*fails at thinking of witty title*

I'm in Whistler now. Just drove up today from Vancouver.

Victoria, I realized after two days, is an anti-hick town, for lack of a better phrase. It's into organic, environmentally friendly, small businesses, etc. This is coming from me, born and raised in a city where a large portion of the people are employed by an oil refinery, organic is unheard of, chain stores are the norm, and they don't give a crap about the environment. Victoria was a nice change from home.

My bro and I couldn't resist. Somewhere in Victoria.

I got the slight impression of it being a bit stuffy, though. It might be because of spending time with Dorothy and her husband, who are rather well off. Eating supper at their house was slightly akin to a Friday night supper at the Gilmore household (Gilmore Girls FTW?). The main difference was a less hostile environment and the absence of house help. But seriously, they were practically an Emily and Richard. I felt like I had been there before, but I guess it was only the large portion of Gilmore Girls I have consumed lately.

Last morning in Victoria, we visited the Butchart Gardens. Insert long string of pictures: 

This hedge makes other hedges feel inadequate.

Never have I found more loveable grass.

In Vancouver, I felt like I had been dropped somewhere in Asia. I was definitely a minority there. On Saturday night we visited one of my parents' friends from RVA. We had supper at an Indian restaurant, which was empty because it's still Ramadan. It was awesome, cheap Indian food, something that I can't find at home :(

On Sunday morning we visited Granville Island. I got a few things and a tasty mini cheesecake. We collapsed for the afternoon and then ate Chinese food. We picked the restaurant by walking down the road and seeing which was the fullest.

Today we hung around the mall, drove from Vancouver to Whistler, consumed coffee and wandered around aimlessly in the rain. Also, my brother knows many songs from "The Sound of Music." I'm not sure if he's ever actually seen the musical.
Love,
-J-