It seemed like the splendor of Alaska would be hard to beat, but our next stop on tour, although very different from Anchorage, was just as good. We traveled to Vancouver, British Columbia on Sunday night which meant that we had Monday off to enjoy the city. This was the only stop in Canada for us this tour, so we were determined to make the most of it. Vancouver is unique in that it had some of the best shopping we've seen, with everything from trendy boutiques to high end designer shops. Almost everyone picked up one or two new items over the course of the week. On the other hand, you also could have a fabulous time in Vancouver without even setting foot in the stores. This is due in large part to the city's proximity to the Pacific Ocean.

It was just a short trip down from our hotel to the seaside walkway which wound around the shoreline for miles. Several people even rented bikes for the entire week and biked into the theater each night instead of taking the bus.

An unusual thing during our stay in Vancouver was the weather. Several times during the week the city became blanketed by very low lying fog. When you were down on the street level it felt like you were walking among the clouds and when you looked down from the upper levels of the hotel the city's taller buildings seemed to be peeking their tops out of the fog. It was a bit eerie but really interesting to see at the same time.

When we arrived in at the theater on Tuesday we were delighted to discover that there would be a dog there for the week. Rudy, a miniature schnauzer, belonged to one of the local theater managers and she came to work everyday to hang out backstage. Unfortunately the office where she stayed was directly in the pathway from the stage to the dressing rooms which meant that it was almost always blocked by people gathered around petting and playing with the dog. A couple of times we had to be told to quiet down by stage management because our voices got really loud when Rudy started doing tricks for us. Apparently our cheers for her could be heard on stage. Oops!

From the busy week in Vancouver we moved onto the quieter town of Yakima, Washington. This week was split for us so we only stayed in Yakima for three days before moving on again. Our hotel backed onto to a beautiful, winding river which had a paved path running along side it. The weather was sunny and warm during our brief time there so a lot of people spent the day outside walking or running on the path or sitting down by the river reading or chatting. It was a laid back few days which allowed us to recharge from the busy pace of the start of the tour.