dolari | Oct. 29th, 2008

Oct. 29th, 2008

Thursday, August 14th

Davies Street

We didn't really have anything planned for today, and as I showered, Emily made plans for the day. She decided, now that we were on the other side of the border with the pickup, we were going to take her, and me, as far north as we could go in a day. We packed in, and drove through West Vancouver, through the ritziest part of town, on our way to the aptly named Sea to Sky Highway.

The Sea to Sky Highway made news shortly before we got there due to a rockslide that had completely run over the road. This is THE only road going frmo Vancouver to Whistler (a 70 mile journey) that is feasably drivable, the other route being over 400 miles throught he mountains. Much like the Lewistown Narrows, it's a road that skirts sheer cliffs on one side, and the Pacific Ocean on the other, and almost no wiggleroom. Although there are sections now that look likean honest to goodness freeway, so maybe the upcoming Olympic Winter Games traffic won't have to snake it's way throguh the narrow road to get to Whistler.

Sea to Sky Highway, BC 99

We stopped in Squamish for lunch. If there's anything Emily has addicted me to, is Tim Horton's Ice Capps. And we'd gotten a hankering for one. We stopped into the local Timmy's for one, and when we foudn out their Ice Capp machine was busted, we decided to just have lunch there, before moving even farther north.

Squamish has a huge rock formation called the Chief. What looks like a gigantic boulder watching over the city. It looks just like any mountain till you get close, and suddenly you realize just how huge, shiny and massive it is. Just plunked rigth down next to the town. In the next panorama, you can see just how big it is comapred to the town.

Squamish and the Stawamus Chief, JPEG, 3095x801, 1.89 MB

We left Squamish and the Pacific Ocean, slowly going up in to the Cascades, on our way to Whistler. Going deep into the mountains, the peaks began getting higher, and more and more snow appeared on them. I wasn't in Kansas anymore.

Tantalus Mountain Range, JPEG, 3096x1292, 1.89 MB

Farther out, we pulled off the side of the road at a place called Brandywine, and made our way through thick woods, when I heard the sound of a deep deep rumble coming from up ahead, and an observation post sticking out the side. Another fear of heights inducing anxiety later, I got to see Brandywine Falls...

..and Daisy Lake.

A few miles up the road, we finally made it to Whistler, where a good number of Olympic events will be held in 2010, and the place looks like a gigantic complex of chalets more than a town. Massive crazy looking chalets. We drove around, taking in the sights.

We continued north just a bit, looking for more in Whistler (We were honestly perplexed that there were chalets and pretty much nothing else), and got as far as the corner of BC 99 and Blackcomb Way. At 50° 07' 55.47"N 122° 57' 8.61"W, it wa sthe farthest north I'd ever been.

By now it was early afternoon, and we began heading back into Vancouver. The sights again were pretty much the same, and we passed most of them up, stopping only at the Tantalus Range Lookout for another shot or two (and a German RV, with a license plate that had an UMLAUT!).

Coming back into Squamish, we stopped by Tim Horton's again to see if their Ice Capp machine was working (see, we're addicts). And as another Canadian LJer mentioned, I wouldn't be American if I didn't go to Canada and get a picture of ANYTHING involving a Tim Horton's. So, this picture is dedicated to

kisai.

And a slightly more sightsee-y shot to make up for that last one. ;)

Anyways, the Ice Capp machine was STILL broken, so we stopped by and got a couple of sodas at a 7-11 and made our way back home. Right about where BC 99 meets up with TC 1, we hit a rather hard roundabout curve and Emily's soda spilled all over the driver's side of the floor. We screeched into a church there and stopped for bit while we toweled the soda up.

The truck's Texas plates attract a lot of attention. There isn't a day I'm in Canada where someone doesn't ask what a Texan is doing up in Vancouver. While we were at the church, two people noticed the plates and asked joked about the pickup. One yelled out at me, "What brings you all the way up here from Texas?"

And you know - there were times when I was working at DNP where and I had no freaking idea why I was leaving Texas. What the hell am I doing? I'd think. When I left, I still had that feeling of "What is going on here? Why am I doing this?"

And I replied with "I came up here for her. She's worth it."

And she is.

We got home in the evening, and went to bed early, hoping to get an early start in the morning. The next day would be the last day of the trip for me...and after two months straight with Emily, two weeks in very close quarters, I wasn't looking forward to saying goodbye to her. Not at all.

Thursday, August 14th

..and Daisy Lake.

kisai.

And a slightly more sightsee-y shot to make up for that last one. ;)

Last Day - Thursday, August 14th

I wasn't looking forward really to today as it was the last day of the whole vacation for me. But Emily and

jessie_c were determined to make it fun for me. We headed out to Steveson to the Fisherman's market out there, and for some real fish and chips. I'd never seen anything like that before.

Lunch was a great fish and chips platter using fish caught right there just that day. I really like "real" fish and chips, but sadly, for too too many years (since Barnacle Bill's in San Antonio closed down), the only fish I could get was Long John Silver's, and really, you only eat that when you want to taste the batter.

This however was GOOOOOOOD. I'm wondering if there's something similar in Seattle.

After lunch, we looked around the gift shops there, mainly for a beach towel to put on the bench in my pickup which has slowly gotten more and mroe worn down over the years (especially this trip). We didn't find a towel, but I found a nice little gift for the pickup, to celebrate the end of the Long Trip to BC.

She more than earned that badge. I need to find one of the US flag and Texas, the three nations she's driven in. Maybe one of Cascadia. ;)

After lunch we said our goodbyes to Jesse and made our way back to Peace Arch Park, where this long strange journey began last year. I went mostly to get some images for the beach episode of Closetspace, and a few woods shots for AWFW.

I love how in the Canadian flowebed pic, the tallest object is a flag. And the tallest object in the US flowerbed pic is a surveillance camera. SYMBOLISM.

One thing I did want to see, that I'd missed the last time I was here, was a good look at the US side of the park. Most of the park is in Canada, while a small portion of the main lawn is in the US. The US side, though, goes "sideways" form there, and isn't visibly "connected" to the main lawn. We explored it a bit, and found an antique car being used at a wedding (oddly, the car was on the American side, but the wedding on the Canadian side).

The US side of the park itself is rather bare, looking like it was built to be a large football field, turned into a park. A few horseshoe pits and picnic areas were all I really saw there. We played around on the border here (as we both entered from the Canadian side, we shouldn't have had any problem playing on the border, always under the watchful eye of the US Border Patrol).

The US/Canada Border (right down the ditch).

Looking onto 0 Avenue. The other side of the post? "Pets must be on leash."

First Life Life imitates Second Life Art

We headed back into Surrey, for a final send off from Emily's house. We spent some time together because after spending so much time together, we weren't exactly sure when we'd get back together again. After a few hours of together time, we said our goodbyes, and I headed to the Lynden crossing to head back to the US. I'd be coming back, and one day, I hope, it'll be for good.

The drive home to Seattle was short, and quiet, showing up at Erin's house a few hours later. I pulled up, had a good dinner, and went to bed that evening in my new home.

The trip was over, I was in Seattle, and soon it'd be time to start making preparations for the move to Canada. But that's another story, and we'll tell it when it happens....

Last Day - Thursday, August 14th

I wasn't looking forward really to today as it was the last day of the whole vacation for me. But Emily and

jessie_c were determined to make it fun for me. We headed out to Steveson to the Fisherman's market out there, and for some real fish and chips. I'd never seen anything like that before.