The Best Airport in North America (for the 5th year) is once again hosting free weekly entertainment and activities as Take Off Fridays return to YVR. Every Friday from July 4th to August 29th, YVR will come alive with fun-filled activities, free entertainment, delicious food samples and deals for travellers and locals alike.

Take Off Fridays at YVR 2014

Running Fridays from 9:00am to 3:00pm, YVR Take Off Fridays features live entertainment by local performers and beats courtesy of the Lower Mainland’s hottest DJs. For the little ones, caricaturists and balloonists will be onsite, complemented by face painting and photos ops with the beloved YVR mascots. Lunch and shopping specials also await visitors. Join the fun at the Domestic, International & US Terminals, Departures Level 3.

Back for a second consecutive year is the popular YVR Take Off Fridays Paper Airplane Competition, scheduled for Friday, July 11th at 11:00am. Participants of all ages are invited to vie for the chance to scoop up huge prizes, as they square off to create an airplane that will soar past their competitors. Paper airplane expert Ralph Heldt will coach participants on the aerodynamics of paper airplanes and which folding methods will yield the farthest flights.

The free Public Observation Area will be open and it has interactive displays year-round with history and behind-the-scenes looks at Canada’s second busiest airport. Look out at the airfield through telescopes and learn more about Sea Island.

Chester Johnson Park at YVR

Enjoy a special YVR Take Off Fridays parking rate of $5 for up to four hours in YVR’s Parkade. You can also take the Canada Line in, making for a fun-filled day of transportation-themed education and entertainment with the family.

Canada is gearing up to host FIFA Women’s World Cup Soccer in 2015 and leading up to the tournament our Canada Women’s National Team will engage in several international matches on home soil this season. The next game is Canada vs Germany in Vancouver on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 at BC Place.

Tickets are currently on sale starting at $20 (plus applicable fees). A two-match pack, featuring both the Germany and Japan matches is also available starting at $36 (plus applicable fees). In a continued effort to offer the soccer community affordable access to these matches, special group rates and discounted family packs will also be offered.

“To ensure Canada’s Women’s National Team offers consistent, world-class performances, Canada Soccer believes that it must play against quality opponents more often, and play at home on a regular basis,” said Victor Montagliani, President of Canada Soccer. “Vancouver has demonstrated its enthusiasm towards the beautiful game and we are thrilled to bring some of the fiercest opponents international women’s soccer can offer so that our Women’s National Team can experience the support of their home fans again on the road to Canada 2015.”

If you wish to sit specifically in the supporters’ section (249 at BC Place) you can make that selection at time of ticket purchase online. In addition, purchasers of tickets for the Canada’s Women’s National Team matches in Vancouver will be offered a special opportunity to opt-in to a Priority Access list to purchase venue packs for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ matches at BC Place when the packs go on sale.

Canada Women’s National Team vs Germany in Vancouver: Win Tickets

Thanks to Canada Soccer, I have a 4-pack of tickets to the match against Germany on June 18th plus 4 t-shirts to give away to one lucky Miss604 reader. Here’s how you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment naming a Canada Women’s National Team player on the current roster (1 entry)
• Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Friday, June 13, 2014. Follow Canada Women’s National Team soccer updates on Facebook and Twitter with tag #CANWNT.

The team will also play Japan on Saturday, October 25th at Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton and Tuesday, October 28th back at BC Place in Vancouver. All Canada WNT home matches this year will be broadcast live nationally on Sportsnet.

Update The winner is @TheLadyandRose on Twitter!

One of the things I love about Las Vegas is the wide variety of things to do there, aside from the casino floor (which can also definitely be fun). This series will share my recent trip with Travel Nevada, covering some of the fun activities that you can do in Nevada, all within a few hours (or less) from the Las Vegas Strip.

Thrillseekers head to Las Vegas for lots of reasons. Just 30 minutes from the strip in Las Vegas is Bootleg Canyon, home of the Flightlinez zip line course, high above the desert floor. This was the next destination on our trip with Travel Nevada.

Photo credit: John Biehler

Once we arrived at Flightlinez, the first thing we did was get a safety briefing from our guides. Unlike previous ziplines I’ve ridden before, the Bootleg Canyon run uses bigger harnesses you wear that allow riders to go as fast as 60 miles an hour over their 8,000 feet of ziplines. You also have a hand brake that you have to use depending on the winds and the run you’re on.

Photo credit: John Biehler

After getting geared up and a short bus ride to the top, we hiked the final bit to get to the first platform.

Photo credit: John Biehler

Photo credit: John Biehler

Photo credit: John Biehler

The first time you’re hooked in is always a little daunting but once you go, you want to keep going. We had four runs to ride and each one was a little different in how we rode them depending on their length and the crosswinds in the canyon.

