Vancouver, eh

Lynne and I went to Vancouver area last weekend. Specifically, Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.

You can see Nanaimo over there to the left of the V in Vancouver.



After getting bumped from our flight while returning from Sheri and Meghan's wedding last year, we each had a $300 travel voucher that expired on 19 September. We quickly made reservations to the furthest place we could get under $300. Hellloooo Vancouver. $297 each including all taxes.

Friday, 15-Sep-2006
Flew out of SFO at 0730. Arrived in Vancouver, and jumped on a bus downtown where we had to change busses to get to the ferry. Really enjoyed the bus ride from downtown Vancouver to the ferry terminal. We got to share the bus with about thirty 15-18 year old island punks that had just been to see the Chili Peppers the night before in Vancouver. Did I say punks? Oh, sorry that was rude. I should have said obnoxious jerk loud inconsiderate (and many other words that my mother clearly wouldn't approve of) punks. Really, and it's not just that I'm old now. Some of them were so loud and obnoxious that even some of the obnoxious punks were embarrassed by them. The had all the seats of the bus filled, while many older folks (even older than me!) had to stand, they said f*** every other word very loud, and ... oh god, I am old aren't I? But really, I was never like that, and none of my friends, well, except for Steve maybe, were like that as teens.

Sheesh! So anyway, we took the ferry that follows the dashed line that goes along above "Vancouver" in that map up there (one end in Nanaimo, and the other at that "101" box), and got into Nanaimo about 2pm. Here's the ferry docking at Horseshoe Bay:

I think if you consult Athens, you'll find that this ferry can carry up to 362 cars on two decks.

Kind of interesting. Got on a plane in the early morning, grabbed a bus in the late morning, jumped a ferry at noon, walked a mile, and were reclining comfortably in a motel 1000 miles away by early afternoon.

Got some food and walked down to the "seawalk" which is basically a path that winds along the waterfront to downtown. Some cool boathouses:

Liked the green door, and the bright yellow barge.

A bit further along here's the view from a bench looking out at the harbor:

Okay, so it's actually a view OF the bench looking out at the harbor. But still nice.

We hit perfect weather- it was gorgeous on Friday and Saturday. Sunday morning it was a bit blustery and sprinkley when we walked back to the ferry.

More Vancouver to follow (oh boy, you say...).