Seattle Vancouver
Seattle – Vancouver, BC
The trip from Seattle was pretty much uneventful, other than, and mostly because, I had a hangover from the previous night’s events. The Cascades trains are comfy, and there is an electrical outlet for each seat. I had ample time to make updates to the blog, but lack of internet coverage prevented me from posting them. It wasn’t until I got into Vancouver and had some spare time that I was able to find a hotspot (SSID: SMC) at the bus terminal end of the station.
The benches in the Vancouver Station are subdivided so there’s no real place to lay down. My back was killing me. Some of the track between Seattle and Vancouver is pretty rough and the train jerked back and forth laterally for quite awhile. And lugging my baggage around while hungover didn’t do me any good either.
Arriving in Vancouver I had to clear Customs. Every time I cross the border it throws them for a loop, because I hold a Canadian Passport, but live in the USA. I never really declare anything, because I really don’t have anything to declare. Since I’m only ‘visiting’ Canada, all my possessions don’t fall under duty….even my camera or laptop. The Customs Agent noticed my passport expires in the next week or so. I commented that I’ll get it renewed when I get to Halifax. Sidenote: Cdn passports are issued for 5 yrs. I got mine a few days before moving to Colorado Springs, and about 6 months after I got married. So I’ve been in the USA almost exactly 5 yrs.
A bit more than a smile and a wave and I was through. I think he was trying to trip me up when he asked how many days I planned to be in country. I had already put ‘90’ on the form.
Once through Customs I proceeded to the Via desk to get ticketed for my trip to Winnipeg. My reservations weren’t in the system. Apparently if you don’t pick up the tickets within a couple of days they get deleted. WTF? Isn’t that what reservations are for? RESERVING a spot! Not that is was much of a problem, but what if the train had been full? After getting my tickets I checked my baggage through to Winnipeg. I knew by the time I got to there I’d want to open up the suitcase for some winter clothes.
The baggage clerk informed me that it was Chinese New Year, and that Chinatown was only a few blocks down from the station. And that there was probably a parade going on. Which there was as you can see from a previous post. I enquired if there were any lockers to stow my extra carry-on luggage to which she informed me that the ticket counter would temp check carryon’s for $2.50 per bag. Since I had my laptop wrapped around the handle of my wheeled carryon bag the attendant only charged me for the one bag. With my camera bag in hand I headed out in the overcast Vancouver wilderness.
Currently listening to: American Woman (…stay away from me) live extended version from the Guess Who’s ‘Running Back Thru Canada’ album
The trip from Seattle was pretty much uneventful, other than, and mostly because, I had a hangover from the previous night’s events. The Cascades trains are comfy, and there is an electrical outlet for each seat. I had ample time to make updates to the blog, but lack of internet coverage prevented me from posting them. It wasn’t until I got into Vancouver and had some spare time that I was able to find a hotspot (SSID: SMC) at the bus terminal end of the station.
The benches in the Vancouver Station are subdivided so there’s no real place to lay down. My back was killing me. Some of the track between Seattle and Vancouver is pretty rough and the train jerked back and forth laterally for quite awhile. And lugging my baggage around while hungover didn’t do me any good either.
Arriving in Vancouver I had to clear Customs. Every time I cross the border it throws them for a loop, because I hold a Canadian Passport, but live in the USA. I never really declare anything, because I really don’t have anything to declare. Since I’m only ‘visiting’ Canada, all my possessions don’t fall under duty….even my camera or laptop. The Customs Agent noticed my passport expires in the next week or so. I commented that I’ll get it renewed when I get to Halifax. Sidenote: Cdn passports are issued for 5 yrs. I got mine a few days before moving to Colorado Springs, and about 6 months after I got married. So I’ve been in the USA almost exactly 5 yrs.
A bit more than a smile and a wave and I was through. I think he was trying to trip me up when he asked how many days I planned to be in country. I had already put ‘90’ on the form.
Once through Customs I proceeded to the Via desk to get ticketed for my trip to Winnipeg. My reservations weren’t in the system. Apparently if you don’t pick up the tickets within a couple of days they get deleted. WTF? Isn’t that what reservations are for? RESERVING a spot! Not that is was much of a problem, but what if the train had been full? After getting my tickets I checked my baggage through to Winnipeg. I knew by the time I got to there I’d want to open up the suitcase for some winter clothes.
The baggage clerk informed me that it was Chinese New Year, and that Chinatown was only a few blocks down from the station. And that there was probably a parade going on. Which there was as you can see from a previous post. I enquired if there were any lockers to stow my extra carry-on luggage to which she informed me that the ticket counter would temp check carryon’s for $2.50 per bag. Since I had my laptop wrapped around the handle of my wheeled carryon bag the attendant only charged me for the one bag. With my camera bag in hand I headed out in the overcast Vancouver wilderness.
Currently listening to: American Woman (…stay away from me) live extended version from the Guess Who’s ‘Running Back Thru Canada’ album
posted by HotShot at 10:12 PM
1 Comments:
Hiya Hun!
We are watching your journey home with a lot of interest. The pictures are fantastic, as usual, and the blog itself really interesting. Keep it up and can't wait until you hit God's Country... the Atlantic Provinces!
Big Hugs!
Lauri
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