Friday, December 20, 2024

The End of an Era(s Tour) and I Got To See it

Taylor Swift has been a significant character in the portion of my life that includes a daughter.  It seems that throughout Chrissy's teen years, there has been a Taylor Swift song that is at least somewhat relevant.  "The Best Day" is pretty much a description of our relationship, and it makes us both cry, especially on the day we dropped her off at college, but still to this day.  It's no surprise that both Chrissy and I are Swifties.  She's a die-hard Swifty.  She's also loved going to concerts since before she was able to drive.  I used to take her to small venue outlets when she was growing up.  I took her and her best friends (my honorary daughters) to music festivals regularly.  She still goes to concerts regularly.  So, it's no surprise that when Taylor Swift announced her new concert dates in Vancouver, Canada (driving distance for us), she wanted to go.  It wasn's surprising even though she saw the Eras Tour when it was in Seattle.  For that one, she actually had floor seats, just off the stage.  But that was before The Tortured Poets Department album came out.

So, a little over a year ago, Chrissy got registered for presale of the tickets, got her code, and was given the time and date she could log in to try to purchase tickets.  It fell right smack-dab in the middle of one of her sessions.  So, what did she do?  "Mom!  Get me two tickets, straight on to the stage, not floor level!"  Having not purchased concert tickets for decades and hearing horror stories about how the process has changed, I was really nervous!  I had her credit card information, her Ticketmaster information, and her client was good with her watching her text messages during session.  I signed in and watched the countdown clock until it finally let me in.  I found seats, put them in the basket, and before I could get the credit card info entered, they were swiped out of my cart.  So, I found two more seats, put in the credit card information, and the card said they needed a code to continue the transaction.  Chrissy sent me the code that was texted to her, but the seats were gone.  So, I found two more seats, got the card information in, and the purchase went through.  I think it took all of five minutes, but the stress felt like hours!  And Chrissy was happy with the seats I got.

The plan was for one of my honorary daughters to come up and go to the concert with her, and while they were in Vancouver, her daughter and boyfriend were going to stay in Washington with me.  I was so looking forward to taking that child to the zoo and wildlife park and maybe even to play in the snow on one of the mountains!  She is sooo much fun!  Unfortunately, hurricane season in Florida had something to say about that, and they weren't able to come.  In my disappointment in not being able to see the girls, the wound was soothed a bit when Chrissy asked me if I wanted to go instead.  This would be my second Taylor Swift concert.  Chrissy took me to the Reputation Tour in Seattle just a little after my shoulder surgery.  This time, I was able to use both arms and wasn't nearly so fragile!

So, when the time came, we packed up all the friendship bracelets Chrissy had made and our matching sweatshirts, and off we went, up I-5 to the Peace Arch US/Canada border.  We left plenty early, knowing that rooms in Vancouver were so tight that people were actually staying in Washington (some as far as Seattle, but most in Bellingham) because they couldn't get rooms any closer to the venue.  We seemed to time it right, and there wasn't much of a wait to cross the border.


Canadian border guards got a helping hand from this Western Gull who appeared to be patrolling the line of vehicles,  checking our lane


and then the other lane before one driver bribed him with a muffin.

While I was getting ready to leave, I was listening to the news, and heard that they had put a friendship bracelet on the Capilano Suspension Bridge, se we decided we had to go see it!  When we got there, we learned that it was also "Canyon Lights", the annual winter lights festival at the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park.



For those who haven't been to the Pacific Northwest in winter, these lights were nice and bright.  It was just around noon.  In most places, you have to wait till night to be able to see winter lights.  Here, you can often see them all day long!  This is also why people who live in this area are routinely told to take Vitamin D supplements by their doctors (to make up for the lack of sunshine) and why seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a problem up here.

It wasn't just a friendship bracelent on the bridge, though.  The park had integrated an "everything Taylor" approach to Canyon Lights this weekend!


These little heart hands were on several barrels in this part of the park for trading bracelets for those who didn't want to talk to other people - and those who did.


The suspension bridge, itself, was sparkly all the way across.  The last time I was there, it was pretty packed, and with so many people on the bridge, it wasn't that hard to walk.  This time, early on a Friday afternoon, when most people were at work or school, it was a bit bouncy and wiggly.  I declined having hot chocolate until we made it back across!



Plaques with Taylor lyrics were scattered throughout.


