Vancouver and Seattle

July 30,

 

A short walk and even shorter bus ride took us from our campground to the sky train that then delivered us into the center of Vancouver.  The train is a sleek, air-conditioned automated system that runs on an elevated track encircling and running into the heart of the city.  The city is really hip with lots of fit and healthy twenty-somethings living there in ubiquitous glass, high-rise apartments.  It’s really clean and the people are inviting. Twice, at the sight of me looking at a map, someone walked right up and offered help.  The traffic is amazingly light when compared to most big cities.  High gas prices probably have more than a little to do with that, but the mass transit is first rate.

 

We made our way south to the waterfront market where you can buy almost any kind of grocery you can imagine (and it all looks delicious) and then took a little floating bus to Science World, getting there just as they closed.  Even though I liked Vancouver a lot, we decided to head for Seattle the next morning.  Ursula and I wanted to visit the museum of anthropology at the BC University, but the kids protested saying the needed “just a little bit of happiness,” referring to their planned shopping trip in Seattle.

 

We found a place to park the camper at the base of the sky needle and made our sweaty way into the city on foot.  The heat wave was in full swing and we did our best to navigate using the shady sides of the streets. We ended up at the waterfront market just like we did in Vancouver and had some frozen lemonades to cool  us off as we listened to street musicians and smelled the stink of an open air fish market on a 95 plus degree day.  Getting back on the road in the middle of rush hour, we braved the traffic to follow Ursula’s trusty Lonely Planet recommended dinner spot.  

 

The restaurant was Septieme Café. The beet salad really hit the spot and we thought we recognized the very boulongerie we got our bread from in Merrais district of Paris on one of the photos that lined the walls (painted to match the colors of a prominently displayed Van Gogh).   The kids got to shop in an Urban Outfitters just down the block and we ended the Seattle experience with more than “just a little bit of happiness,” we were all completely content.  Two cool Coronas with lime and the feeling we’d turned to corner to head home might have influenced the mood.  I need to consciously savor every moment to keep sneaky thoughts of returning to work from creeping in.

 

Easton Lake is where we camped that night.  It’s a nice state park right off of I90 with full hook ups an a little sandy beach.  The water is ice-cold.   Our plan is to make to Missoula this afternoon and head up to Glacier National Park early Friday morning with the hope of finding an available campsite.