lice.

They got rid of their stuff,

for a bit they lived rough,

now they will have thanksgiving twice.

The prophecy in the final line of this poem was fulfilled this past weekend when we traveled up to St Anthony, Idaho, to celebrate thanksgiving in the USA, approximately one month after celebrating it in Canada. Here's a photo of the big family dinner that was held at Layle and Glenda Bagley's:

As you can see in the photo the table was pretty big. 

Here's a sunset that Bri's mom took a photo of on our way home:

Bri's still working hard on her Spanish and doing well, and Dan is living a life of leisure (besides doing some dirt moving and house painting).

Dear Sir / Madam,

I write this blog post to inform you of the activities Brianna and Dan have been engaged in over the past several weeks. Please find attached photos and commentary that document their last weeks in Vancouver and voyage back to Utah.

Sincerely,

Brianna and Dan

L to R: Brianna's pumpkin, Daniel's pumpkin

This used to be a three story building next to the building where Daniel was working. He got a few days off work because it burned down. One guy had has his office in there for forty years. Sad.

L to R: Daniel, Brianna

Granville Island - Markets, food, buskers

World's best nursery leader.

In Seattle with the Space Needle.

Pike's Place Market

World's first Starbucks.

We found some Aggiano cheese in Seattle. Made at the dairy in Logan, Utah.

Took our first trip on a Greyhound bus. Left Seattle at 8:40pm and arrived in Utah around 5pm the next day. Fellow passengers included a guy who just got out of prison and was trying to sort things out with his PO (parole officer) on this side of the country so he could go back to his family in Minnesota. 

Also a man who'd grown up LDS but had been inactive and was wanting to come back. He and his wife (also on the bus) had done door-to-door sales in just about every state in the US. He was in an accident several months before  and was probably going to get 500K-1 million in compensation. 

Also a young mother with a baby who seemed to need a lot of attention.

Also a truck driver who'd blacked out and whose company was busing him to see a doctor. He seemed to feel a little weird about riding on the Greyhound instead of a truck.

Also some young Latin American guys.

Also a bus driver for the last leg of the trip who was from the UK and knew a lot about the history of the area we were driving through. It wasn't part of his job but it seemed that he liked to make the journey more interesting for us by sharing what he'd learned about the railroad, rivers that were significant to the pioneers but now dried up, and companies that built space shuttle rockets.

Fear the beard (it's actually gone now).

South of Vancouver there's a nice fishing town along the coast named Steveston. Before WW I the town promoted itself as "Salmonopolis", a supposed rival of Vancouver. We went there this week.

"So...you're saying that most of the outdoor scenes in 'Once Upon a Time' were shot right here in Steveston?"

This photo is a bit blurry sorry but that blue boat is named "Wendy" (last name "Seaa" with two 'A' s), just like Dan's mum.

 

Brianna at Garry Point Park

 

We heard a commotion in front of the Cannery and ran over to check it out. We got there just in time to see this guy get swallowed while his wife looked on, horrified. There was nothing we could do.

Dan having a chat with the locals.

A nice older couple from the UK took this picture for us in front of the cannery. 

  

According to a newspaper story pinned up at the front of this place, Pajo's is Canada's third best fish 'n chip joint. It was good eatin'. They give you your meal in a paper cone that you can balance in the purpose-built holes in the nearby wooden picnic tables. Also, the seagulls here have been taking growth hormones or something. Scary.

So that was the fun thing we did this week. For our not-as-fun activity of the week we both got sore throats and stuffy noses, which we're still getting over now.

For our blessing of the week, Dan got some well-timed work. He'd just finished a job supporting a youth with autism who was moving to a different location, and on Mon morning started contacting employment agencies. Within a couple of hours a legal office he'd worked for when we first moved here emailed asking if he was available to start that day on some work they had. One of the barristers has to do their first trial at very short notice and they need some help getting ready for it. So this week he got to prepare a list of documents for court. The barrister also said to Dan, "I might also get you to think of some questions we can ask the other side". Luckily Dan has had lots of legal training...

For our holiday-of-the-week, tomorrow is Thanksgiving in Canada (over a month before the US). Happy Thanksgiving! Brianna is looking forward to baking a pumpkin pie to go and eat with fellow international couple living in exile - the Castillos.

