Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge

I had quite the day today. I met an ex-coworker of mine in North Vancouver for lunch. It was nice to see her and catch up.

After lunch, because I was out there anyways, I decided to go for a walk in Lynn Canyon. They have a suspension bridge that I felt like trying.
I had to take transit there. I'm okay taking transit most places around my home. However, in a new city, I was a bit nervous. The bus driver seemed nice, however, I got off 1 km further away than I needed to.
So, I arrived. I headed directly to the suspension bridge. Just as I had sauntered a few steps onto the bridge, I briefly looked down. Not a good idea to do when someone is behind you. The lady behind me asked if it was alright if she went ahead of me. I laughed at her and said gratefully "sure". She then said that the trek was easy and there was nothing to it. Easy for her to say! After I got off the bridge, mildly panicking, I reasoned with myself. I did not come all this way, on one of my precious days off, to chicken out now!
So I went back onto the bridge and crossed it. I did not stop in the middle on my way across. I promised myself that all I had to do was cross over and then cross right back over. Well, I made it across the first time and even stopped on the other side before coming back over. On the way back over, I stopped in the middle of the bridge and took a picture! I amazed even myself for handling this!

After I got back across, I went to look for the ecology centre. It's a small building with quite a bit of information in it including animal tracks, and human history. It was worth stopping in.

I have to say after this challenge, I felt like I could do anything. It's rather hard to describe. However, that feeling lasted all the way until the bus came to take me home. I sat next to a hardened criminal on his way to his probation officer that thought I was a good conversationalist!

I have attached some photos of my journey today below.
Thanks for reading
Lynn

this is the view before I came back over        

this is the view from the middle of the bridge

 Some info about the bridge from one of the signs

Sign at the entrance to the bridge           

Birthday Dinner

Today is my birthday. I had an excellent day off. This evening my friends took me out for dinner to a local steakhouse for dinner. I haven't been there since my 16th birthday and I'm not going to say how old I am turning today. However, it's been a long time!

They ordered starters: shrimp in a garlic butter sauce, and spinach artichoke dip. It was so good, but filling. My dinner was prime rib, garlic mashed potatoes and fresh veggies. I have never had prime rib as good as this was. It could be just me, but I'm not that big of a meat eater but this was by far the best piece of meat I have ever had! I couldn't eat all of it! I got to take some home for leftovers!

Then they gave me dessert: a piece of mocha ice cream, pie with almonds and chocolate sauce. Okay, so I totally overindulged, but what a wonderful evening.

For whatever reason my husband flat out refuses to attend this restaurant. I will have to pass the message along that he's missing out on a wonderful thing!

Thanks for reading

Lynn

Father's Day at the Museum

Today I celebrated Father's Day with my dad. I got to pick the activity we did as it's also my birthday coming up.

I took my father to the Vancouver Museum and for a walk down Vanier Park. According to my father, I had been there before. However, I couldn't remember ever going.

What a great day that was! I learned so much about the history of Vancouver and the culture during the 50's. Going with my father was also great as he could remember certain things happening around the city during the "hippie movement".

What a great way to celebrate today. I have attached some photos into this blog. Thank-you for reading.

Live Musical

As part of my birthday present this year, my husband and I went and saw Hairspray. We don't often get the opportunity or even the time to do special things together. It was a nice treat.

The play was wonderful. It was hard for me not to be pulled in to the story line. I think I even chair danced to some of the music!

Despite it not being my husband's "cup of tea" he still humoured me and went along with it. I am very thankful for that.


Thanks for reading

Lynn

Vancouver sun Kobo Style

I'll be honest, I haven't had much time for a lot this past little while. I purchased my kobo a while ago, but haven't read anything on it recently.

So I decided to change that. I signed up for the free trial of the Vancouver Sun today. I'll give it a whirl.
I take the bus so frequently that I could use something to read during my commute.

I'll keep this blog open to let you know how it is working out.

thanks for reading

Lynn

Medical Tests

This week is going to be one of the most challenging I will have had to deal with in terms of my health. I'll keep this post open until the week is over.

Today was the bone scan. They inject you with radioactive material so that it shows up on your bones. It takes about two hours for the material to show up. When you get into the exam, you have to lie perfectly still as they scan your entire body. Although you are only immobile for 15 minutes it feels like forever. They tape your feet together and your arms are strapped to the rest of your body.

The worst part is the injection. You are expected to drink lots of water for the remainder of the day to flush out as much of the radioactivity as possible. Also, they give you a card in case you travel to a foreign country or the airport indicating you are radioactive in case you set off sensors. That's just great.

I don't feel that great after the exam. My stomach is upset and my joints hurt. I'm hoping this will go away tomorrow as there's another exam.

June 7th: Well, I had another exam this morning. It didn't go very well. It was an ultrasound on my abdomen. I've been for several of these before. Every time I go for one of these, I don't feel that great afterwards. My insides feel as though they have been scrambled. My ribs also feel a bit bruised. So, I am taking the rest of the day to rest up. I'm hoping something will be better tomorrow.
Thanks for reading

June 10th: What a week! The last exam was today. It was a contrast ct scan over my abdomen. I had to drink radioactive particles last night and then had an iv just prior to the exam. The drink is quite bitter. The iv didn't go in very well today. The nurse was fishing for a vein which hurts more. However, the technician in the ct scan was very helpful. She helped quide my arm into place when the contrast was running through. I won't know these results until the oncologists appointment next week.

Aside from these, I have been unable to digest any food for over a day and have been unable to attend work. I managed to keep some food down today.
I have never been through so many evasive exams in one week. I have never been as stressed as I am now, which I am hoping is the reason I haven't been able to digest any food. Oh well. I now know the meaning of the phrase: what doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

Thanks for reading.
Lynn

Lynn

Chilliwack Lake

My father in law's birthday was this past weekend. My husband's family decided to go to Chilliwack Lake for the weekend and celebrate.

I've never been to Chilliwack Lake before. I didn't even know there was a lake there. Although I have passed by the campground many times before. I've just never had a reason to stop in.

It's quite a pretty lake. Although there are signs warning it is rather cold. Apparently the water was high for this time of year.

Although I enjoyed my time there, I don't think I would ever camp there. The lake is rather far from the campground and there's no real trails around the campsite. I guess I've been rather spoiled when I've been camping. The lakes were always closer by as well as some hiking trails nearby. However my father in law enjoyed himself as well as everyone else, so I guess that's all that matters.

Thanks for reading
Lynn