Vancouver Day 7: St. Andrews Church, Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain

I have never had a day as terrifying and as beautiful than today. 

Let's start at the beginning. Reeling from a fantastic final concert the previous night, we woke up early in the morning to the touring portion of the day. After loading all of our gear onto the tour bus, which is driven by our new friend Doug (who has a great beard like my dad and uncle), we headed to St. Andrew's church for a performance during their worship service. We contributed 4 pieces to worship and were a welcomed addition.  After a quick and charming lunch with the members of the congregation, we headed to our next stop: the Capilano Suspension bridge. 

Let me tell you a little bit about this bridge. The bridge is 400 feet long with a 200+ foot drop straight into a river. The bridge was filled with people, so it was swaying left and right. Kids were running around, bumping into me, people stopped to take selfies right in front of me. But the view was absolutely gorgeous, being the sunny day that it was. I managed to take one picture, despite the fact that my hand was shaking. After we all made it to the other side, we took a tour of the flora and fauna of the surrounding rain forest (Fun Fact: the Banana Slug has 27,000 teeth and four antennae: two detect light, two detect chemical trails) and had a bit of fun in the suspension bridges built into the trees. After crossing back over the main bridge (during which a kid ran into me and I had to resist the urge to punt him) we took the Cliffwalk tour (imagine a bridge built alongside a rock without any supports reaching the ground. Yikes!) and headed on our way. 

The last stop of the day was at Grouse Mountain. We had to take a gondola to reach the peak of the mountain, and every squeak of the cables and every shudder the cab reminded me of how painfully far we were from the ground. At the top, we were treated to a wonderful Lumberjack Competition, where two flannel-clad men competed in various tree related activities, like carving or axe throwing. After a dinner in a room with a beautiful view, we rode the gondola again to the safety of sea level. 

I have to say, despite the fact that I faced my fear nearly every hour of my day today, the views I got to experience were far worth it. Tomorrow will be even better. But until then.

-Jake

Today we said good-bye to many of our symposium friends, including Eileen and Peter Laurence and Jay and Georgia Roelof. We then played in the morning worship service at St. Andrews UCC Church. We were welcomed warmly by the congregation and were served lunch. Our next stop was the Capilano suspension bridge where we walked along a the treetops. Next, we took a gondola ride to the top of Grouse Mountain.  We saw a lumberjack show and had an amazing dinner. We can't wait to have more fun tomorrow!

-David