Time to update our loyal readers on the Pacific Northwest travel log. As you may recall, in January we tripped up to Vancouver, BC, so it's probably time to document that here. We'd heard good things and neither of us had been there before. Since this is the closest venue to see a professional hockey game, Lisa was a champ and got tickets for us to see Dave's favorite team, the NY Rangers, take on the Vancouver Canucks. So we made a weekend out of it. We left at about 1:00 PM on Thursday, which was also game night. Yahoo Maps told us it should take us about 2.5 hours so we drove leisurely, stopped for a late lunch and hit the Canadian b
order at about 4:15 PM. We passed into Canada at 5:45 PM--please note that there is no time difference, we just got held up at the border for 1.5 friggin' hours. Apparently, the post-holiday sales at the Washington outlets, combined with the strong Canadian dollar brings shoppers down from BC in droves and causes mayhem at the border heading back. So, by the time we found our hotel (after a minor directional 
misstep), checked in, and got to the game, it was roughly midway through the first period. Apparently, the Rangers' shots suffer from the same deflation as the US dollar since they produced no goals and our heroes embarrassed us with a 3-0 loss. Didn't they know that we drove for 6 hours and 15 minutes to see this game? The couple sitting next to us were also Ranger fans that had flown up from Portland in an even greater waste of time and expense. Well, we still had a whole weekend to enjoy Vancouver...(?)
misstep), checked in, and got to the game, it was roughly midway through the first period. Apparently, the Rangers' shots suffer from the same deflation as the US dollar since they produced no goals and our heroes embarrassed us with a 3-0 loss. Didn't they know that we drove for 6 hours and 15 minutes to see this game? The couple sitting next to us were also Ranger fans that had flown up from Portland in an even greater waste of time and expense. Well, we still had a whole weekend to enjoy Vancouver...(?)I'm going to cut to the chase here: The weather was absolutely miserable all weekend and put a major kink in our plans to explore the area around Vancouver. In the few spots where the sun peeked out, it was clear that Vancouver is a great city, nestled between the ocean and the mountains. Unfortunately, many of the nearby attractions are outdoors and the weather was not great for sightseeing.
On Frid
ay, we spent a bit of time walking around and getting the layout of the city, ducking into a bar here and there for a drink, and then bagged it an went to a movie. We also booked tickets for an improv comedy show that evening. In the evening, we walked down to the waterfront and took a mini-water taxi across the river to Granville Island where theater was. After dinner at a nearby restaurant, we caught the show, which was somewhat disappointing, and then had a few drinks at a bar, before cabbing it back to the hotel.
ay, we spent a bit of time walking around and getting the layout of the city, ducking into a bar here and there for a drink, and then bagged it an went to a movie. We also booked tickets for an improv comedy show that evening. In the evening, we walked down to the waterfront and took a mini-water taxi across the river to Granville Island where theater was. After dinner at a nearby restaurant, we caught the show, which was somewhat disappointing, and then had a few drinks at a bar, before cabbing it back to the hotel.Saturday, much to Lisa's pleasure, was shopping day. As a conservative estimate, she looked at two million pairs of leather boots. She was in her glory because there were many more options that fit her much better than the boots she was able to find in Seattle. She has a theory on this that you'll have to ask her to explain. After a long, cold, rainy day of shopping and a few cocktails here and there, we headed back to the room and relaxed for a while before going to the restaurant in the hotel for dinner.
Before h
eading back on Sunday, we drove a loop around Stanley Park, a big park on the Northwest side of city center that offers some great views of the city skyline and the surrounding areas. On our ride back, we breezed through the border crossing in about 23 seconds and cruised for most of the way, until....have you been paying attention? Yes, until we then hit outlet country and guess what? More shopping. This was not as bad though since I was able to pick up a few things for myself. I was also able to entertain myself more easily than the day before, when my main form of entertainment was thinking up as many adjectives as I could to describe the boots that Lisa tried on (Beautiful!! Elegant!! Saucy!! Hooker-ish!!).
eading back on Sunday, we drove a loop around Stanley Park, a big park on the Northwest side of city center that offers some great views of the city skyline and the surrounding areas. On our ride back, we breezed through the border crossing in about 23 seconds and cruised for most of the way, until....have you been paying attention? Yes, until we then hit outlet country and guess what? More shopping. This was not as bad though since I was able to pick up a few things for myself. I was also able to entertain myself more easily than the day before, when my main form of entertainment was thinking up as many adjectives as I could to describe the boots that Lisa tried on (Beautiful!! Elegant!! Saucy!! Hooker-ish!!).And so, we wait for better weather, when we can go to Vancouver and tell you all what we really think of it.
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