First of all before I forget, I fixed the link to the video of Owen solving the Rubik’s Cube. In case you don’t want to go back to yesterday’s post to find the link, I have added it here. Owen’s Rubik Solve Video.
Last night after resting up at our hotel for a bit, Patrice and I took Owen to the Vancouver Lookout (555 W Hastings St, Vancouver, BC V6B 4N6, Canada). Here you get a 360 degree view of the city (some parts are better than others as you would expect). You ascend to the top (553 feet above street level) via a glass elevator so you can appreciate the view immediately. It was a fun activity for us and we received vouchers as part of the Rocky Mountaineer tour so it was “free”.
This morning was a travel day but instead of heading home to LA we had to fly to San Jose so we could bring Owen back to his family. We plan to hang out here a few days and then return home. I am not sure when our next trip will be but I am sure it won’t be long.
It has been become a bit of a tradition to end each trip with a series of photos of things on the trip that have sparked my interest but possibly didn’t deserve a lot of time for me to describe. So here they are:
Obviously a place that does not want me as a customer.
Bears are very smart and will come into town looking for food. Check out this picture showing the design of a trash can meant to keep the bears out.
Very ingenious plan to keep bears out. I think it might keep some humans out too.Did someone lose a contract, so they want to put the fear of God into the tourists?Carlos O’Bryan’s in Kamloops, On their web site it is also listed as Kelly O’Bryan’s. It appears they are trying to appeal to Irish people who have relocated to Canada after living in South America. Great mocha and breakfast at “49th Parallel” at Robby’s recommendation. https://49thcoffee.com/At Nightingale we had this lunch guest join us.
I saw this sign at the Park Distillery where we had dinner one night.
I wonder if they would give you 20% off if you could spell receipt?
I apologize for grammar and spelling errors tonight, my editor is asleep and I am ready to post. But first, one last picture. Evidence of the highlight of the trip.
Heck with the sights of beauty in the Rockies, Robert solved the Cube !
When I left you yesterday we had just finished our two day food gorge on the Rocky Mountaineer, checked into our hotel and headed out for dinner. We left the choice of a restaurant to Lindsay because as I previously stated, this is her area of expertise. She found us “Market by Jean-Georges” (1115 Alberni St, Vancouver, BC V6E 0A8). Apparently Jean-Georges Vongerichten is a famous chef with a restaurant (or 2 or 3) with Michelin Star ratings. I was informed that Michelin star is a designation of a high-end restaurant and not a high-end automobile tire.
In addition to having a “Lindsay Star” rating the place was appealing because it was located close to the hotel. Upon arrival to the address the only inkling that we were close to the restaurant was a sign on the street. Further inspection of the sign directed us to the restaurant tucked away between two buildings and on the second floor. I assume the owners only want smart clientele, unlike me who was ready to give up when I had trouble finding the place.
The staff was friendly and the ambience very good. They sat us at a table for 5 that provided a beautiful view of the neighborhood. Lindsay ordered Beef Cheeks (sounds gross but she said it was great), Patrice had Steelhead Trout, Robby and I opted for the lamb, and Owen once again wanted a cheeseburger.
Owen digging into his cheeseburger.The lamb that Robby and I ordered was magnificent.
We all enjoyed our meals. I was very impressed how Owen powered down his burger (I guess practicing solving the Rubik’s Cube in under 30 seconds takes protein power). We tasted each other’s dishes and Owen surprised me by asking, “Can I have a little lamb, Grandpa?” Of course I obliged. A few minutes later he asked for another taste and then a third. After my lamb was gone, Owen turned to Robby and asked, “Can I have a little lamb, Robby?” Yes this is a growing boy.
In case you wondered what Beef Cheeks look like here is a photo of Lindsay’s dinner.
Today we decided to let Owen sleep in. He has been a real champ not complaining at all about the early starts dictated by our tour. Speaking of Owen, he has been amazing this trip. In addition to being a very fun and responsible traveler he spent some time entertaining and impressing the other passengers with his ability to solve the Rubik’s Cube in less than 30 seconds. If you want to see him do it, check this link. Click here to watch Owen solve the cube in seconds!
