In Seattle, we strolled through the historic Pike's Place Market on the waterfront and stopped for a coffee at the original Starbuck's - God knows we've already given them enough money for latte's on this trip - but hey, this is where the world-wide addiction all started! We walked through downtown toward the Space Needle to the Experience Music Project. The EMP is an interactive music museum with a focus on the Seattle based artists including Jimi Hendrix (born in Seattle) and the Grunge scene, made popular by bands like Soundgarden and Nirvana. There was a theatre playing Jimi Hendrix documentaries and a listening room with iPods loaded up with every Hendrix recording ever made. The coolest thing, though, were the soundproof studios where you could play the electric guitar, drums, keyboards, and even sing or work a mixing board. The instruments are all hooked up to computers that can teach you simple songs if you don't know how to play, or just let you jam if you do. We totally lost track of time until a museum employee knocked on our little booth to tell us the building was closing - we were the only people left in the entire place! Wow, that four hours went by fast! We stopped for some seafood and a local brew at a little pub on the way back to the car, then drove up to Vancouver arriving at Aili's mom's apartment just before midnight. The next morning, we all went out for breakfast (at my favorite - De Deutch Panakook House) and then drove across town to the University of British Columbia's Anthropology Museum. This museum has one of the largest collections of First Nation's People artwork and crafts in the world. Giant hand-carved totem poles are displaying just inside the lobby and on the surrounding grounds. The Haida tribe from the Queen Charlotte Islands is known as one of the most artistic and one of their famous contemporary artists, Bill Reid, has a piece featured on the Canadian twenty-dollar bill. On the way home, we stopped by Lynn Canyon Provincial Park for a short walk through the forest and over a hanging suspension bridge across a rushing creek tumbling down out of the mountains. It was lush and beautiful and Aili's mom said they film a lot around here - several 'Hollywood' movies and TV shows are actually filmed in Vancouver as costs tend to be cheaper, there's a lot of tax breaks, and it's not too far from LA. Sure enough, just off the parking lot, a crane held lights pointed into the woods and a crew directed traffic around the area as the director shouted, "Rolling!" below us, down in a slight ravine. For the weekend, we joined Aili's sister, Amy, and her boyfriend Kai for a trip inland to Osoyoos, B.C. Osoysoos is like the Palm Springs of British Columbia, it's just beyond the coastal mountain range in Canada's only desert. A series of small lakes make a chain through the valley and the temperate weather is perfect t for agriculture so orchards and vineyards line the hillsides. Friday night we enjoyed cocktails on the patio around the gas fireplace overlooking the lake and then Saturday, after a leisurely morning, we toured the wine region which specializes in dessert wines - including ice wines and some truly scrumptious fruit wines. We bought a bottle of "Sunset", a raspberry wine that we were told was "dangerous." You serve it chilled in the afternoon and chances are, "you won't see the sunset!" The rest of the weekend was spent playing in the pool and lake and enjoying good food, drinks and each other's company. The region is really special and is a great sunny destination from often cloudy and chilly Vancouver. Back in Vancouver, we finished our stay with the four-block walk from Aili's mom's to the Sea Bus dock. Fifteen minutes later, we arrived in downtown Vancouver just across the water. Another short walk led us to Harbour Centre (yes, I spelled that the Canadian way!) where we took the elevator to the Top of Vancouver for a really nice dinner in the revolving restaurant. The weather was clear so we were treated to spectacular views of the snow topped coastal mountains to the north, the 14,000-foot Mt. Baker to the southeast, the entire metro area to the south, the mountains of Vancouver Island to the west, and the Lions Gate bridge spanning the Burrard Inlet with cargo ships passing by, sea planes landing and taking off and tug boats refueling on floating gas stations in the middle of the harbor. Vancouver truly is a beautiful city! Next, we take the car ferry to Victoria, the capital of British Columbia situated on the southern end of Vancouver Island, then gear up for our five-day backpacking trip along the West Coast Trail - know as one of the most beautiful (and difficult) treks in the world!