Mountains, Bridges, and Lots of Wildlife: A Exciting Vancouver Adventure

"I love just how beautiful Vancouver is. I mean, everywhere you look it's just mountains and ocean." ~ Emma Bell

We've been wanting to visit Banff and Glacier National Park for some time now and this summer was the perfect opportunity as we were looking for a closer-to-home international trip and one that was a little on the "simpler" side. I was certainly wrong about this trip being "simple," and it ended up actually being quite complex and expensive, but it was so worth it!!

We flew from Sacramento to Calgary, drove to Banff, drove to Glacier National Park/Whitefish, Montana, drove back to Calgary, flew to Vancouver, then flew back home. I'm going to break this blog into 3 parts: Banff, Whitefish/Glacier, and Vancouver. Each was magical in its own way and deserves some special attention.

Day 1 now in Vancouver (day 9 of our trip):

We woke up early for the hotel breakfast in Calgary and then left the hotel about 0830 to swing by Tim Hortons quickly and then headed to return our rental car and check in to our flight.

Everything went smoothly including our flight until the very end: we’re not sure what happened, but Kendall experienced extreme mouth pain and was freaking out on the flight. We had never seen her like that and we were all terrified, even the flight attendants who almost called the paramedics! She finally calmed down and seemed much better when we got off the flight.

We got our bags and uber’d to our hotel Hampton Inn Downtown Vancouver about 30 minutes away. We checked in to the hotel and headed to urgent care. Unfortunately, there were no appointments so we set up a phone appointment and I talked to a Dr who wasn’t very helpful. Said it may be an ear infection and to give her a decongestant before our next flight. Long story short it ended up being tooth squeeze which is very painful. She had a loose tooth and it felt like her tooth was being pulled out from the pressure changes. Poor thing.

We then wandered around town at bit.

We then headed to dinner at Boston Pizza which is right across the street from our hotel. We really liked this place! Great food, drinks, service and ambiance.

Then off to our d-box seat movie experience at Scotiabank to see Jurassic Park. We really enjoyed the whole experience! Our first time doing d-box and Jurassic Park was definitely a fun one!

Then time for bed.

Day 2 in Vancouver (Day 10 of our trip):

We sort of slept in this morning, then headed to hotel breakfast. Afterwards we headed out on our way to the free shuttle at the Hyatt to go to Capilano Suspension Bridge. Of note, the shuttle pick up spot is behind the hotel. It was about a 30 minute ride to get the bridge park. You should get your tickets for the bridge ahead of time because you have a specific entrance time to enter the park.

We made it to the bridge at about 1000 and we had a great time exploring for about 3 hours. Of note, it is so much busier than the last time we went 17 years ago. You have to wait in line to cross the bridge which is annoying, but a safety issue so I totally get it.

Some sights from exploring on the other side of the bridge:

We also got to meet some pretty cool birds.

One great change was there is now food on the other side of the bridge. I don't recall that from last time we were there. We got lots yummy treats including otter balls.

We then took the bus to Grouse Mountain. After getting tickets we rode the gondola to the top.

We then watched the lumberjack show.

Then the bird show. Both those shows never seize to amaze me! One of the owls in the bird show flew over us and got so close to us you could feel it's feathers on our heads!

We then got lunch on the mountain and then watched the famous bears Coola and Grinder. These were the same bears from last time we were here 17 years ago! We got so close to the bears you could literally hear them breathing. (Sadly, I just found out when creating the blog post that Grinder passed away on 7/31/26 due to age related health issues.)

After about 3 hours there, we headed back down the gondola, then to the bus, then to the shuttle then a short walk back to our hotel. Quite the trek but it was worth it!

We got the kids pizza and then Mike and I headed to dinner Black and Blue. We went to celebrate Mike's birthday which is the next day. The restaurant was good, but not quite worth the price we paid. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves though!

Then back to the hotel to go to bed because of an early wake up call tomorrow..

Day 3 in Vancouver (Day 11 of the trip):

Today was Mike’s birthday and we had an early wake up call for our shuttle to whale watch. Unlucky for us, after riding on the awful shuttle for nearly an hour, we found out the tour was cancelled because of windy weather. To say were disappointed is an understatement. We were able to schedule another tour the next morning, but we were worried it may also get cancelled. Safety first of course!

But it was Mike’s birthday and we wanted to make the most of it, so first we headed to the Aquarium. The aquarium was very entertaining even for older kids. We watched the sea lion and otter shows and then watched a 4D movie and the kids tried out VR. Of course there were also so many beautiful fish to admire.

Then we walked around Stanley Park for a bit.

We saw the totem poles.

Then we headed to Granville Island and did some shopping.

We had a late lunch/early dinner at Tap & Barrel Bridges.

We made the most of this day and ended up having so much fun and seeing so much of Vancouver! Then we headed back to the hotel for a swim and to pack so we were prepared for whale watching the next day and then our trip home.

Day 4 in Vancouver (Day 12 of our trip):

Mike and I had an early wake up call and breakfast. Then we got the kids up, finished packing, asked the hotel to hold our luggage and then headed to our shuttle at 0730.

We were all a little nervous that it would get cancelled again and we didn’t have a back up plan, but (spoiler alert), it all worked out and it ended up being the best whale watching expereince ever!!!

We left at about 0900. We got some seats at the back of the boat which ended up being a great place to be. Of note, it was still VERY windy this day!!

We were out for a while before seeing anything, but once we did, it was amazing!!

First we saw some interesting rock formations.

Then seals including a little baby.

Then a bald eagle.

Then sea lions that were very talkative.

Then finally 3-4 humpbacks that put on an amazing show!! They were splashing and breaching and showing their tails. They got very close to our boat. So close in fact that you could smell their fishy breath!! Truly amazing and worth the wait.

We finished and headed back to the hotel at about 1400.

We got lunch at our favorite restaurant Boston Pizza. Then headed back to our hotel, got our luggage and then an uber to the airport. It was smooth flying getting home although we were a little delayed.

What an amazing trip!!