Queen Elizabeth Park 10 km Volksmarch in Vancouver, British Columbia! - Wednesday, September 20, 2023

After leaving our Bend walking weekend on Monday, Sept. 18, we spent the night in Woodland, Washington, on our way to Vancouver, British Columbia. The sunset was lovely, even if it was subdued.

Columbia Riverfront RV Park, Woodland, Washington.

Sunset over the Columbia River.

Our site is at Columbia Riverfront RV Park.

Tuesday, September 19: Because we wanted to make it through Seattle before the major rush hour traffic, we left Woodland, Washington, at 4 a.m. on Tuesday. We had only two slow-downs on I-5 due to accidents (which we never saw). In both traffic jams, we kept moving albeit slowly.

We arrived at our RV park in Vancouver, B.C., at noon. It was an afternoon of relaxation and recuperation from our hikes in Bend. That evening we had a big rainstorm pounding on our RV roof. It sounded great.

On Wednesday, September 20, after Bob finished working in the morning, we decided to do a 10 km Volksmarch in the Kensington neighborhood to Queen Elizabeth Park. 

A unique skyscraper
in downtown Vancouver, B.C.

The start box for our walk was in a bookstore in downtown Vancouver. Bob sat in a parking spot at the curb while I went into the bookstore to register and pick up the instructions to our starting point in the Shaughnessy area of Vancouver, B.C. 

It is hard getting around a huge city when you're not familiar with the roads. Thank goodness for Garmin! She routed us to the community center where there was a large, free parking lot. After using the washrooms, we started walking. 

It's fun to see the personality of neighborhoods. There was art high up on wires in the trees at one intersection with a bike path. 

Art high up in the trees. You've got to look up!

Art high up on lines in the trees.

A pocket view of the mountains north of Vancouver, B.C.

Bob pointed out these mini rubber duckies
in a car windshield. Cute!

The trees up north are getting their fall colors.

Mountain View Cemetery.

Fall colors.

Chinese lantern (Physalis alkekengi) used
as a sidewalk border in someone's yard.

At this point, we entered Queen Elizabeth Park at the Little Mountain Disc Golf Course where a group of young men were playing disc golf. We were surprised by the number of discs and colors in their bags.

There are lots of things to do in Queen Elizabeth Park!

As we walked the forested park with interspersed lawns, Bob pointed out the black squirrels. We aren't used to seeing these! I got a short video.

We continued up a hill to the Rose Garden. A surprising number of roses are still in bloom. 

These roses look like camellias!

A lovely red rose.

Must stop and smell the roses!

I particularly like the yellow roses!

Tobacco plant (Nicotiana sylvestris).

This very beautiful display is still in bloom.

In my opinion, these are the prettiest
roses we saw today.

Mountain bluet, Mountain cornflower, or
Bachelor's button (Centaurea montana).

Showy yellow/orange rose.

Autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnalis).
Used to remove the pain of gout.

From the rose garden, we made our way to the Queen Elizabeth Plaza. Normally, there is a "Dancing Waters" fountain, but it was not on. The Bloedel Floral Conservancy is in the dome-shaped building on the left in the photo below. We did not go in. I've heard it is loaded with tropical plants and birds. There is an entrance fee.

On the left, is the Bloedel Floral Conservancy.

"Knife Edge," by Henry Moore.

The Lions Clock was made by the Ross &
Howard Iron Works Co. Ltd. 

This tree has golden fall colors! 

Exploration was the name of the game in this part of the park. Our eyes were immediately drawn to the North Shore mountains of downtown Vancouver. What a day!

The two rounded peaks are called The Lions.

The Lions tower over downtown Vancouver!
West Lion is 5,400'; East Lion is 5,269'.

The city is in a lovely setting embraced by Vancouver
Harbour, the Fraser River, and the Burrard Inlet.

Bob and I loved the color of this tree!

While on the plaza, we could walk to the far left for a view of the Large Quarry Garden.

An overview of the Large Quarry Garden.