Love, miss and hope to see everyone soon.

Well, we haven't written any blog updates in while, so...yeah.

Here are some things that have happened in the last month or so.

We saw a fake Inn-n-Out burger ("In-N-Out Hamburgers") at Baker City, Oregon:

We saw this cool canyon at Twin Falls, Idaho:

We went to the Utah State homecoming football game. USU won 70-6 against Weber State.

We went to a Sushi restaurant nicknamed "Obama's", which is inside an old mansion near where we live:

Dan's fancy church shoes and basketball shoes got stolen. The boot of our car doesn't shut properly. That's where the shoes were when we last saw them. Heh.

Watched Elder Vinson speak at conference. 

"What happened to Dan and Bri this week?", you may or may not be wondering. The answer is as follows:

I (Dan) worked at a youth group home from Tue 2pm till Thu 4pm, and then again from Fri 9am till Sat 9am. On several occasions one of the youths wanted to relieve themselves outside the bathroom, and so they did. I had to clean up with a nifty deoderizing/carpet cleaning vacuum thing, which made it a bit easier to deal with.

Brianna found out she did great in her last Spanish exam from her second-last subject, and is now on to her last subject - another Spanish one. Nearly there!

On Fri Brianna, Daniel (a youth) and I (Daniel) hiked from Lynn canyon to Rice Lake. While we walked we speculated as to the reason for the lake's name. We also saw a raised wooden aqueduct/waterslidey type thing that in days past flowed with water and floating wooden shingles that were being transported out of the forest.

Here's a photo from the walk:

Arriving at the lake we found that the water was still and glassy, just as you'd expect from a Canadian lake.

While there, Daniel (youth) and Brianna debated about whether a wild berry he found and was about to eat was a huckleberry, and Brianna convinced him not to eat it. Daniel also howled like a wolf, which as Brianna noted was the most appropriate sound to make in the setting in which we found ourselves.

Here's a picture of the lake:

And another of Brianna with the lake:

Another notable thing that happened this week was I exercised my right to vote by going to the Australian consulate and filling in two ballots - one for the house of reps (legislature) and one for the senate. When voting for the senate I was given the option of either A) choosing one party I wanted to vote for or B) numbering the candidates 1 to 110 (!) based on who I would most (1) and least (110) like to see voting on legislation. Some of these individuals were from parties with such serious and respectable names as "The Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party", 'The Pirate Party" and the "Australian Sport Party". I chose option A.

And that's about it for this week. Love and miss everyone.

This week Brianna felt the call of home, and so on Monday evening for our FHE activity we drove to the USA. A YouTube video that's been doing the rounds lately talks about part of the US that is cut off from the rest of the country because it's on the end of a Canadian peninsula. This place - Point Roberts - is pretty close to our home. Here's a map:



The video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMkYlIA7mgw.

So at about 8pm we headed to Point Roberts. As we approached the border, Brianna could smell the freedom and became a little excited. When the US border patrol guard inquired as to the reason for our entering the US we told him it was to see Point Roberts as we'd never been there before. "So you're coming at 8.30pm to see Point Roberts", he replied, seeming to imply that it was a little stupid. But he let us in anyway.

We didn't have much time in Point Roberts but saw some things. These included huge mosquitoes that didn't seem to care that Brianna was a US citizen, tire-shredding spikes in a wharf parking lot, lots of interesting houses, and a beach. Here're are couple of photos:

American beach. Middle-right of the photo is Canada.

Brianna frolicking under the American moonlight. Gary - our car - can be seen waiting patiently in the background.

In other news, Dan worked a lot this week at a temporary office job, and on Saturday Brianna met the following interesting people at Rona:

1. An Italian man who came to Canada after the war and only went to 4th grade but had his teacher write a letter saying he'd completed 5th grade (a requirement to enter Canada) in exchange for 50kg of grain from his father's farm.
2. Someone spray-painting pennies different colours for a magician.
3. A man severely allergic to dust mites.
4. A rebar worker with a tattoo that says "Guilt-free life".
5. A lady who uses wood pellets for cheaper, less smelly cat litter.
6. A trucking company owner who puts his fuel on his airmiles card and flies around the world first  class.
7. A lady who made a sculpture (on the counter) with her purchases.

