We Take Ourselves With Us

On our last day in Vancouver, we slept in: our flight home wouldn't leave until 11:30pm, so we were in no rush.  As we searched for a lunch destination, the Wallflower Modern Diner offered great GF/DF options and was in a hipster neighborhood we had yet to visit.  So, we were in. The diner was great; the crowd uber-cool; and it served mac and cheese with rice pasta and vegan cheese and GF apple pie w coconut milk ice cream.  Yes! Harper noticed a cool boutique across the street, and Penn--who's changing his style up from "licensed t-shirts" (his words)--wanted to check it out, too.  They picked up some surprisingly well-priced dresses, shirts, a bomber jacket, and a new charcoal Herschel backpack to carry it all along with us to our day's destination: the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park . The park grew out of the bridge itself, which has been around for over 100 years in some form.  In the early 80s, the park was purchased and...

On Day 4, we set off for the South Island, leaving the assorted Davis, Davies, Gransden and Pollard family members behind.  We said goodbye to them and to our much loved view ... ... and arrived at the sunny, windy Rotorua airport for the first of three (!) flights we would have that day as we made our way to Dunedin. It was weird to realize that NZ airports in smaller cities have no security checkpoints.  We just walked up to the gate area, which was about half a Robert Harris restaurant, with our bags and plopped down over delicious flat whites, smoothies, and yummy breakfast.  Like we had gone back to a more innocent time when travel was a leisurely affair with few worries in mind. One section of the small airport was dedicated to a nicely arty memorial to NZ aviator Jean Batten, of whom none of us had ever heard anything before.  Glamorous and fearless, Jean led a life filled with danger, accomplishment, and a deep, abiding attachment to her mo...