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by Rebecca BollwittDisclosure: Sponsored Post — Views are my own. This is a sponsored post as a part of my membership with the SnowSeekers Social Influencer Team. Please review the Policy & Disclosure section for further information.
For the second year in a row, I visited Manning Park around opening weekend to participate in some winter wonderland adventures. This time around, I was on snowshoes to document my trip for SnowSeekers.
Making my own tracks on a guided snowshoe tour with my guide Janja Klemencic, I spot footprints that were not made by humans. “It’s the snowshoe hare!” Janja says. The very namesake for our footwear was hopping through Manning’s pine forest and leaving its mark.
It wasn’t long after we spotted the tracks that the animal itself made an appearance. Larger than any grass-grazing bunny I’ve seen in the city, the white-furred, floppy-eared creature froze when it spotted us. Janja, a guide with Manning Park Resort, explained the snowshoe hare is a rusty brown colour in the summer but it camouflages itself among the snowbanks in the winter.
Just as the hare transforms with the seasons, so does Manning Park, going from a summer playground of hiking trails, campgrounds, and lakes suitable for swimming and canoeing, to a winter wonderland with a 64-kilometre cross-country and snowshoe trail network along with 160 kms of backcountry trails. » Continue reading…
At one point I didn’t know if Janja was pulling my leg but she told me to make a face print in the snow. She said it’s what the guides do for fun. So, I voluntarily gave myself a face wash while she took a photo.
We laughed as I washed the snow off my face, which was rather welcome to cool me off since we had been trekking for a good 90 minutes already.
What I love about Manning Park Resort is that it’s close to Metro Vancouver but it feels like it’s in such a remote and pristine part of the province. They also have so many events for families, including the moonlight guided snowshoe and a lantern lit ski down that I’m determined to attend one season.
Read about my snowshoe adventure over on SnowSeekers follow SnowSeekers all winter on Facebook and Twitter for coverage about ski resorts and slopes in BC and Alberta — including the latest snowfall reports and conditions.
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by Rebecca BollwittDisclosure: Sponsored Post — This post is sponsored by TransLink. Please review the Policy & Disclosure section for further information.
On Monday, December 19th, 22 bus routes changed in the Tri-Cities to integrate into the new Millennium Line Evergreen Extension. The Evergreen Extension added six new SkyTrain stations to the Millennium line, allowing passengers in Port Moody, Coquitlam, and Port Coquitlam to connect to the wider transit network.
Bus Route Changes Started on December 19
December marks one of the largest service changes on record! Here are some of the changes that riders can expect:
Key bus route changes
A new 95 B-Line along Hastings Street provides a more direct and reliable service — particularly for those travelling between SFU to Downtown Vancouver.
Newly installed overhead trolley lines along Cambie Street extend the 5 and 6. The 6 extends along Davie Street to provide better connections to Yaletown, Canada Line, and Cambie Street.
The C21 and C23 will merge into the new 23 Main Street Station/Yaletown/Beach route serving Beach Ave, Yaletown Roundhouse Station, Stadium–Chinatown Station, and Main Street–Science World Station.
The “C” representing Community Shuttle routes will end, and the bus route numbers will change. Now, regardless of the type of bus that stops, customers can board any bus with their route number on it.
There is new service to the Dominion Triangle/Fremont Village via the 171/172, a growing commercial retail area in Port Coquitlam.
Introducing new service to Burke Mountain via the 191.
Redesigned service in Heritage Mountain and Westwood Plateau neighborhoods better connects communities to the Evergreen Extension.
The redesigned 143 operates between SFU and Burquitlam with a high-capacity articulated bus and all-day service to SFU for students, staff and residents.
The 701 now extends from Haney Place to Mission. With the introduction of the Evergreen Extension, most TrainBus customers will have more travel options using SkyTrain and the 701.
The re-designed 151 provides all day service on Como Lake Avenue 7-days/week with extended hours to meet the first and last trains at Coquitlam Central Station and Burquitlam Station.
The 188 Coquitlam Station/Port Coquitlam Station now provides 15-minute service during peak periods with larger conventional buses all day, and runs to meet the first and last trains at Coquitlam Central Station.
Extended late night service on the N9 between Lougheed and Coquitlam Central stations now creates 24-hour service along the Evergreen Extension of the Millennium Line corridor.