Today we had a special combined sacrament meeting with two other wards, and heard from President Goeders (our stake president), Elder Christiansen and Elder Aidukaitos of the Seventy. We need to have faith, seek first the kingdom of God, and have current temple recommends.

Till next week, love everyone.

Lots happened this week, and most of it fun. Brianna's good friend Alessa came for a trip to Vancouver, along with her parents, and Brianna was a great tour guide.

Over a few days Brianna and Alessa went to, did or ate these things:

Lynn Canyon suspension bridge and little walkies

Vancouver temple

Metrotown Mall (souvenir shopping)

Crystal (Asian) Mall

Poutine (chips, gravy, cheese curds)

Tandem biking in Stanley Park

Granville Island

Seabus to North Vancouver

Vancouver Library

Tried on expensive hats

Vancouver Art Gallery

Chinatown

Dr Sun Yat-sen Gardens

Jazz Night at Fairview (most of the people there were about three times as old as Brianna and Alessa)

Hiked the Grouse Grind

Fish 'n chips

Got ferry to Vancouver Island

Celebrate BC combo from White spot (fast food chain)

Walked around Victoria (Empress Hotel, BC Parliament Building, historical presentation)

Fisherman's Wharf (lots of brightly-coloured wooden shops built along a wharf, and a pirate ship)

Scenic drive round Victoria

Butchart Gardens

Pita wrap from place in Burnaby

Pita wrap from Donair Dude (after the one from Burnaby was subpar)

Start of the Grouse Grind. Since arriving in Vancouver people have recommended we try it. Recently named one of the world's 10 most dangerous hikes, "Mother Nature's Stairmaster" involves a 2.9km non-stop climb to the top of Grouse Mountain. Elevation gain 853m.

Some joker spray painted "3/4" on a tree a couple of hundred metres earlier on the Grouse Grind trail than the sign pictured here. Dan thought he would be a hero and try and run it, but started walking less than 1/4 of the way through. The world record time for an ascent is around 23 mins. For novice hikers it's recommended to allow 2 hours.

Brianna looking out for icebergs on the ferry to Vancouver Island.

Victoria, Vancouver Island

The Empress Hotel, Victoria

The Wades (L to R: Steve, Alessa, Jane) in front of the BC Parliament Building.

Craigdarroch Castle, Victoria

Butchart Gardens. This is the Sunken Garden, which used to be a limestone quarry.

Butchart Gardens - Japanese Garden

Love and miss y'all.

Because we finally got a car last week we wanted to take a drive somewhere and decided Whistler was the place. We woke up early one morning and headed North along the Sea-to-Sky highway. Here are things we did and saw:

First stop: Shannon Falls, near a very photogenic bluff known as "The Chief", which we don't have a photo of.

A tree doing bicep curls with Dan.

On the chairlift up Blackcomb Mountain - one of the two mountains next to the Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort. The other one is Whistler.

Recently they built the PEAK 2 PEAK gondola experience between the two mountains. It's about 3 miles long, lasts for 11 minutes and has the longest unsupported span for a ride of its kind in the world. The mountain in the photo is Whistler, which we were heading towards.

This is where we got off the gondola. The peak of Whistler is in the background. You had to get another chairlift to get to the top.

Before summiting Whistler Dan tried out this bobsled.

Chairlift to the top of Whistler.

Top of Whistler. As we walked off to the left of the shot we pretended we were a tree and a feather.

This is called an inukshuk. This giant one at the peak of Whistler was created for the olympics and is a symbol of hope for Canada. There were lots of people waiting to take photos of it so we just took one with this lady.

Brandywine Falls, on the way back from Whistler.

Mountain Woman fish and chips. The kitchen is inside this old school bus.

So that was a fun trip. Also this week these things happened:

A guy came into Rona, where Bri works, and when she asked how he was doing he said "I'm doing great, because I have a new liver".

Dan was in the city for a job interview, dressed to impress, and an older suit-wearing guy and young hijab-wearing lady assumed to be his daughter approached Dan and requested through gesturing that Dan tie the guy's tie for him.

Till next week, love.