Even without the Taylor Swift additions, Canyon Lights is beautiful and worth the admission to the park.  The Taylor additions made it even better.




Nods to her song titles in many places throughout the park



And the Cliffwalk had been renamed to the Swiftwalk!


From the Swiftwalk, we could look over at the suspension bridge to see the friendship bracelet.



And at the end of the Swiftwalk was a picture frame.  After trading some bracelets with several people, we had our picture made in the frame.


We stopped at Chrissy's favorite pho place and drove around a little bit looking for a place to park near our hotel.  After getting checked in to our little, waaaay overpriced room, we thought about going back out.  But, we decided to stay in.  I had some salad that I had brought with us because it would go bad over the weekend if it didn't get eaten, and Chrissy streamed Friday's concert.  The surprise song was a night early.  She did a medley that included "The Best Day", and we both cried, like we do just about every time we hear it. 

The city of Vancouver went all out for these last three of Taylor's Eras Tour concerts.  There was a map of a lot of special signs they put up for the Swifties who were descending on the city.  Chrissy had looked at them all and decided she wanted to get pictures at the Swiftcouver sign, so after breakfast, we headed down to the waterfront.  I loved these polar bears of colored lights.


And this mobile with wheels that spins around, not just the wheels spinning.


We stood in line for the Switcouver sign.  It was so large that we are only tiny dots in front of the "T".  We traded some friendship bracelets while waiting.


Instead of taking the car out of the parking garage and searching for the other signs, we decided to take in the Christmas market that was just upstairs.




We got some schnitzel and spaetzel for lunch which we ate on these giant chairs.  It was one of the better Christmas markets I've been to since leaving Europe.  It was nice, but it didn't really compare to the pictures my friend in France was posting the same weekend!


After lunch, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the concert.  Chrissy had gotten us matching sweatshirts.  Hers said, "Here's to my mama," and mine said, "Had to listen to all this drama."  It's a nod to the song, "This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things" from the Reputation Era.  As with many Taylor Swift lyrics, the words are no less true just because they were put in a song!  We walked down to the venue (BC Place) with a mother/daughter pair from Saskatchewan.  When we got in, Chrissy got me settled in our seats, got us a picture, and headed for the merch line.  Some people behind us took this pic with Chrissy's phone.  My Lumix wasn't allowed in the venue, so everything was phone cameras.


I traded a few friendship bracelets and had a good time talking with people around me.  One group brought hospital bracelets from The Tortured Poets Department with the tagline, "The Asylum Where They Raised Me", which is also a line in the song, "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me".  My bracelet was upside down when I took the picture, so I just turned the pic upside down for this.


During the break between Gracie Abrams and Taylor Swift, I decided I should probably run to the bathroom.  Oh Geez!  What a line!  I ran into Chrissy on her way back from the merch line, where she was picking up pizza for us.  The line to the bathroom was so long, I had to text her to remind me what door to go back into the stadium for because I lost count!  I made it back in, just as Taylor was getting started.  It took me three songs to eat my slice of cheese pizza, and I really don't even remember tasting it!  Taylor was just that good!  Or maybe the pizza was that bland?  Who cares.  I was nourished.

I have to admit, it was nice having a phone with a decent camera!  Thanks, Bruce, for talking me into updating our phones!


In Gelsenkirchen, Germany, a group of Swifties created orange orbs, which were blown up balloons backlit by their phone flashlights.  The trend continued all the way through to the end of the tour, showing up for the song "Willow" from Gelsenkirchen to Vancouver.



While I mostly just enjoyed the show, dancing and sitting and shouting and singing, I did do some recording.  There were signs posted around the venue saying that by being there you consented to your image being used by her and her crew, and there were drones, crane cameras, and jibs that you could see that apparently weren't normally at the concerts.  Many said it was reminiscent of the venue where she shot the Eras Tour Movie last year.  I don't know what it was, but I enjoyed watching the cameramen following her around and trying to stay out of her way but close enough to get the shots!  You can also see the 360 jib aerial camera in both of these clips!



For the acoustic/surprise song set, she brought Gracie Abrams back out and did a medley with her.  It was a wonderful show.  I spent most of my time enjoying it, but was glad to have a decent camera in my phone so I could capture pieces to remember it by!

