Seattle and Vancouver Day 1

And we're off! Cindi and I had planned a trip to Vancouver several months ago. I would drive and we would stay in Cindi's time-share condo smack dab in the middle of downtown Vancouver. I had arranged with Nancy to stay with her and Sam on Saturday night and we early Saturday morning, we packed up the car and hit the road. Cindi had made some "Supernatural" themed CDs that we listened to, along with Jars of Clay and some James Taylor and whatever was in the front area of my car, as the rest of the CDs were buried in the back. The drive was long but luckily uneventful, other than getting turned round a bit getting off the freeway at Sam and Nancy's exit, and we made some good time. It was so wonderful to see the Bents and their lovely house in Bellvue. The fog was deep and heavy but that didn't keep us from heading into downtown Seattle to wander around.

It was necessary to get some drinks stat so we used the gift card Nancy gave us to eat and drink at Wild Ginger's, an Asian themed restaurant a few blocks away from Pike's Place. We shared the duck platter and on my sweet Jiminy Christmas was it delicious. They gave you these little buns and you made a sandwich with the duck, some cilantro and some plum sauce and then it's like a party of joy in your mouth. So freaking good.

We also wandered around a darkened Pike's Place, popped into the original Starbucks so that I could charge my phone up a bit, and then went down to wander about the waterfront and the giant (but smaller than the London Eye) ferris wheel that hadn't been there the last time I was in Seattle.

The next morning, we attended mass at St. James' Cathedral in downtown Seattle, close to the freeway. The church was gorgeous and while Cindi was taking pictures afterwards, one of the church members told me about the history of the church. It was a nice service- my first Catholic mass in a long time- and the front door reminded me a lot of the door to the Church of the Announciation in Nazareth. And then it was hitting the road!

Almost, that is. First, we stopped at a Starbucks in Everett to have a quick catch up with the Kirb-ster. Words cannot describe how lovely it was to see her and hear how well she is doing and to get a glimpse of what her life is like. She looked great and kept me laughing as she usually does and I'm so glad that things worked out so perfectly in getting to see her.

On a side note, we also introduced Cindi to this. Love it.

Then it was hitting the road for real. Getting through the border was not a big deal with the 60 mph speed limit between Seattle and the border drove me crazy! Our first stop of the day, because we couldn't check into our hotel until the mid-afternoon, was the UBC Apple Festival. We found a prime parking spot and while the Apple Festival was smaller than I expected, we were given free reign of the gorgeous Botanical Gardens, got to sample some apple hybrids, enjoyed the small natural remedies garden, and there was some very catchy and upbeat live music. It probably would have been more enjoyable if we had some Canadian money to pick up some apples or a pie or something but it was still a good way to pass the time before heading into downtown Vancouver and checking into our room.

The view from our room was freaking stunning. My window overlooked a line of red trees that would only get redder when the fog was out (which it would be often over the next week). There was a living room with a sofa, chair and table, as well as a TV/DVD player, fireplace and connection to a fully stocked kitchen and dining nook. There were two bedrooms and two bathrooms and plenty of space for two people. I'm not sure if I can ever go back to hostels again....

Because we didn't want to waste the remaining daylight and weren't that hungry, we headed out to explore the area. We were only two blocks away from St. Andrews, where Season 2's "House of Holy" was filmed. We didn't see a seance happening, but, unlike last time I was there, I was able to go inside and see the gorgeous stained glass windows. We also walked down to Canada Place and saw an unexpected outdoor exhibit on the War of 1812 and it's role in Canadian history. While in it of itself an interesting topic, locationally it seemed a bit off. It would be like California having an exhibit on the Revolutionary War. Historically interesting, locationally odd. I loved walking up and down Canada Place and seeing the bizarre and unique names of Canadian towns within the nine provinces. Our last stop was Gastown, a lovely place before it gets dark, and the Gastown Steam Clock. Which is just that. These two guys kept taking annoying pictures in front of the clock so I rudely stood in the back and made sure I was in all of their pictures. Don't make me get all passive-aggressive on you.... Just saying...

A lovely perk of having a full kitchen was that we could save a bunch of money and make our own dinner. Cindi made some amazingly delicious burritos that we had with chips and salsa and sangria while watching a few Supernatural episodes and doing research for the next day. We had a LOT planned for these five days!