Grouse Mountain

Grouse Mountain is a great example of out of the box business thinking to take a liability and turn it into a goldmine.

One of the best parts of Vancouver is that they have a mountain about 30 minutes from downtown. In the winter, everyone can make the short drive to go skiing whenever they feel like it. And for years, the best time to go to Grouse Mountain was the winter. But the people who won/run the mountain have put together a great plan to get people to come to the mountain in other seasons as well. In the past, tourists would take the tram to the top just for the views. And since there was nothing to do at the top they would just come back down. But now there is plenty to do and they keep adding more. By adding other attractions, they have been able to raise the rates to visit. They also have become a legit tourist attraction complete with activities. This causes people to spend the whole day there, eating, drinking, and buying souvenirs.

They have added a nature preserve for a couple of brown bears found in the wild, a small movie theater showing movies about Vancouver, a fascinating Birds of Prey show, a live lumberjack show, and they keep the lift chairs running so people can go even further up the mountain for even better views of the city down below.

Here's a picture of a tip jar we saw on the mountain. I thought the label was kinda ingenious. It makes people more inclined to "tip".

Vancouver

Vancouver in a word was AWESOME! It rivals San Francisco in beauty, has the big city feel, yet has plenty of small surrounding towns to make it feel cozy as well.

And the growth of Vancouver is awesome as well. Condo complexes are going up left and right in downtown and the Stanley Park area. Most sell out before construction even begins. Hundreds of people have gotten rich buying condos before construction and then selling them once the building is finished.

From what I was told, Vancouver is as hot now as Toronto was a few years ago. And Calgary is starting its own boom. Thanks to high oil prices, the citizens of Calgary do not have to pay taxes. They actually get money from the government. In addition, the area I so hot they cannot find enough people to fill all the vacant jobs. Working at McDonalds will get you $18 Canadian dollars an hour!

If you are looking to invest in real estate, take a look at Calgary and Vancouver. They both will continue to grow with no slowing down until well after the Olympics come to Vancouver.

Seattle

After Portland we made our way to Seattle where we stayed a few days to see all the sites. I gotta say, Seattle did not blow me away as much as I had expected. Of course we visited the Space Needle, the wharf, and all the other touristy places. Here we did the hop on-hop off bus tour which took up all around the city. One full day was all it took to see all the sights.

After Seattle we decided to get in some international driving. We headed still further north until we crossed the border and headed in Vancouver. It was here that our GPS navigation system which had been so helpful throughout the whole trip let us down. Since we only had the US road computer chip as soon as we got into Canada the thing went black. Luckily we had some friends and relatives who were able to give us directions.

Portland Part II

After our three months plus in Palo Alto were up, it was time to drive on over to New York where our next assignment was waiting. But instead of going straight there we decided to take the scenic route. A straight line might have been the most gas efficient way to get there but it definitely would not have been the most fun.

From Palo Alto we headed north to Portland. Stayed a couple days there again and revisited the rose garden. The month before was the famous Portland Rose Festival and the roses were still blooming. Thank goodness, this time the city had cleaned up all the dog poop. I guess they wanted to look good for all the thousands of people who visit Portland for the festival.

In my earlier post about our first visit to the Rose Garden there is a picture of me sitting on a bench underneath a huge tree full of flowers. Here is a picture of me sitting under the same tree only 2 months later. Not a single flower!