Since our hotel wasn't far from the venue, we walked back, still trading bracelets while walking out of the venue grounds.  It was only sprinkling, and the train had a line that was super long.  We passed by a couple of girls who were trying to get an uber while still walking.  When the one with the app noticed an Uber close by, they turned and ran back to where she had initially ordered it.  I hope they got it!  But, there wasn't much reason for us to try to get one.  By the time a driver got there, we could have been back to the hotel.  

After sleeping in just a touch, we had breakfast at the hotel, and while I checked us out, Chrissy went to get the car and pull it around.  We loaded up and headed out, stopping at duty free before reaching the border.  We got a jerk border guard, but it wasn't a big deal.  He asked if we had anything to declare.  I knew that for most things, you can have up to $500 before needing to declare it, so I just said no.  His come back was, "You didn't buy anything all weekend?"  Instead of schooling him that we knew about the $500 rule and the difference between purchasing something and bringing it across the border (We bought lots of food that we didn't bring back with us!), we just said a couple of sweatshirts.  We didn't want to get pulled into secondary inspection.  We just didn't feel like going through that nonsense.  It was a fantastic weekend and didn't need to end on a low note.

The drive home was uneventful, being just like the PNW, drive a few minutes needing headlights, alternating with a few brief moments of sun glare, going back to needing headlights.  I dropped Chrissy off at her house, then came on home and crashed.




Saturday, December 14, 2024

My Last Excursion Was For the Birds

Today was a super early day!  The schedule was to meet the group at the pier at 5:50 am.  Yeah, that's right.  Before 6 am on vacation!  Fabian met me on the pier with my wetsuit and a walking stick because the terrain on Espanola is apparently very uneven. 

Twelve of us boarded the boat - 5 from France (who spoke English and Spanish), 2 from Argentina (who spoke English and Spanish), 2 from Brazil (who spoke English and Spanish), 1 from Germany (who spoke English and Spanish), 1 from the US (who spoke English and Spanish – that was me), and 1 from China (who did not speak Spanish, only English).  So, our tour was in English mostly, but there was a lot of conversing in Spanish, French, and Portugese going on, too.

Once that was settled, we got underway and had breakfast – boiled eggs, rolled ham and cheese slices, bread, and fruit (watermelon and pinapple).  I had an egg, ham, cheese, fruit, and hot tea.  Shortly after breakfast, our first sea sickness happened, so I ran out of the cabin into the fresh air so that I didn't become the second casualty.  I went upstairs and rode in the breeze for a significant period of time, not going back downstairs until I got thirsty.  I left my water downstairs when I ran out.  Everything was back to normal, and the German girl was napping behind the ladder, out of the way, but in the air.  I had some more watermelon and hung out watching the water go by.  About 3 hours later, we were in Gardner Bay, where we took a snorkel.  There were a couple of marble rays, several sea stars (a couple of chocolate chips), lots of tropical fish and some turtles.  My journals says I saw a black-tipped reef shark today, too, but I can't find any picture, and I don't remember it.  But, if it was in my journal, I'm sure it happened!

Chocolate chip sea star


Green sea turtle


King angelfish and yellow-tailed surgeonfish


Terminal male Mexican (streamer) hogfish



Many rainbow wrasse by the rocks.  I'm pretty sure I found a cleaner station, but I was too busy watching to see if it was that I didn't even think of taking pix.  Also, the reefs down here are mostly rocks with algae.  There are a few spots of coral, but it's mostly just algae, so don't expect coral reefs.


Marble ray


Chocolate chip sea star with some pieces of coral around it


Hieroglyphic hawkfish


 The camera condom had a tiny leak, so I hadn't put it on right, but it wasn't bad.  I didn't even notice it until I got on the boat and was taking of the condom.  It actually could have even been just that I didn't dry the outside well enough before breaking the seals and starting manipulating the camera inside.  Either way, the camera was fine with only a couple of drops (less than if I had gotten caught out in the rain), but I want to be more careful from now on.

After snorkeling, we came back on the boat and had lunch.  My protein was chicken and some had fish.  There was also spaghetti noodles, white rice, beans, broccoli, carrots and green beans, and a salad with cucumbers, onions, tomatos, and green olives.  I didn't take any green olives!  It was really quite good.  After lunch, we navigated to Punta Suarez, where we went for a hike.  This hike was brutal!  The hiking stick Alethea sent me was an absolute necessity on all the rocks and stuff.  I could have used two!  I usually take pix of the terrain, but it just wasn't happening this time.  I even skipped some of the things I would have normally gotten pictures of because I had to breathe.  

