Alaska Adventure Day 1 Vancouver

As John lugged my bulging bags out of the motorhome, he asked me what in God’s name I was taking on this two week trip. While I could blame the large bottle of wine for part of the heft, most of it was clothes, clothes and more clothes. We got an early start to the airport and as John dropped me off, we both realized that this was the longest stretch of time that we have been apart –ever!

I used curb-side check-in, wanting to avoid the lines at the main counter. The couple in front of me was very well dressed, and she had obviously expensive jewelry on. They were lugging 4 HUGE bags—all 4 of them larger than my over-stuffed duffel bag. They mentioned going on a cruise-so we started talking. It turns out that they were on our cruise. They were stunned that I only had one large bag. They had packed one entire bag with turtlenecks, jackets and warm clothes. I wasn’t sure whether to feel superior for my packing skills or worried about my lack of winter clothing.

The flight to Minneapolis was uneventful. It was such a jolt to be traveling by air again. Even more so with the aging aircraft, the aging flight attendants and the complete lack of any amenities. No blankets, no pillows, no snacks (unless you want to buy them). “NorthWorst’s” planes didn’t even have video monitors for their safety presentations. It was back to the old flight attendant in the aisle with their props demonstrating how to buckle the seat belt and use the oxygen masks.

I got to MSP before Mom, so I headed to our gate to wait. By the time she made it to our gate, it had changed and we made our way to the new gate- in time for a sandwich and a Starbucks latte. Another uneventful flight- and we landed in Vancouver. Canadian Customs was a breeze—no problems at all with Mom’s Birth Certificate and supporting documentation. We grabbed a taxi and drove to our hotel. It was a charming little boutique hotel- very friendly staff and a small, but adequate room (although, it was a bit of an obstacle course with our huge bags).

We dropped our bags and decided to walk to Robson Street, the main shopping street of Vancouver. With Starbucks on nearly every corner, it felt a bit like Seattle. (Turns out that there are 91 Starbucks in Vancouver – On Robson Street, there are two on one corner!) Walking the streets of the city, the first thing we noticed was the large number of Asians and Muslims. In fact, we were definitely in the minority. We found a Malaysian-Thai restaurant with tables on the second floor overlooking the street. So, while enjoying dinner (Beef rending and Green Curry), we had a front row seat to some great people watching. We did get a bit concerned when a large, strange looking guy stopped in front of the restaurant, taking off his shirt and doing some kind of washing then started to unpack some suitcases. He did it very methodically- and thoughts of crazed suicide bomber came to mind. Fortunately, we were done with dinner- so we got our check and made a hasty retreat.