It's time to introduce Nathan to international travel.  What better place than Vancouver, Canada.  It's in the same time zone, they speak English.... and the flight is only two hours!

Sara and I have always wandered by the Pan Pacific Hotel whenever we've gone to Vancouver.  This time, we decided to actually stay there.  This hotel is part of Canada Place where the cruise ships going to Alaska leave from.  It's also Vancouver's convention center and home to their IMAX theatre. Below is the picture of the hotel lobby.  You take two escalators to get above the convention center and cruise ship lobby to reach the hotel reception desk.

The rooms are in a tower.  Here's the view from our room (1136).  It had four curved windows so we ended up with views of the harbor, the snow capped mountains on the other side and the cruise ships below.

We hiked along Vancouver's extensive harbor with the goal of seeing the aquarium and kids play area in Stanley Park, but the 'Rose Garden' caught our attention (OK, so the roses haven't bloomed yet, but the tulips were great).

Bedtime stories are even better with extra pillows.

We took the ferry over to Victoria to complete our trip.

In Victoria, they were having a holiday, Victoria Day. Many bands were playing at various venues around the town.  We were surprised to see many American high school bands that were invited to join in.  The locals told us that Americans take their bands more seriously, so they're much better than Canadian bands, hence, the invitation.  They all got together for a parade on our final day there.  Below is a local community college band.  In the background is the famous Empress hotel.

We toured a nearby castle built by the Dunsmuirs who also built Dunsmuir House in Oakland.