We saw the iguanas, who are a different color because of the color of the algae they eat.  The sea lions accidentally kill some of them because they like to pull them by their tails when they're trying to get out of the water.  It's a game for them.  We also saw Galapagos mockingbirds, lava lizards, Nazca boobies, albatros, Galapagos hawks, the “blow hole”, and blue-footed boobies, a Galapagos dove.  I think that's it.  

I love the way the babies roll around in the sand and are just covered!  Haven't decided whether it's accidental or on purpose!


Galapagos lava lizard


Nazca boobies.  Check out their feet!  Instead of blue, these guys have green feet.  It's the same concept - the color of their feet is made by the food they eat.  Blue-footed boobies eat sardines.  Nazca boobies eat squid, which makes their feet green.


Juvenile waved albatros.  Our guide said the babies would be fledged and gone by the end of next month.  They would probably be back in about 5 years, when they're considered reproductive age.


The iguanas on this part of the islands have a lot of red on them, unlike most of the others.  Like the boobies, they get color from the food they eat.  The algae around this island is mostly red, so the iguanas (at least the ones who survive the games sea lions play) tend to have a lot of red.  Periodically, the algae will change, causing most of the iguana to have a form of colic since they aren't used to digesting the new algae.  Many will die off, but the ones that can adapt to the new food availability will survive and start the population growing again.



Another lava lizard.  They can change colors based on their surroundings and moods.  Not like chameleons, but still a bit.


Galapagos mockingbird.  These guys reminded me a chihuahuas.  They were nowhere to be seen before we got there.  They came out from behind the vegetation on a different path and started digging around in the sand.  Then this guy started yelling at us!  After a little bit, they went back to digging in the sand.


These guys are adorable.  Look at the size of those feet!


Nazca boobie in flight


Crowned night heron


Galapagos dove


Adult waved albatross.  They get their name from the waved pattern of the feathers at the bottom of their necks.  They used to mate for life, and some still do, but most now practice serial monogamy because the numbers are declining so significantly.


We stopped by this blowhole and took a rest.  There were lots of things to take pictures of, but I really needed the break.  He let me rest as long as he could, but they're only allowed to have their groups on the island for a limited amount of time.


This Galapagos hawk came flying by while we were resting.  I got this shot while still seated.  He didn't come back around, so I didn't have the chance to get him face first.  I like the spread of his tail feathers, though.

When we got back on the boat, I checked my watch to see how my body handled that hike.  My heart rate went up into the 180s and I had difficulty breathing.  My face was bright read and one of the girls from France asked if I needed some more sunscreen because I had burned to a crisp – can't I feel that?  I had to tell her that it wasn't sunburn, probably my blood pressure.  She said, “Oh, that's good” before she caught herself and said that maybe it wasn't.  After some more water and sits, I finally got it back together and had some more watermelon.  After recovery, I was able to enjoy the trip back, but there were some (including crew) who were clearly a bit concerned for me.  They made sure I had water and watermelon.  

The crew offered cocktails, with or without alcohol.  I declined because after all of that, I really didn't want all of that sugar to hit my blood stream.

It was a great day, in spite of my struggles, and I'm hating to see this trip end.  Alethea and Fabian met me at the pier and took my wetsuit to dry it overnight so I don't have to pay weight for water in the wetsuit.  They have clients going kayaking at 7 tomorrow morning, so she'll bring it by after she gets them off.

It's good that this excursion was on the last day because I really didn't have any energy to do anything the next day.  I had considered walking down to the malecon for a little while after breakfast, but it just wasn't going to happen.  After checking out, I just hung out in the garden, reading on my phone.  Alethea came by with my wetsuit and we talked for a bit until she had to go take care of some more clients.  I really enjoyed not just the tour she put together, but meeting her and Fabian was awesome!

I made it to the airport with plenty of time and actually ran into the German girl and her Argentinian parents that were on the last two excursions with me.  We talked a bit before our flights.  I got to Guyaquil just in time for the rolling blackouts, so there was no hot shower for me that night and my flight out to the States was way too early to try to get a shower before leaving, especially since I need a pony tail for traveling and it's hard to put my hair up when it's wet.

I met up with a friend in Miami, and she kept me company during my layover.  We had a very good time, and she hung out with me until time for me to go back through security and catch my flight on out to Seattle, where Chrissy picked me up and brought me home!  

That's it for this trip!  I'll write more with the next one!