Vancouver Trip Report – Part I (and its a long one)

Last week Kristin and I were in Vancouver, British Columba, for a meeting of the Canadian Society of Zoologists. Well, to be honest, Kristin could care less about the meeting so I will skip that part of the story. If anyone would like, I can summarize the meeting and my talk. Just ask. I will wait for the first inquiry before proceeding along those lines. Until then, let us tell you about the more enjoyable parts of the trip.

This was Kristin and Carrig’s first trip to Canada. It also marked Carrig’s and my first trip to the pacific coast. Needless to say, we were all very excited and there was plenty of novelty for all of us to enjoy. Vancouver is an amazing city, an interesting mix of traditional flair and modern values all in a city that is little more than 150years old. The first part of the city was Gastown. “Vancouver” was chosen as the name of the city at this very spot.









I claimed that these were viruses attacking a cell. Kristin said that they looked like wedding rings. When we got to the placard describing the sculpture Kristin just rolled her eyes and kept walking.




At the UBC Museum of Anthropology




Carrig’s first day at the beach with his feet in the water.



Odd sculptures that inspired Kristin to strike a pose.








I had a half-day off on Wednesday and, luckily, we woke up to some sunshine. We used this day to stroll from downtown through Stanley Park and then to the Vancouver Aquarium. This was an amazing walk along the sea wall, totem poles, followed by a bald eagle sighting, then a gaggle of young geese, and finally past several swan nests all before ever reaching the aquarium.













Regardless of how you feel about captive animals, this was an amazing aquarium with great diversity and extremely well kept exhibits. It is a must for anyone visiting Vancouver.











We also spent some time exploring the rest of the city. Here we are on our way to Granville Island, a man made island with some cool tin-sided markets. I was personally excited to visit the Granville Brewing Company.





For the Fehlner's, check out the ethnic polish food! =)






Towards the end of the trip we did what we do best, got outside and started exploring the mountains. As I alluded to in Vancouver II, we spent a lot of time exploring Squamish. We first wandered around the boulder fields at the base of The Chief with one goal in mind, touching Squamish boulder problems before the Kreidels! Even Carrig got in on the action.










Ever wonder how you control an infant while on a climbing trip?


Then we headed over the Shannon Falls.



And ended our day by driving towards Whistler to find this amazing vantage point. Don't we make a nice couple?


And finally, in closing, one of my personal highlights, SUSHI!

The Chief had a “volcano” today – Vancouver Part II

About an hour north of Vancouver is Squamish, BC, “The outdoor recreation capital of Canada.” With miles of hiking trails, a giant waterfall, over 1200 climbing routes and nearly the same number of boulder problems, Kristin and I were very excited to go. This town even has designated parking for climbers and points towards the crags on the tourist signs. We just stumbled into our utopia. We managed to spend last night and all of today exploring the area.

Now you may be asking why this is Vancouver Part II. Don’t be alarmed. You haven’t missed anything. This is because today’s events represent one of those “great moments in parenthood” that need to be shared immediately. Even though this is the final day of our trip, the events of today will haunt us for some time. I promise that more stories and photos will follow shortly.

High above the town of Squamish is a monolith of granite named “The Chief,” a 2300ft granite dome that was formally the base of a volcano. But this isn’t the volcano my title refers to. Keep reading. Due to a serious lack of climbing gear and a baby sitter Kristin and I decided to use our final day to hike to the top of the chief. The trail nearly goes straight up the backside of the mountain between a mountain stream and a small cliff face. It was quite steep and the trail has been manicured with rock or wooden stairs and several ladders up high.





















Carrig was the star of the mountain. This weekend is “Victoria Day” and lots of people were on holiday. We even had random folks asking to take our picture because they were so surprised to see us up there. In addition, Carrig got a round of applause at the top by three woman that we had followed up (yes, just Carrig. Not the guy carrying him). But, it wasn’t until the way down that the fun started.
Just a quick aside, for non-parents or those that may have blurred some of these memories out: breast-fed babies don’t have daily bowel movements. It can vary widely, but Carrig is on a 3-5 day routine. He has also just recently jumped up in the amount of food that he takes in per day.























































So we had been hiking for a couple of hours and it was time to feed and change the babe. We descended out of the winds and found some shelter along the side of the trail. While feeding him Kristin felt a little rumble down under. No biggie…so far. Commence changing. The first diaper comes off and Carrig’s face goes blank. This was the first warning. There was not a second…with a few rumbles a soft flow of yellow-brown lava began the bubble up.

So here is the scene: Kristin and I perched on the side of a windy hill, ~50 degrees, 10ft off of a busy trail, our backpack about 15ft away. Carrig is in his only warm clothing and getting it “dirty” would spell disaster. The first diaper fills…I run to get a second. This one fills…on to a third. Between diapers Kristin is forced to “cup poop in a napkin” to prevent it from flowing over poor Carrig’s clothing (her words). Now, nearly out of wipes and down to our last diaper it stops. During this time at least 15 people walked by as Kristin’s gagged and as I ran frantically back and forth to the backpack. Rains coming. We can barely clean the poor kid but now need to get down off the mountain. Off we go.







You thought it was over didn’t you. Nope.


Once back to the car we realized that Carrig still have something in the chute for us. This had now soaked through the diaper, up his back, and therefore, also across my stomach and chest. Just lovely.


So lessons learned. 1) Always carry extra…everything. Regardless of how long you will be gone for, carry extra. 2) For the baby and for yourself. 3) I am not sure. Something will come to me. We must have learned more than this from today’s events.


And to end on a laughable note, here is the aftermath back at the car.




Clearly this was an exhausting day for him too.

What a little traveler!

We made it! Carrig's first passport stamp. He did great through ten hours of travel. Now let's see how he does with the time difference...
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More trouble...

After watching mom and dad share a coke carrig wanted in on the action.
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Holy moly!

Good thing this was a herbivore or I world be an appetizer.
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FOUR months- holy old man!

Can you believe it? Carrig is already four months old. To celebrate we (read: Kristin) thought it would be a good idea to give him some baby oatmeal. Here is the aftermath...








It started off quite well. Then...





This, of course, was followed by an immediate bath. But just the mention of more cereal lead to a clear emotional response.