After we got the crew in gear we took a short cab ride to Science World (1455 Quebec St, Vancouver, BC V6A 3Z7). This is a very fun, hands on Science museum. They had an IMAX theater (we saw a film called “Superdogs”) and live presentations (we heard the ones about “Air”, “Sound”, and “Cold”). It was a fun time for all the children (all 5 of us). We then walked to a nearby skate park (Robby is a skateboard enthusiast). Then we walked to Nightingale (1017 W Hastings St, Vancouver, BC V6E 0C4) for a late lunch early dinner. Unfortunately our path took us through part of Vancouver’s less desirable neighborhood. This was our second time at this fine restaurant and once more had a wonderful meal.
We are now back at the hotel chilling out before our next activity. During this time Owen gave me some Rubik’s Cube pointers. Thanks to Owen and his dad (my son, David) today, August 3, 2019 at 6 pm it will forever be known as the date and time, I Robert Reiss, solved the Rubik’s Cube for the first time (Okay, I did need to use some notes). I hate to admit it but I have been spending a lot of time working on this project. In fact, I would venture to say that if I studied medicine as hard as I have been studying the cube the name Reiss would be spoken along with Dr. Salk, Dr. Sabin and Dr. DeBakey.
We will be leaving soon for some more fun in the city but more about that tomorrow.
Yesterday the Rocky Mountaineer cruised into the city of Kamloops, British Columbia. I don’t mean this to be disparaging to this lovely town but prior to this trip I had never heard of Kamloops. After listening to our guide it is no wonder that I had not heard of the place. It seems that the most notable fact about it is that Kamloops is the home of 100,000 people and 250,000 cows. It is also the town where Mark Recchi was born. Mr. Recchi escaped my brain until yesterday when I found out he was a former NHL hockey player and played on three Stanley Cup championship teams.
After settling into our hotel room and getting some much needed rest (after all we had been sitting on a train all day) we then went out to dinner (I might have mentioned the only activity we had on the train was eating). Initially we planned to eat at the hotel but Lindsay reviewed the place online and recommended that we try another restaurant not too far away. I have learned when it comes to picking restaurants I should trust Lindsay. We walked from our hotel to Terra (326 Victoria St, Kamloops, BC V2C 2A5) and were quickly seated upon our arrival. Lindsay is able to find great restaurants and this time she came through again. The food and service were excellent. Since I never can find good lamb in Los Angeles, I went for it here and I was not disappointed. Robby had pork belly and his plate was empty when we left so I will take that as a good sign. The others also seemed to enjoy their dishes.
My LambRobby’s Pork
The waitress at Terra’s told us an interesting tidbit. Since the Rocky Mountaineer has such a large presence in the town there is a hotline that townspeople can call to find out how many trains will be stopping that night (trains arrive from both directions), what time to expect their arrival, and how many people are on the train. As she put it, “If they say the train will arrive with 300 people at 5:15 pm we know to expect to see a bunch of people on the street seemingly walking aimlessly about at around 6 pm.”
Today we took the train from Kamloops to Vancouver. The trip was filled with lots of great sights and lots of great food. On these trips I keep meeting people who are retired and speaking of the virtues of that part of life. As many of you know I have been giving a lot of thought to calling it quits and must say it is looking like a better option everyday. Some of my patients have informed me that I can’t retire until they die so some arrangements might have to be made in that arena.
This leg of the trip took us through a much more arid area of the country before transitioning through more greenery. One sight that I found fascinating was where the Thompson River connects with the larger Fraser River. The Thompson River having much less silt looks blue compared to the brownish hue of the Fraser. In the picture below you can see the effect when they connect.
The far side of the river is water coming from the Fraser River and the near side water is from the Thompson River.
Another interesting sight was the other passengers every time a guide would tell us that something worth photographing was coming up on the right or left.
Cameras Out !
At about 6:00 pm we finally rolled into the Rocky Mountaineer railway station in Vancouver. We quickly boarded a bus to our hotel. Now we are chilling in our room getting ready to have …………………….. dinner !
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 