British Columbia: Other attractions

Writing about these old trips has been kind of a mental trip, I guess. I will mention things to my sisters, and they will remember things I completely forgot. Mentioning Minter Gardens to Julie, she asked if that was the place with the fairy tale statues in Mission. I had forgotten that place, but trying to find it I was looking at the map and noticed Abbotsford. How could I forget that we had gone to their airshow? Twice, I think.

(The answer probably being that I am the only person who does not adore planes in the family, so I have been to my share of airshows but I try and block them out.)

One thing I can see is that we didn't actually do that much in Vancouver proper. With Victoria, perhaps by virtue of it being an island, everything we did was fairly close together. When we went to Vancouver instead, everything was more scattered.

Abbotsford

Yes, there was an airshow in Abbotsford. That might have been the one where they were having a special World War II commemoration, and where I met Pappy Boyington, but you know, we also went to airshows in Everett and Bellingham, in Washington, and they all run together for me. The Snowbirds are Canadian; maybe we saw them at Abbotsford.

http://www.abbotsfordairshow.com/

Rosedale

One of the few places that is still open, Dudley Duck Water Park is now Bridal Falls Water Park. They do still reference Dudley Duck for the kiddie water slides.

Although they have clearly done some renovating, the pictures bring back a lot of memories. I remember the optical illusion water tap, and the overall layout of the park. I love water, and I enjoyed most of the slides a lot. The only one that did not work out for me was the one where you are supposed to use an inner tube. I kept falling off, but part of that may have been the set up, where you had a series of flat pools with small slides in between. I would fall off on the slides, have to retrieve my tube, and get back on. It was a very laborious process. It looks like they still have that one.

http://www.bridalfallswaterpark.com/

The closure that hurts the most, and that is the most recent, is Minter Gardens. I really wanted to go just from seeing pictures. There were two that grabbed my attention. One was a giant peacock. The body was a statue - I think it was metal - but the tail was formed by a hedge and filled with flowers. There were also topiary women in full skirts. I guess you could say it was less formal, and more whimsical in Butchart Gardens.

http://www.mintergardens.com/

Kelowna

The following story is very complicated. We went to a place we called Flintstones Park. It may have in fact been called Bedrock City. Possibly due to licensing issues, it may have just removed the Flintstones aspects and gone with a dinosaur theme. However, in the process of that it appears to have also moved, so that it is now in Cultus Lake, and then apparently closed again and reopened at Bridal Falls.

I know that there was a place with various dinosaur statues, a Flintstones house with Gazoo's spaceship outside, and a live stage show with Fred and Barney singing "Rock and Roll is Here to Stay."

There were also rowboats, where my mother and I found ourselves to be not skilled at rowing. My father came and took Julie and Maria into his boat, but left us. Well, if I were going to tell vacation stories about my father being a jerk, that would be a pretty long post. However, this may be why I never feel safe trying the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes at Disneyland.

http://www.dinotown.com/

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/1517

http://www.theprogress.com/news/209695821.html

Mission

Now that Julie mentions it I kind of do remember something like Storybook Lane or Trail or something. I cannot find any references to it now. I vaguely remember the statues being more creepy than charming though, and so many of these places that I have really loved have had difficulties staying open, that it is really not surprising.

Kaleden

Okanagan Game Farm was kind of different in that was used to stop no matter where our final destination was. Looking at the map now, it seems out of our way. I don't know how we made it that often, but with my love for animals I was very fond of it. I know they had more there, but I remember goats and petting the donkey.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okanagan_Game_Farm

One reason that it was so great to go to Minter Gardens was that I was always kind of scared to ask for what I wanted, so when something happened anyway, it felt amazing. That leaves one memory.

We would take I-5 up, every time, and at some point around Tacoma I would see a sign for a place called the Enchanted Village, which I assumed would be rather like the Enchanted Forest, where I have been, but I was always curious about it, and we never went to that one.

Well, a water park went up next to it, and different things happened, and Six Flags bought it. There is something there. How similar or changed it is, I have no idea.


https://www.wildwaves.com/

So my final thought is a bit of nostalgia, I guess. I am glad I go to see so many of these places, and sad that so many have fallen by the wayside. Declining tourism has been mentioned for most of the closures. Don't people pack their kids into the car and just drive anymore? Maybe not.

I don't know why lately it seems that the only viable family entertainment is water parks. I have nothing against water parks, but the quirky and unique other spots were important to me, and I want to support those as much as I can.

Anyway, that's everything that comes to mind about our trips to British Columbia. Next stop, Ontario!