Canada, day 0.5
We arrived in Vancouver at around 10:15 Saturday night after a pretty pleasant coupla flights up from Los Angeles. We upgraded our seats to the fancier economy and it was like heaven. Seriously. I had no idea what I was missing.
We deplaned and walked to customs with our passports and form in hand. The man at the booth looked at our passports, frowned a little and launched into 20 questions.
Are you staying in Vancouver?
No, we’re headed up to Whistler tonight.
For how long?
Until Friday, like it says right there on the form. (Is he calling me a liar?)
What are you doing up at Whistler?
Vacationing.
Can you be more specific?
Wait, what?
Can you be more specific?
Um… Sleeping? Ziplining?
At this point he rolled his eyes at me, stamped our paperwork and sent us to baggage claim to pick up our bags, which, incidentally were not free to check because despite the fact that we need a passport to get into Canada, it’s not international. Dear United Airlines, you’re doing it wrong.
We got our rental car and began driving. The drive to Whistler is about 2.5 hours, but it is the most convoluted trip through Vancouver ever. It’s like, make a left turn at the green pole, travel 23.4 meters and make a gentle right near the pink bike rack onto a huge ass bridge over a scary body of water. Lather, rinse, repeat for miles and miles. Oh, wait, no for kilometers. Sorry.
Fun fact: The buses in Canada literally say sorry on them when they’re not running. Even the BUSES apologize here.
Also, the lights blink green. They aren’t just green. They flash the green and yellow, which is really kind of confusing. I feel like it’s also a recipe for disaster for epileptics in Canada.
Once you get through Vancouver it’s a drive up what I am sure is a GORGEOUS highway, but seeing as how it was pitch black, uh, I have no idea. I do know that it is windy and that you feel really powerful going 100 km/hour, which I’m pretty sure is like 35 miles/hour. Conversions are confusing.
So is spelling apparently. Because we kept seeing signs for Squamish and under it was another name with a 7 in the name. Like halfway through the word, there was just a number. Canada is not comprised of spelling bee champions, just fyi.
This sign says Squamish, OBVIOUSLY.
And really long story short, we found our hotel and fell into bed until 10 the next morning.
Hello vacation. I live here.
12 Responses to “Canada, day 0.5”
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Welcome! I'm Katie, a 28 year old, full-time graduate student who just happened to have brain surgery in November of 2007 to give my ginormous brain a little more space. This blog chronicles my daily life, from relentless headaches to being a doctor's wife. Sit down, get comfortable and stay for a while.
LOL! The first time I remember reading the signs in Canada I was 13. I looked at my aunt and said “you’re going to drive 100?!” She said, “it’s really only 60 to you”. I have GREAT conversion skills.
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~a Reply:
August 16th, 2010 at 8:30 pm
@~a, Ooh, and one more fun Canada story?
On that same trip, I mentioned that I’d be visiting family. Including my grandpa. Who lives on a farm. BAD call. It’s not a working farm. But I’ve called him Grandpa Farmer my entire life, lol.
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Katie Reply:
August 16th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
@~a, Ha, they’re pretty strict about farming and customs stuff here. I was surprised, but I understand the need.
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Hope you love every minute of your vacation!!
The writing on the sign is in one of the languages of the First Nations tribes of BC… you’ll probably actually see quite a bit of it b/c the First Nations are still quite prominent on the West Coast.
If you go hiking, make sure to find out whether you need any bear mace… better to be on the safe side!
You should come visit Ontario sometime too… Toronto & Ottawa are gorgeous in the summertime!
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Katie Reply:
August 16th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
@Ashley, Our tour guide today told us about the Nation that went all up the west coast (he said from Oregon up), I thought it was super cool. But the signs throw me off every time.
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I was just there for the first time a few weeks ago. Gorgeous! I hope your drive back to Vancouver is during the day because the drive is unbelievably beautiful. Also, you absolutely must do the peak-to-peak gondola trip. Go for the two day pass, it’s worth it. Have fun.
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Katie Reply:
August 16th, 2010 at 8:39 pm
@Jess, We’re doing the peak-to-peak trip tomorrow, I think. It depends on whether I can walk tomorrow. Which will make more sense after I write about day 2. Spoiler alert: we nearly died of our own out of shapeness.
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HA! When I lived in Seattle, I drove up to Vancouver for a weekend to visit an ex-boyfriend. (I was young. I had needs. He was within driving distance. And it all went horribly, horribly wrong, as these things typically do.) On the way back, the US Customs guy was drilling me about what I’d been doing in Canada. I honestly said to the guy, “Revisiting past relationships that died for a good reason and realizing that I need to get my butt back to the States where it belongs.” He laughed and sent me on my way.
Hope y’all have a blast!
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Katie Reply:
August 16th, 2010 at 8:37 pm
@cindy w, Hahaha. That’s awesome. At least you had a good explanation, I was like, well sir, honestly we haven’t had time to think about how we want to relax.
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Also flashing green light = pedestrian controlled light (so when the pedestrian hits the button, it’ll start changing)
Flashing yellow light = go, but go slow.
If you want more info on Vancouver, let me know. I’m around (at work, but around
)
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Nicole Reply:
August 16th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
@Nicole, And when I say around, I mean around by email. Durrrr – am tired.
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Katie Reply:
August 16th, 2010 at 9:02 pm
@Nicole, Thanks! We’re only there for a day, but if you have any suggestions (we’re going to the park for sure, I believe), I’m all ears! And now I understand the lights. Kind of.
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