Day 12--Vancouver, BC to Seattle, WA

Today, I had the opportunity to explore two major cities, Vancouver and Seattle. After leaving my hostel in Vancouver around 9:00am, I drove around trying to find the marketplace on Granville Island but failed to find it. After a while, I headed towards Stanley Park so I could arrive at the Vancouver Aquarium, which is often considered one of the best aquariums in the continent, around its 10:00am opening time (which I did, entering a few minutes after opening). For about 1.25 hours, I explored the Vancouver Aquarium. Overall, it was quite nice with a few exhibits I very much enjoyed and there were sea otters, which are some of my favorites. Here are some of the better pictures I captured:

After my visit to the aquarium, I explored Stanley Park some more by stopping at a few scenic overlooks.

I left Stanley Park right around 12:00pm and headed towards the United States. After a short wait at the border, I re-entered the US and stopped for lunch in the border town of Blaine, WA. After a quick lunch, it was on to Seattle where I arrived at my hostel at 4:00pm.

Soon after arriving in Seattle, I walked around, seeing the waterfront (including the Pike Place Market) and downtown areas.

For my evening activity, I decided to take in a Mariners game at Safeco Field, which is ranked as one of the nicest stadiums in baseball. The Mariners were facing the Detroit Tigers. Center field bleacher tickets ran $15 and I could buy my ticket just minutes before the start of the game (by buying at the box office, I avoided Ticketmaster fees). The game was at first a home-run derby, with 5 home runs (including a grand slam) between the two teams in the first four innings. However, scoring then slowed down. The game ended up going to extra innings and Mariners proceeded to win 7-6 in the bottom of the 11th inning.

Tomorrow, I plan to get an early start and to see the Chihuy Gardens and Space Needle (and/or the Museum of Flight.  While it sounds great, it does have a later opening time) before heading to Olympic National Park.

Next Stop: Port Angeles, WA