Alaskan Vacation- Day 2

Today we woke up in Seattle, Washington. We had a delicious breakfast at the La Quinta we stayed at close to the airport. 

After getting ready we had the hotel shuttle take us back to the airport where we picked up our car and headed for Vancouver, British Columbia. The landscape was beautiful. It reminded me of the highways we travelled in Oregon. I drove until Mt. Vernon, where we found a Taco Time for lunch… yes, Washington has Taco Times! Karen asked the cashier if they had a Walmart and she said, “Oh, yes, and it’s a SUPER Walmart!” She was so excited to tell us- the homely lady from Mt. Vernon with a big flower smack dab on the top of her head. It was pretty funny! We found the “Super” Walmart down the street and got a new suitcase for Karen. (Even the Washington Walmart’s have odd people in them! It must be a Walmart thing.) 

Brandon drove the rest of the way, Karen “naggivated”, and Diane and I caught a few Zzz’s in the back. We woke up when we arrived at the Canadian border. The border patrol girl was very serious and had a lot of questions to ask. When we asked her if she could stamp our passports she frowned at us and said they usually don’t do that, and if she did she would have to do a background check on us. I quickly declined because I know how long the stinkin’ background checks can take!  And then she asked if any of us had ever been handcuffed. What a strange question. We all said “no”, except Brandon who said “Well, it depends, are you talking about the bedroom”? UGH he can be really embarrassing sometimes! Everyone (except for me) laughed and the border patrol girl giggled and said we passed our background check. (There you go mom- I guess this is the new background check you can start giving employees!)

Now we are officially in Canada, so Brandon had to start with the “Weird Canadian” jokes... And hasn’t stopped since.  Vancouver wasn’t too far past the border, but once we got into the city we had a hard time figuring out where to go. (Since my dumb Garmin decided not to show any place in Canada, except for New Brunswick.) There are a few things we learned about Vancouver- They love their hedges. They act as fences, but some of them are 10 feet high and trimmed immaculately. Maybe we should start a hedge trimming business and move to Vancouver, eh? They also have narrow lanes and drive very fast (a lot faster than us dumb Americans that don’t have a GPS)… therefore, they also love to honk their horns. We heard a lot of horns. They have lights that flash green, but only sometimes. We still haven’t figured out why, so if you know, please educate us. Most of their busses run on wiring similar to the Trax lines in SLC. Did you know that Vancouver is one of the most LGBT friendly cities in the world? Hum, now we do. I am pretty open minded, but Brandon isn’t so he cracked a lot of jokes. Did I mention he can be really embarrassing sometimes? Vancouver has a lot of bridges, a lot of one way streets, and a lot of people that ride bikes. They like to ride bikes fast through the intersection, especially when you’re turning and don’t see them. Weird Canadians. 

Once again, Brandon was the driver, Karen gave support and encouragement, and Diane was the naggivator. I chose the role of sitting back and being quiet because, out of every female in the car, I would be the one to make Brandon mad! We all did our jobs well and got to the hotel without too much grief. The hotel was in a dingy part of the city and was a little older, but the guy at the front desk was really friendly and had us laughing. Our room was pretty nice despite the small beds (we really miss our king bed).

After getting settled in our room, we decided to go out in search of food and to explore the city. The hotel lady told us not to miss Stanley Park, so that’s where we went. I am so glad we didn’t miss it! 

I think it is the most beautiful “park” I have ever seen! While there we saw our first real Canadian Canadian geese. They weren’t just the imposters from America! We also so our first Canadian African American squirrel (he really was black)! We stopped at the totem poles for pictures and of course, had to giggle at the totem that had a naked guy riding a whale. Karen bought a bag of the “best chips in the world” and they did turn out to be the best chips we have ever had! Too bad we couldn’t buy a case and send them home because they were gooood! 

After Stanley Park we drove across Lion’s Gate Bridge. It was 3 lanes across and they would change the direction of traffic according to the flow. We tried to figure out how it works if you’re in the middle of the bridge when they decide to change it. I wouldn’t want to be the one to find out! We found a yummy restaurant on the beach to eat at and watched the sun go down. It seems like everyone in Vancouver is never in a hurry. They stroll along and take a long time eating. Out of everything I saw in Vancouver that’s one thing I would like to take back with me. I feel like we’re always rushing somewhere and miss out on the small things in life. Sometimes we need to take a deep breath and take in the world around us.