Photo credit: John Biehler

After a fun morning on the ziplines, we headed to the Las Vegas Strip and into Circus Circus to check out their new indoor roller coaster, the El Loco. This is one of a handful of roller coasters on the strip (Stratosphere, New York New York) but El Loco is the latest addition to the world’s largest indoor theme park, Adventuredome.

Photo credit: John Biehler

With special permission, I was able to capture the 72 second run with a GoPro attached directly to the ride:

It’s a different kind of thrill, indoors and away from the heat of the desert sun, but it will definitely keep you smiling. We actually rode it a few times. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.

More photos of the Bootleg Canyon zipline can be found on my Flickr. Stay tuned for the next instalment in the series to learn about more of my adventures in Nevada.

#WhatsTheLink is a series about all that TransLink, Metro Vancouver’s transportation authority, is responsible for in the region. Learn more at Translink.ca/WTL and join the #WhatsTheLink conversation on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, The Buzzer Blog, and here of course!

Not everyone in the region knows what we do at TransLink. Sure, most know that TransLink is responsible for public transit. But did you know we’re also responsible for the Major Roads Network, five bridges, providing cycling options and more? Well, grade-six student Boya Yang does.

Boya, a student at Marlborough elementary in Burnaby, used TransLink as the subject of his project, which won him the Rotary Club of Burnaby Ambassador Award at the Rivers to Sea Regional Heritage Fair a couple of weeks back.

The enthusiastic fan of SkyTrain and the print Buzzer, Boya says, “I’m interested in roads and stuff [as well].”

When not playing chess, doing his math homework, or “Checking out the great view and roads [from SkyTrain or bus],” Boya is learning about transit and movement in our region. Boya’s winning project on TransLink included historical info as well as various facts about the transit system in Metro Vancouver.

While it is well known that TransLink moves a lot of people each day – around 418,000 each day – just how much people can count on the system is not always part of dinner time conversations. Here’s a couple of interesting ones from 2013:

• The SkyTrain is on time 95% of the time for both the Expo and Millennium lines.
• The West Coast Express is on time 98% of the time.
• TransLink delivered 99.4% of scheduled service for bus and SkyTrain.

As Boya points out in his project, TransLink is important because it connects cities. How do we do this? By linking public transit like bus, SkyTrain, SeaBus and West Coast Express to our Major Roads Network, the five bridges TransLink operates as well as cycling options throughout the region.

It’s the multimodal nature of TransLink that allowed almost 234 million people to board buses, trains and SeaBus last year!

Unfortunately this tour has been cancelled

This summer Michael Franti & Spearhead are bringing their Soulshine Summer Tour to Vancouver with SOJA, Brett Dennen, and Trevor Hall on June 26th at the WestJet Concert Stage at the PNE Amphitheatre. The experience will be complete with a pre-concert yoga session, rounding out a perfect West Coast summer combo: cheerful music, sunshine, the PNE concert stage, rejuvenating yoga, DJ sets, and a dance party.

With a collective reach of over 90 million impressions, the four bands: Michael Franti & Spearhead, SOJA, Brett Dennen and Trevor Hall, come together for a tour that embraces their passions and love of music, dance, yoga and sustainability.

The yoga session is designed for people of all experience levels, ages, shapes and sizes and will feature artists participating side by side with fans. Michael Franti has been practicing yoga for over 12 years, having appeared in numerous publicans such as Yoga Journal, Origin, Mantra and Yoga magazines. The tour will be incorporating yoga studio networks across the nation and inviting the founders, teachers and students of the studios to the shows to support the tour, share the lifestyle and have fun.

The 30+ city tour kicks off on June 19th in Southern California and will make its way across North America, ending in Nashville, TN at the Woods at Fontanel on August 2nd.

Tickets are currently on sale for $60 (concert with yoga) or $45 (concert only), plus FMF and service charges. Yoga check-in is at 2:30pm, with the session starting at 3:00pm. The concert doors will open at 5:00pm, with the show starting at 6:00pm. Charge by Phone 1-604-757-0345 or purchase online through the Ticketmaster box office. This event is general admission/all ages.

Win Tickets to Michael Franti & Spearhead

If you would like to experience the Michael Franti & Spearhead Soulshine Summer Tour I have two pairs of tickets AND yoga passes to give away thanks to Live Nation. Here’s how you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment naming your favourite Michael Franti & Spearhead song (1 entry)
• Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

I will draw two winners (who will each get a pair of tickets + yoga passes) at 12:00pm on Sunday, June 15, 2014. Follow Live Nation on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest Vancouver concert event information.