An overview of the Large Quarry Garden.

An overview of the Large Quarry Garden.

A photographer was doing a photo shoot of
this girl in a Cosplay or manga outfit.

When we walked to the far right of the plaza, we had fun taking photos with the "Photo Session" statues, by Seward Johnson.

"Photo Session" statue fun.

Goofing around at the "Photo Session" statue. 

From the statues, we could look down into the Small Quarry Garden, AKA the Anniversary Garden. In 1993, at Seasons in the Park Restaurant, President Bill Clinton and President Boris Yeltsin (Russian Federation) dined there.

The Small Quarry Garden.

Seasons in the Park Restaurant in Queen
Elizabeth Park.

Next, we investigated the Small Quarry Garden by walking around it.

A perfect profusion of posies.

Brilliant Stonecrop, Upright Sedum
(Hylotelephium spectabile).

Hardy fuchsia.

Italian arum (Arum italicum).
*Poisonous noxious weed.*

Profusion Cherry Bicolor Zinnia.

Blyton Golden Girl (Dahlia).

From the Small Quarry Garden, we walked to the Large Quarry Garden. The flower displays are very impressive!

Bob is standing next to a bird in flight planting.

These colors are spectacular together.

I can't believe there are cacti here!

We took a detour up some steps to see "Love in the Rain," a sculpture built for the purpose of attaching "Love Locks." Love Locks have become a problem around the world when people attach them to bridges. This is a new idea to give people somewhere to put their love locks other than city infrastructures.

"Love in the Rain" Umbrella People.

Umbrella People sculptures designed
for love locks.

The locks are not supposed to be attached to the 
umbrellas, but people do it anyway.

An explanation of the concept behind "Love in the Rain."

This receptacle is for the keys people
throw away when they put on their love locks.

With the detour finished, we returned to the Large Quarry Garden to finish the circuit.

Big Leaf Hydrangea - Lacecaps
(Hydrangea macrophylla).

Himalayan honeysuckle
(Leycesteria formosa).

Fuchsias.

Black-eyed Susans
(Rudbeckia fulgida).

Fuchsia Annabel.

Another view of the bird in flight planting.

We headed out of Queen Elizabeth Park and walked past some funky-looking sculptures. The informational panel had been vandalized, so I had to do some research online to find out what these sculptures were. 

Here are three of the nine raven sculptures.
The rest of them are on display here as well.

From the City of Vancouver's Public Art Registry, I found that these sculptures are the artist's depiction of ravens. The artists are the Manitoba Aboriginal Arts Council, Inc. The sponsor donor was the Aboriginal Art Program for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. This was their Grand Entry. The artists worked individually and collectively on their concept for a series of nine raven sculptures portraying a collective cultural history and perspective. Each of the nine figures represents their respective artist's expression of the raven's spirit.

We continued on past the Nat Bailey Stadium, "The Nat" for short. Here is where the Vancouver Canadians play baseball. This is known as Rogers Field.

Bob is in front of Rogers Field. He was bummed 
that their season was over. He would have liked
to see them play.

"Leads to fish habitat. Do not pollute."

This friendly Siamese cat came to say hello.

On the way back to the car, we walked through the Mountain View Cemetery.

While driving back to the RV park, Bob pointed out two totem poles at the entrance to a building.

When we returned to our 5th wheel, it was time for dinner and we were hungry. In our neighborhood, there is a restaurant called Milestones that has good reviews. We headed there for dinner and had a wonderful meal. 

As we were leaving the restaurant, I noticed that the Dodger game was playing in the bar. When I pointed that out to Bob, he took me back to the 5th wheel and returned to the bar to watch the game. He was disappointed because the Dodgers lost. Bummer.

Milestones Restaurant.

Tomorrow, we are going to do a group walk with the Vancouver 'Venturers Volkssport Club in the Kitsilano/West Point Grey area to Pacific Spirit Regional Park, Jericho Beach Park, Spanish Banks, and Locarno Beach. 

Have a good night, y'all!