In addition, the new 95 B-Line along Hastings Street provides a more direct and reliable service – particularly for those travelling between SFU to Downtown Vancouver.
Eric Church is bringing his Holdin’ My Own Tour to Vancouver on March 14th and for the first time ever, there will be no support act on this tour. Eric Church and the ECB will play two full sets with an intermission in between.
Eric Church Live in Concert
Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver When: Tuesday, March 14, 2017 at 8:00pm Tickets: On sale now through Ticketmaster
Commitment to Fans
As on past tours, Church will continue to cancel any and all orders found to be made by scalpers. Church and his team developed a new fan club pre-sale system that allows them to remove scalpers from the pre-sale process before it even happens. Scalpers that are found to be gaming the system and posing as real fans won’t receive the buy link at all.
The hope is that the measures they’ve put in place will make it impossible for scalpers to complete their transactions. The Church team is not only communicating directly to the fans the best source for face value tickets, but also building a model that protects fans and can be adopted by the industry as a whole.
Church’s 2014-2015’s The Outsiders World Tour topped Billboard’s Hot Tours consistently after Church set new attendance records in five markets including Chicago’s Allstate Arena on March 20 with 18,626 present. Church also shattered Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena attendance on January 10 with an unprecedented 18,411 fans assembled, surpassing The Blue Collar Comedy Tour’s record set on Feb. 2006.
On April 7, 2015 he also broke the attendance record at Grand Forks, N.D.’s Ralph Engelstad Arena, which was previously set by Sir Elton John’s 2012 show. The Outsiders World Tour saw Church performing to over 800,000 fans in more than 65 cities with nearly 20 stops from September 2014 through September of ‘15 and was named one of Rolling Stone Magazine’s Must-See Tours.
Win Tickets
If you would like to see Eric Church live in concert in Vancouver, I have a 4-pack of tickets to give away courtesy of AEG. Here’s how you can enter to win:
[clickToTweet tweet=”RT to enter to win 4 tickets to see @EricChurch in concert from @aeglivecanada http://owl.li/ll39307hv0m” quote=” Click to enter via Twitter” theme=”style6″]
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Friday, December 23, 2016.
On Christmas Day, after the stockings are open and the turkey heads into the oven, there is a group of dedicated community volunteers that hits the streets to make sure everyone gets some holiday cheer as a part of the Whalley Santa Cause.
Whalley Santa Cause
Now in its 6th year, the Whalley Santa Cause has been collecting donations of toiletries and personal hygiene items. On Christmas Day, they will meet at Gateway station to walk around the neighbourhood to hand out the hampers, jackets, sweaters, and socks.
Where: Gateway Skytrain Station, 13401 108 Ave, Surrey When: Sunday, December 25, 2016 from 1:00pm to 3:00pm
If you would like to volunteer, join the Facebook event to get all the latest info for the big day. Updates are also posted on the Facebook page. They do not need any more donations of soap, but other items are welcome along with cash donations.
Volunteers must be over the age of 16, as they are dealing with addiction, homelessness, active drug use and prostitution on the streets. Contact Whalley Santa Cause founder Erica Beckstead for more information and to sign up to help:
778-233-4344 [email protected].
Continuing a heartwarming yuletide tradition for the 15th consecutive year, staff at the Kingsway Vancouver and Richmond Centre White Spot locations will donate their time and tips on Christmas Day to support local charities.
White Spot Christmas Day Lunch for Charity
Friends and family are invited to join the merriment and enjoy award-winning Legendary burgers and other Spot Classics at either location between 11:0:00 and 3:00pm on Christmas Day to help support two deserving local charities. The two restaurants hope to beat last year’s combined fundraising total of $19,176.
Where: Richmond Centre (Unit 1902 – 6551 No. 3 Road) When: Sunday, December 25, 2016 from 11:00am to 3:00pm Cause: Richmond Hospital Foundation
Where: Kingsway (1476 Kingsway at Knight Street) When: Sunday, December 25, 2016 from 11:00am to 3:00pm Cause: Variety – The Children’s Charity
Since the Christmas Day Luncheon’s inception, more than $179,000 has been generated! Follow White Spot on Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date on their latest menu offerings and promotions.
