That Time I (Left the Country for the First Time)

Woah, new blog design! 

I apologize DEEPLY if you happened upon my blog during the time when I was changing everything. I promise I was just trying to make it purty! It was seriously a mess though at one point...I'm pretty sure I have everything fixed but if you notice something off please tell me!

But also let me know if you like the new design! Not too much has changed, I just tried to clean it up a bit.

So I'm starting a new "series" up in here. I only recently started blogging in January of this year, and honestly even though I try to pretend my life is interesting, it hasn't been all that exciting lately. SO, I decided I would do "That Time I" posts, which will be about my times past. I generally try not to live in the past, but there are some things that are worth remembering.

Without further ado adieu ado (I looked it up to make sure I used the right one) - which I now see as an oxymoron because doing all that and typing this is definitely not without fuss - I bring you:
That Time I Left The Country for the First Time.

After Dillon's first year at the academy, he was itching for travel. Understandably so, they were barely allowed to leave base all year. He decided he wanted to travel outside our wonderful USofA, and I am pretty sure I recommended Canada. It was outside of the country, but somewhere that wouldn't be so ridiculously expensive I would have to take out more student loans.

And yes, this was my first time out of the country. I have lived in Arizona my entire life and have still not been to Mexico. Shocking, I know. But I am so happy that I was able to first do this with Dillon. It was an amazing trip, and was extremely nice that it was just us together for an entire week.

I'll just show you the trip in pictures and a few comments here and there. I hope you enjoy!

All these pictures are taken on my iPhone/not-so-nice camera. I apologize if the quality isn't amazing.

Our first adventure was riding a tandem bike around Stanley Park along the sea wall. I was honestly really nervous - I don't ride bikes often and neither me nor Dillon had rode tandem before. It ended up being so much fun, especially because I really didn't have to do anything, and it was SO beautiful.

On said bike trip, we stopped at the Tea House for lunch, spent a couple hours at the Vancouver Aquarium where I stood staring at this ginormous turtle for a good ten minutes, and saw these awesome totem poles.

And then there was Chinatown. We had a lot of fun in the first shop we went into (I'm hoping the guy didn't hate us). Then we went to Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Park and Garden. Both equally pretty, and so incredibly peaceful.

Our last full day was spent whale watching! It was so cool (literally and figuratively), and I know you all agree we look fiiiine in those yellow suits. The top right is a picture of the humpback whale we saw - it was literally a foot from our boat at one point, but of course I didn't have my camera ready at the time (fail). The bottom right is one of the orca we saw. We ended up seeing a mama and her two babies. Also, did you know these "killer whales" aren't even whales? They're freakin' dolphins.

Mind. Blown.

And to ensure that this post isn't too extremely long, here are just some random pictures from our trip:

If you don't think that Google Canada is awesome you're wrong.

Food. Hands down my favorite thing, and it was so awesome to try all these places that were unique to Canada. Personally, I love french fries, so as long as I can get them I'm happy.

Up on Grouse Mountain just chillin' with some awesome bears. Super weird - I had a dream the other night that bears were taking over the world like a bear apocalypse. Anyways, apparently I like to take pictures with my eyes closed, too.

Date night. Vancouver's equivalent to Starbucks (which was equally if not more delicious). And come on, this Safeway is so awesome. I think we were more fascinated with the small things.

Day trip to Granville Island. We had to take the public bus system, and we didn't get lost or take a wrong bus! Super huge accomplishment. And a custom made broom store, hello Wizarding World.

Cool scenery (but bad quality photo). Digital Orca (it's massive, if you can't tell). And the Olympic Torch!

And here we are being good tourists, taking pictures with scenery in the background.

Definitely one of the best vacations ever. This week with my man was much needed, and he has instilled a passion for travel in my soul (stay tuned for more That Time I: Travel Editions). 

What was your favorite vacation? Have you been out of the country, or did it take you 20 years or more before doing it?

Linking up with Helene