British Columbia (tl;dr)

I’m on the train back home now. I’m not exactly sure where I am, or what time it is, but I think I’m somewhere in Saskatchewan and that it’s 11 o clock. Judging by the terrain, we’re most likely in Saskatchewan. It’s LIKE Manitoba, but it’s actually not as flat. Alberta is flat-ish near Saskatchewan, but it’s still bumpier. Manitoba is straight up planar. The west coast was fun. I did basically everything. When I got there, Wednesday morning, I went to my aunt’s house, then we dropped off our stuff, then we went downtown. First she showed me the bus system, and then we went to the library so I could check my email. After that we went to NCX and bought her a computer, because hers had been broken since January. The next day we went back downtown and got her a modem so she could use the internet. Then we walked around Stanley Park, which is this huge park, right on the edge of the water. There are beaches all around it. Friday, I went downtown by myself, and I met up with Laura and Maegwin, two fine upstanding ladies who used to live in Winnipeg and went to school with me… They were like half an hour late, because their bus had stopped working on the bridge, and some other bus related excuse. I got to have a good look around the Chapters while I waited for them. I know what I’m going to spend my gift cards on when I find them  It’s going to be Pride and Prejudice and Zombies :) We went to Stanley Park, to the Aquarium. It was pretty cool, I saw dolphins, then we saw the belugas, and there were otters. I liked the otters. And there was a turtle and some jellyfish, and some normal fish and a monkey and a caiman! We also saw mudskippers. They were cool. And there were frogs. After that, we went to a coffee shop, where Maegwin threw her coffee at the ground and we had to get another one. Then we went to their place and had supper there. Saturday, my other aunt picked me up, and she took me to her house. She lives in a suburb-ish city from Vancouver called “North Vancouver”. It’s pretty nice. First she took me to Lynn Canyon, which is this canyon with a suspension bridge and river running through it. We hiked a bit there, and then my cousin and I went and splashed about in the river. We saw some guys who were using a waterfall as a waterslide! I was wearing my jeans, so I didn’t. But it looked fun! After that, she took me out to some Indian restaurant, and then we walked on the seawall. Sunday, I met with my friend Evanna from camp. We walked on the seawall at Stanley Park, and we went onto the beaches and picked up crabs and played with them. It was entertaining. Then we walked down the street and I got souvenirs for my sisters. After that we had supper, then we went back home. I took the Sea Bus! It’s a really big boat that ferries you across the inlet/bay thing that Vancouver is built on, to North Vancouver. Then I took the bus to my aunt’s house and that was the end of the day. Monday, Maegwin and I did this hike called the “Grouse Grind” It’s a trail that goes up the side of Grouse Mountain (duh) It’s a really big deal when you do it apparently, sort of like a coming of age thing there. When you get to the top, they have this house type thing with a restaurant, café, shop, and some other stuff in it. There you can buy a ticket on the Gondola back down. Also they apparently have zip lining somewhere there! We just went on the Gondola and left however. We didn’t find it too hard. We made it to the top in somewhere between 50 minutes and an hour. When I told my friends they were all “WHOA! You’re hard core!” and I was like “Not REALLY. I wasn’t really going that fast….” We stopped a couple times because Maegwin didn’t bring her puffer, and was going “Hah… heh…*Pant* *gasp* *wheeze*” In my experience, when people do that it’s a bad thing, so I was waiting for her and I was like  and she was like “oh, stop it already *pant pant*” and I was like “but what if you die?” and she was like D:< Then she fell a couple times and I was like LOL. But I didn’t say that. She would have probably hit me. Monday evening, we went on the seawall again. We saw some seals. I SAW AN OTTER! It was definitely a highlight of the trip. It was just swimming along the side of the rocks, and being awesome, and there were seagulls around trying to get it, and it kept diving under the water when the seagulls came. Tuesday, I just hung out with my aunt all day, we went and watched my cousin diving. Wednesday I caught a bus out to White Rock, where I saw my friend Rianna. She’s cool. We hung out there all day; we walked on the beach, and sat on the wharf. While on the beach, we saw these little crabs, so we dug them up and they were like *SCURRY* and scurried away. Then they buried themselves again. I found a mussel that was alive, and hadn’t been eaten by a seagull. Then we also saw this weird fish that looked like it was jumping when it swam and it buried itself in sand. :/ Then we went to KFC for supper, and then we went to a gas station to get ice cream. Then I got the bus home, and that was the end of that. After I got home, I had supper again, and then we went to this ice cream place that had 218 flavors! I wasn’t feeling that adventurous thought, so I got “chocolate chip mint”. I wasn’t really in the mood for “durian” or “wasabi” or any other nonsense like that. Tuesday morning we went to the train station which is also the bus depot. I got on a bus and then I went to Kamloops. While on the bus I was listening to loud music. I think I might have damaged my headphones :/ either that or the bus did it. Now one of them rattles a little bit. In Kamloops, my uncle Garry picked me up from the bus depot; he gave me a short tour of Kamloops. It’s a nice city/town. I’m not really sure how big it is, but it’s in a little valley in the mountains. It’s really hot there, and it looks sort of desert-y. Also the river running through it is nice; it’s cool and clean so you can swim in it, and there are sandy parts, so it’s like a beach. They also have this thing where you can get on a tube and they drive you upstream a bit and then they drop you in the river and you just float down the river until they come and pick you up and one of the beaches. I didn’t do it :/ Friday, I got a ride to one of the beaches, and then I sat on the beach all day and read a book. I read Marley and Me. It was warm too, like 32. Thursday it was 35, but it was cooler Friday because it was smokier. I saw a whole bunch of water bombers and helicopters taking off. It was pretty exciting. Saturday morning, I left really early. We got up at 5:30. and then packed my stuff, then I got on the train. The train is about half full. I also don’t have money for food D: they don’t take debit here, so I am stuck with my cookies and trail mix for sustenance :/
I’m looking forward to being home (sort of) I’m going to try and get a job right away, and also I have to hang out with a bunch of people before school starts. I have to find someone because I have a present for them, but we’ve talked like twice :P It’s from my friend in NS. This present has travelled 9000 km! and I’ve travelled about 12 500 km! Best guess is that the trip cost about $1100 including food, shopping and travel. Which is pretty good for a month, and an entire continent.