We finally got to our hotel, the Best Western Sand...

We finally got to our hotel, the Best Western Sands, seen here in the distance
under the tree, and got checked in. Then went for a walk in nearby Stanley Park.

SMALL VERSION OF ABOVE
Click left side of thumbnail for small photo, right side for large.

Walking through the park we came upon a beautiful Rododendron garden. We'd never seen such a wide variety of colors. These flowers and palm trees were found near the entrance to Stanley Park near Denman Avenue. A full sized tree is growing on the rooftop patio of an apartment building. We took a ride on Vancouver's Sky Train.

We made a stop to go to VIA Rail to check on tickets and reservations. Inside view of the Sky Train Bridge view from the Sky Train Sky Train bridge crossing the Fraser River from New Westminster to Surrey. This is the first we see of our VIA Rail train, the last car, called the Park Car.

The section on the left is the front half of our train which will connect to the section on the right. We meet the group we'll be traveling with on the train. Back l to r: Keith, Iain, Norman, Larry, Ed, - Tom, Bill and Gaylord. Front: Eric, Tom, Andre and John. (Yes, we have two Larrys and two Toms.) May 22, 5:32 pm, The Canadian, VIA Rail train number 2 - for Toronto, pulls out of the station in Vancouver. Iain joins us in the Park Car. This is our room for the trip-Room A, Car 222.