Friday, June 19, 2009

Golden Ears Bridge

Sunday, June 14, 2009
Golden Ears Bridge Opening Ceremonies.

Video at the end of this post of the un"official ribon cutting".







This was a day our family has been waiting for for years.
My Dad, of Outhouse Capital of Canada fame, is a bridge collector. Here he is at the temporary outhouses on the new bridge deck.
He is fascinated by bridges. Wherever he travels in the world, he works bridge sightseeing into his itinerary and he photographs them. (He also collects Total Eclipses of the sun, but thats another post all together!). We have all been on standby to support him on this day.
This silly grin was plastered on his face all day in spite of the crowds and heat. I can guarantee you that he was the happiest man on the bridge that day, which is saying something, as there were an estimated 60,000 people there that day!
There was a fly over. See the planes? It was an incredible experience to walk down the center of a six lane bridge, knowing I will most likely never do so again. We were making history , so I was told!
It is a beautiful work of engineering, and will make a huge difference to commuters and the traffic in our area.

He brought his own ribbon and scissors and had us help him "officially" open the bridge with his own ribbon cutting ceremony before the premier could do it. He actually drew a crowd of onlookers who all had a good chuckle!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was there that day too. Took the fiver younger kids and Hailey there. We saw the planes do the flyover as well. We left before the premier got there. We were stuck in the big pedestrian traffic jam beside the stage. Well, not quite beside the stage, we were on the far outer edge by the railing squeezing our way along. Took 40 minutes to get out of that crowd. Nice bridge though. Very impressive.

Cowboy Joe (won't let me sign in as blogger ID, argh)

Deanna said...

The PIP and I were walking on the bridge... and she wanted to walk so she could see the river below... and was adamant that I walk with her... I said "forget it.. I am walking down the centre of this bridge... because it probably will never be allowed again... this is history my dear girl... !!"

On Tuesday evening we drove to Langley... but since I couldn't figure out how to get to my friends house from that direction... we left Langley and were back in Pitt Meadows 5 minutes later... now that is exciting! We will go again... for this month.. while it is FREE!

Penny said...

Your dad looks so young! We have a bridge over here with a fast food restaurant on it, by The Forks. Maybe your dad should visit here and take a picture of it. What an interesting hobby.

gal artist said...

Oh I have to post a picture of a bridge I took here at the Whalebone Club, it's wooden and the ocean water flows underneath and through it. I found it a fascinating piece of architecture.

Sally said...

Now, that is AWESOME,Susan. What a great day for your dad, and all of you!! Beautiful bridge, and I love the fly-over. :)

Deb said...

Oh Susan,
As we watched the opening on TV I said to Tony, "I know where that Scotsman is!" :D Such a handsome family, but how could you not be, with Pat and Dave for parents. Your Dad is such a character, his pee-pee dance is priceless and well, his ribbon-cutting was far more entertaining that the "real" thing. Thanks for sharing your family with us once again, as we are so very fond of the lot of you.
Deb - in Summerland