Monday, June 14, 2010 Can/Van Day 1

Per Toyota, the car was missing on one cylinder due to rodents having chewed through some electrical wiring. Good grief! Hope it shocked their little mouths. Rodent chewed wires are not covered by the warranty. Fortunately, the fix was quick and I blasted off for the border where a cute little multi-tasking border agent with a Gerber baby hair-do asked how long I was going to be in the country while he drug my passport through the scanner and craned his neck to view the contents of the van through the side window. When I said I'd be in country for about six weeks, he asked if I was traveling alone and I made a joke (I thought) about running away from home. His face fell and he earnestly asked what was going on back at the house that would cause me to run away. (Mental note. They look like us but have very little sense of humor :-) After a brief bit of border crossing therapy, I moved on through the town of Surrey into Vancouver. First impression - soft green vegetation, cool clean air, bright blue water, bustling population. Spent some time driving around the city to get a feel for the traffic. Then drove through Stanley Park, over Lions Gate Bridge, and up to a currency exchange where I found that it only took 93 US cents to puchase one Canadian Loonie (the Canadian one dollar coin has a picture of a Loon on one side, hence the name Loonie [yes,there's a duck on the buck] Stop me if this is old news.) Then found the Hostel International location on Burnaby St in downtown Van that will be my headquarters for a few days. I've not previously had the hostel experience. Two British girls (Fran and Jess), one Aussie chick (Tascha), and Porter in bunk beds in a room no larger than my kitchen pantry (see pic above). We're all gettin on famously and I'm upgrading my language skills to include some of the finer elements of the Australian vernacular and some clever British witicisms. Jess and Fran found some fun local guys who weren't too dodge (British term) on a walkabout (Aussie term) earlier in the day and the guys took Jess, Fran, and me on something of an evening pub crawl that lasted until the wee hours but that did not involve the civil authorities. At all. Rico and Bennie - in my book you guys are the unofficial Ambassadors of Good Will for the city of Vancouver. SHAMELESS PLUG FOR THE BAYSIDE BAR WHERE RICO IS MANAGER. The last photo above is of the Davie Community Garden which is a beautiful veg/flower garden divided into small plots that are tended by the citizens of the Davie Street Community. This garden is smack dab (Red Neck term) in the middle of a big bustling Bohemian city, but if you crop out the high rises, parking garages, and asphalt you're in Grandma's garden in the country. Well done Vancouver.