My new ride!

OMG! I've driven a lot of different trucks in my day, but nothing like this 1980 cab-over freightliner hair and make-up truck I drove on the t.v. series Cedar Cove , the truck was loud enough for earplugs, and to add to the challenge, the r.v. trailer for the actors came along with!

Sitting by the Burnaby Lake skytrain station. The more you sit, the more you end up admiring the architecture.

One of the locations for Cedar Cove is actually out in Deep Cove, the eastern most point of North Vancouver.

 

It's a beautiful spot and not far to go to get away from the big city.

Driving survey bus for another T.V. show took me out to Riverview, a mental health facility in Coquitlam that is now closed, but is used extensively in the film industry.

Still eerie, no matter what time of day your there.

and there's Ian, the owner of the bus and 911 Film Cars. He was playing a correctional officer driving the prison bus on the show today.

As the film production people scout out future locations for filming, I , as the driver get to check out the best alleys in the city!

I couldn't find a place in downtown Vancouver to park a bus, so I had to drive around while the production crew went for lunch.

Another well used location is the old Terminal City Ironworks on Victoria near Hastings in Vancouver. A lot of shows have been filmed here as well, including Fringe, Stargate, and Dark Angel

Another location, another alley

Omg, only in  this job do I get to go cool places like the Annacis Island Sewage Treatment Plant

Tanks alot!

Not sure what, but there is four of them! Apparently there are some tunnels in this facitlity that the film productions use as well.

May not look like much to the untrained eye, but I was impressed wih my parellel parking job!

Straighter than some of these guys!

Last stop on that day was at the BCIT Aerospace Building in Richmond, which also house the offices for the Rick Hansen Foundation.

A return trip to Sasamat Lake in Balcarra Regional Park just outside of Port Moody.

This sign does not belong out here in such a beautiful park.

A mural painted on the Terminal Ave. overpass across from Home Depot in Vancouver

Sidebar annoyance. I plunk my last toonie into this meter, and this is what I get?

Another day driving survey bus, checking out future locations for another t.v. show being filmed in Vancouver. My regular bus ride was in the shop, so I picked this one up at Fraser Valley bus lines in Chilliwack.

One location they were checking out today was in a warehouse on Mitchell Island in Richmond. I walked down to the Fraser River and spied this beauty.

Hmmmmmm?

This rainy day also took us to Stanley Park in Vancouver

My first time to the Stanley Park pavilion, I didn't even know it existed!

Then is was out to the west end of Vancouver into Point Grey

On the way out of the studio after dropping everyone off, I made it about 200 metres before this trained stopped my progress. (missed it by that much!)

30 minutes later

One night a television pilot called The Hundred took me to Golden Ears Park, out past Maple Ridge, which I had never been to before. Unfortunately it got dark real soon, and I will have to head back on day during daylight.

Another sidebar, I had a chance to see one of the great Canadian Legends, Gordon Lightfoot, at the Red Robinson Show Theatre in Coquitlam.

He was awesome, he sang straight for 2 hours!

 A walk around False Creek, this was a stand-off, he eventually won.

Part of my work schedule this spring included picking up this truck that was used as one of the camera trucks on the feature film "Nautilus". I picked up at the Vancouver Convention Centre, then it was straight to the Horseshoe Bay ferry.

Good-bye Vancouver for the next 9 days.

Waiting at the ferry terminal

More of the production trucks lined up behind me. We spent 9 days filming over in Nanaimo and Shawnigan Lake on Vancouver Island, a nice little working vacation for sure.

First on means first off?

Well they are not getting by me.

Waiting to dock.

Oh no!

Departure Bay ferry terminal outside of Nanaimo

They're teasing me.

Pretty nice March day in Nanaimo

that's about more my speed

end of the line, what's left of this bridge was just down the road from where they were filming in Shawnigan Lake

You had to be close to this to realize the size of this massive barge loaded with scrap cars.

A rare chance to visit my sister and her husband, it's been a long time!

We weren't allowed to film on set, so the pictures are limited. Soon enough it was time to head back to the mainland.

One of the services provided to the actors on this film was this mobile gym.

As another day rises in North Burnaby, it's time to get out and explore.

 

This was the start of a trail just off of East Hastings Street in North Burnaby. It is part of the Capitol Hill Conservation Area

It certainly had its pretty sections, but then you would see a glimpse of the refineries down below.

This is just east of the Iron Workers Memorial Bridge, in the Second Narrows.

Not sure what this represents, but too close to the water for my liking.

Aha!

A strange mix of industrial and park land.

Although we did see some signs of life down on the water.

I worked on a show called Christmas Bounty for eleven days. I was part of the set decorating department, and their warehouse was at a placed called Aja Tan studios in North Vancouver. There was still remnants of the set used in the t.v. show Falling Skies.

behind the studio was the Second Narrows. It looks across to where I was walking a couple of days befoe that at the Capitol Hill Conservation Area.

A bit of a ship graveyard over here.

My ride for eleven days.

It was kind of cool being on set.

The start of the holding area for the set decorating dept.

The set isn't real, but the train sure is.

Always read the small print!

This was a Christmas movie, so you need Christmas decorations. This warehouse in New Westminster was full of Xmas goodies.

You could not see the end of it!

This was one of the many prop houses in the Vancouver area.

Christmas in April!

Santa!

the reindeer are in shock at Santa's performance. (the movie is actually about a family of bounty hunters), so I think tacky was in order.

random shot, I think it was by the Barnett Marine Park between Burnaby and Port Moody

this warehouse out in Delta was also full of Christmas bling, and they contract out to make floats for communities, like this one from Penticton

Driving around Vancouver has it's traffic challenges

We had to get a bigger truck for a couple of days for the big warehouse scene in Langley. (apparently there is a wedding that gets crashed and mayhem ensues.)

back to the present, working on Cedar Cove.

check out the old school interior of that beast of a truck, I never found out what half the toggle switches were for.

back out in Deep Cove

and after all that, it was time to get the mountain bike out and burn what was left of my energy. This is at the top of Burnaby Mountain by Simon Fraser University

It was a good trail, a little steep on the downhill for this old mountain biker, but the brakes held until I found more level terrain.