vancouver, bc.

July 19th

We left the farm this morning.  I feel much better now that we have decided to tweak our trip a bit.  I was all for the manual labor and learning about sustainable farming.  It just wasn’t the right fit for our family with dogs, and I feel like we are making the right decision.  We are shaping our travels as we go, and that’s ok.

Look out, Vancouver, here we come!

We decided since we are so close to the Canadian border, we might as well visit.  I wasn’t crazy about the idea at first.  I thought it would be a waste of time, gas, and our limited funds.  But I am glad we did go.  I was having fun before we even got there!  Crossing the border was exciting for me.  I imagined we were spies as we were questioned by border patrol, and I invented alternate lives for ourselves that involved a life of secrets and smuggling.  I thought to myself as we were questioned by the Canadian officer, “Boy, do we have you fooled! We are SPIES!!”  I even said it out loud after we passed through, and Eric said I shouldn’t say that so close to the border.  I know, I have an overactive imagination.

On the beach near downtown Vancouver

As we approached Vancouver, we were fascinated by all the Canadian cars (same as in the USA), the Canadian people (no different from Americans, really), and Canadian businesses (like Pier One and Wendy’s).  Ok, but it was the CANADIAN Pier One and Wendy’s, which is totally different, right?  We drove around through some park areas, and passed the University of BC campus.  We stopped at a beach park and let the dogs sniff around and snapped a few photos of the city.

Walking the streets of Vancouver

Downtown Vancouver is pretty cool.  Lots of cafes and shops and street musicians and a huge farmer’s market.  There were marinas and piers and it reminded me of Fort Lauderdale a bit.  The dogs did pretty well walking through the crowded streets.  Elsie was so scared of all the noise that she behaved, and Camille was curious but chill.  It seemed like a really cool area of the world, and we wished we could have spent more time there.  Perhaps one day we will return, sans dogs.

A seagull soars in the sky at a pier in Vancouver. I wonder if he speaks French or English.

We spent a few hours in Vancouver, then the plan was to get close to Seattle and get a hotel for the night (boy are we spoiling ourselves!!), then we will drive towards Mount Adams to camp for tomorrow night.  The wait to get back into the US was about 90 minutes.  The line to get back into the USA was MUCH longer than the line for people going to Canada. Weird.

Welcome back, citizens!

Right now the dogs are relaxing in the king size bed of our room at the Best Western in Marysville, Washington and we will be showering and getting some Chinese food soon.  Ahhh, this is the life!  We will savor it before we go back to camp living for awhile.

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