Sushi in Vancouver

Saturday, July 2nd – Whistler to Langley, British Columbia - Day 141 

Our campsite for the last three nights was an overflow lot for the Cal-Cheak Recreation Site. There were two campgrounds where we had been going to use the washroom. One campground was at the confluence of Callaghan Creek and the Cheakamus River. Jo-Ce had taken a walk earlier to a suspension bridge and suggested we go. The river was fast moving, and the suspension bridge provided a scenic view of the area. We heard that there was a community of people that lived in the forest, they live off the land as much as possible, and collect cans to finance their lives. 

 We started to travel towards Vancouver to see the city. The Sea-To-Sky highway was more beautiful in the daytime. We stopped at viewpoints and at places we had stopped on the way to Whistler since Gen had lost her phone wallet and was hoping we might find it. The views of ocean, mountains and trees coming together was spectacular. We reached Squamish and stopped for gas and a car wash. There happened to be a trailhead directly beside the gas station and we walked to Eagle Run Vista Point. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see any Eagles. 

Back to the car, we kept moving towards Vancouver. What is incredible about British Columbia is the enjoyment that west coasters take in their natural environment. Vancouver Island had hikers and campers everywhere, Tofino had an incredible surf culture, the biking and skiing culture of Whistler is very apparent, and when we started travelling towards Vancouver trying to stop to do a hike, every parking lot was full. We did manage to stop at the Shannon Waterfall parking lot for a great view of the local sound.

 In Vancouver, we wanted to see the Capilano Suspension Bridge. We arrived at the parking lot to find it cost $60 a person. Onwards we went! Further along the road and we found the Cleveland Dam Municipal Park; this was free and had a view of the Capilano Lake surrounded by the mountains that complete the watershed. The Cleveland dam feeds water into the canyon running below the Capilano Suspension Bridge. Not quite the same as the expensive park with a massive suspension bridge, tree top adventures and cliff edge hikes, but very pleasurable all the same. 

 We were looking for a place to stay as we drove towards Stanley Park. There were very few options in the Vancouver area to stay for free. We decided to get sushi for dinner; the kids had been asking for sushi and we decided Vancouver would be a good place to do it. Before dinner, we drove through Stanley Park again to see views of the harbour. The decision to go for sushi was easy, where is a much more difficult question. Some of us prefer the cheapest possible option and that is challenging in downtown Vancouver. We should have sucked it up and paid to eat downtown. Instead, we drove to Richmond Ninkazu in Richmond. It was okay. We miss Sushi Date in Bolton. 

With appetites satiated, we went to a play structure beside our parked car in a little park overrun with rabbits. This little park needed a wolf or coyote. We’ve seen a lot of instances in our trip where populations of animals were out of control because they were missing a top predator. From here, we drove east to Langley where a trailhead parking lot, complete with port-o-potti, welcomed us for the night.