We are up crazy early, both from jet lag and from worry.  We are starting to see some of the flooding from Asheville and it is historic. Monumental. Pick a word.  Higher than the 1916 flood – the water at the intersection of Tunnel Road and Swannanoa River Road – where we drive virtually every day – is like a huge brown water rapids.  U-Haul trucks are floating in it!  Walgreens is all but underwater.  It is insane.  And Biltmore Village is horrific as is the River Arts area.  So totally awful – and not a darn thing we can do about it from here but wait until we can reach our friends to make sure they are ok. 

One plus of being up so early is that we actually see the Nieuw Amsterdam sailing into Vancouver!  Not our Noordam – she’s already at the pier – but still.  That was pretty wild.

Then we decide to hike off some of our anxiety by heading back to Lynn Canyon for an early morning walk before we leave for the ship.  Good decision!  We are the first people there and all alone on the walk across the suspension bridge! Fun!!!   We get some great waterfall videos too – all by ourselves.  Peaceful and lovely and just what we needed this morning.

Today we decide to walk up to the 30 foot pool and around in a look back to the bridge.  A nice little walk through the wonderful woods out to the rocky creek bed that leads into the pool.   With the trees just beginning to turn, it is a lovely brisk fall morning walk.

Then its more stairs. We are for sure getting our stairs in at this place!  Up, up, up we go, to the connector trail (where there is the most adorable graffiti “legend” on the map!) and around the park on the trail/no trail (we guess we just follow the logs?). Great hike!

At the crossroads to turn back to the suspension bridge we decide to continue on down to the Twin Falls again – it isn’t that far and it is a nice hike – so off we go.  Once again trying to get a good vantage point on the falls, but once again being foiled!  Oh well, we have the bottom of the falls – what more do you need?

Then we’re back up on the 100+ stairs and to the car and out on the road for our last drive to the Treehouse.

Organized, cleaned, and ready to depart, we take one last look around – one last photo round, including a shot of Canada Place with the Nieuw Amsterdam at dock – love this place for the accommodations and the view!  Then it is off into the city proper where we easily find the parking lot to drop the car, not so easily finding the door to get upstairs to the office.  Finally with the help of other car returners, we find the elevator, and get in line to drop our keys.  Then it’s Uber to the pier. 

Ok – now here’s the crazy thing…We are standing on the balcony of our cool full aft stateroom cabin less than 45 minutes from dropping the car off at Sixt in the middle of the city centre!  Fastest, easiest check in EVER!  Not kidding!

And so begins our first day aboard the Noordam, wandering around getting used to the ship layout which is just a touch different than Westerdam and Oosterdam – go figure, why would they have the Ocean’s bar on the opposite side of the ship?  Anyhow, we settle in for a lovely, sunny sail away – watching float planes land in the harbor as we depart – while we begin our trek out and up the Alaskan coast on our way to Japan.