My brother Galen (an excellent brother and fantastic uncle) called us a few days later and asked if we'd like to accompany him and Carol up to Vancouver this weekend to visit Nathan and his wife Mary. It sounded like a good idea, so we all took off in Galen's car Friday morning.
Galen and Carol wanted to stop at a tropical place for lunch where they had eaten before. They couldn't remember the name of it, something like Jamaica Joes or Bahama Mamas. We were very fortunate to find Bahama Breezes surrounded by palm trees at the mall in Tukwila near Seattle. It was right near a Cheesecake Factory, but a car had just plowed through a window at the Cheesecake Factory! Bahama Breezes was fabulous (coconut shrimp!!) and kicked off a weekend of eating at great restaurants.
Traffic was pretty heavy when we got into Vancouver, and things got a little tense in the car with Will the Navigator and Galen the Driver cruising the unfamiliar dark city streets. Galen, of course, maintained his sweet even temper in the midst of a trial, as Troyers always do.
St. Paul's Hospital, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1994, is in the middle of the multitude of high rise buildings downtown. Nathan was in a newer wing, and it was quite a walk from the entrance across from our hotel to his side of the building. Much to our relief there was a blue line (complete with arrows!) on the floor that we could follow all the way to the elevator, which took us to his 10th floor room. Carol and I soon learned to hold back and follow Will and Galen when the elevator stopped so we wouldn't continue to be embarrassed when we foolishly headed the wrong way!
We finally got to see Nathan, who was fortunate to have the window side of the room he was sharing with an elderly man who occasionally emitted alarming wheezing, hacking noises. Despite having major surgery several days earlier and experiencing a great deal of pain and suffering before and after the surgery, Nathan was his cheerful, optimistic self, expecting to be released Saturday morning. Although I've seen him look better, with his rugged Troyer good looks he was handsome even in his hospital gown.
His dinner tray arrived so we left him to eat in peace while we checked into the Sheraton Hotel across the street and enjoyed the thrill of looking out the walls of windows from our room on the 22nd floor. We roamed the street checking out the many restaurants, and thought a light meal at a French cafe might be good after our heavy lunch. Bitter disappointment. The cauliflower and mushroom soups were both flavorless purees, and the bread was not even close to what good French bread should be. We went back to visit Nathan and Mary again before retiring to our lovely rooms.
The next morning the men went out and brought Tim Hortons donuts (which Nathan and Steven have talked up for years) back to our rooms. We enjoyed the complimentary morning paper with our donuts and the Starbucks coffee provided for our in-room brewing, while we continued to monitor the city's activities from our high perch. When we reached the hospital, Nathan was still waiting for the doctor's visit, and hadn't experienced the best night. He had received some food for dinner that was not on his diet. (Oops, food service error I guess.) When the doctor finally got there, we left for lunch. A hospital employee saw us looking out the window and pointed out the best restaurants on Davie Street, which she said was the place to get good food at a good price. We had a huge lunch at the Greek restaurant she recommended, Stephanos. I had Mousaka for the first time. It was good, and I loved the salad. The men had rack of lamb, a huge plate of food which neither of them could finish.
You see many interesting things when you walk the streets. I thought my boys would enjoy this sign.
When we got back to the hospital, Nathan had medical personel in his room and we were told we couldn't see him for a couple of hours. So we went back to the streets, walked down to the waterfront and took a little ferry over to Granville Island and did a little shopping. We were very good at just looking and not buying.
Nathan survived all the medical procedures of the afternoon, and we hung around and watched him enjoy his sumptuous dinner of broth, jello and two kinds of juice! Realizing what a blessed privilege it is to have a digestive system working properly, we went out for another good meal at a pizza/pasta place where there was live jazz music. That's another story. I texted some of Will's comments to my boys, and they texted back that they had enjoyed a "hearty laugh". But I fear his remarks may not be appropriate for some of my gentle readers.
Another visit to the hospital, where Nathan and Mary were pleased with how things were progressing and hopeful of release the next morning, and we returned to our exciting rooms overlooking the city lights.
We country folk were enthralled with watching two men getting ready to board a "suspended stage" to do some work on a high rise. First we looked down on them from our hotel as they made preparations on the rooftop for whatever their task was, then from the hospital as we saw them rising up the side of the building. This is Galen looking out the window from the hospital room. They are almost a third of the way up the building on the left, just under the white line.
I zoomed in on this picture from our room when we went back to check out. Scary stuff!
Too soon we were back in the car navigating our way back to the USA. We enjoyed a late lunch at the Cheesecake Factory at the same mall where we ate on our way up. We took a scenic route back to I-5. Did you know there was a Des Moines, Washington? Carol and I were very patient and supportive of our navigator and driver. 
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