Roadtrip 2010: Part 16 - Vancouver, CANADA

ok. first some pictures from Vancouver. (have i mentioned blogger drives me crazy?)

i was a little obsessed with this map. not really sure why. but here it is!

ignore my face.

the bigger question is WHAT IS THIS THING I'M HOLDING?!

i didn't know squash could get that freaking big!

and yes, pure maple syrup please!

incredible.

giant statues of the same man laughing. kinda funny, but mostly creepy!

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Vancouver. What an interesting place.

I'm not really sure what I expected, but Caroline's family said several times before we left "make sure you don't leave anything in your car. the property crime in Vancouver is really high while violent crime doesn't exist" uh. ok. we took everything out of the car, all our food, our camping gear, and all the other random stuff. The things I recall being left were: a shoe box, some books, a foam sleeping bag, a towel.

So we drove a couple of hours and entered into Canada. The idea alone that you can just do that whenever you want is weird.

This was the approximate conversation with the customs guy at the border... we'll call him "french/canadian guy on a power trip" (fcgpt):

fcgpt: your passports*caro and i hand him our passports, he takes a long time with them.*

fcgpt: you're from florida. you're from south carolina. how do you know each other?
caro: from college
fcgpt: where?
caro: clemson university in south carolina
fcgpt: (to me) you went there?me: yes sir

fcgpt: (to caro) and you?

caro: yes, i went to school there

fcgpt: what do you two do now?

me: i work for a church.

caro: i just graduated.

fcgpt: open your trunk

*trunk opens. he digs around at the random contents left over from DRIVING ACROSS THE FREAKING COUNTRY, comes back to the window*

fcgpt: what is this stuff in your car?

caro: we just drove across the country and have been camping some along the way.

fcgpt: where will you sleep tonight?
caro: in seattle.

fcgpt: you're visiting canada for the day?

caro: yes sir.

fcgpt: where are you staying in seattle?

caro: with my cousins.

fcgpt: but WHERE? what is the address?

caro: (tells him address)

fcgpt: why do you have this stuff in your car? it just doesn't make sense. it doesn't add up. it doesn't make sense for you to have this stuff.

me: we drove across the country. we took most everything out and left it in seattle.

fcgpt: when's the last time you had pot in this car?

*after caroline and i almost choke and gasp and clear the cobwebs out of our ears. surely we have entered the twilight zone. did he just ask us when was the last time we had weed in the car?!)

caro: what? never.

fcgpt: just be honest with me. when's the last time?

caro: i've never had any drugs in this car.

fcgpt: don't lie to me. just tell me. (he's getting angry!)

caro: honestly, i don't do drugs.

fcgpt: (to me) what about you? when's the last time you've had pot in this car?

me: never

fcgpt: you've never had pot in your friends car? even without her knowing?

me: no sir. (IF I HAD DRUGS I WOULDN'T HIDE IT IN MY FRIEND'S CAR CRAZY FRENCH MAN WITH A WEIRD ACCENT. GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE!)

fcgpt: so you've never brought drugs into this car, even if they are not in here right now?

me: (is this real life?) ... no!

fcgpt: you two. you've never had pot in this car?

both of us: no sir.

fcgpt: what are you going to do in Vancouver?

caro: explore. i don't know, we've never been here. we just want to come for the day!

fcgpt: and you're coming back through tonight?

caro: yes.

fcgpt: get out of here.

WHAT THE...? that was such a bizarre experience. i think it speaks for itself.

So moving on...

We drove to Granville Island, which is a part of the city under a bridge. That sounds strange, but is the only way I know how to explain it. Come to find out, it is actually the more touristy part of the city, but oh well. We walked around the market and figured out after stupidly asking this woman that we needed to exchange some of our money. (dumb question in hindsight, but at the time it seemed like a reasonable question).

Then we got some AMAZING Indian food and ate out on this boardwalk type thing that was FULL of people from all over the place! I don't think we said much during our meal but were just so excited about all the languages beings spoken around us, and the beauty of where we were, and just all the fun stuff going on all around us!

We then walked around some and went into some of the shops, which was enjoyable! The two things I remember from this were (1) a yarn shop with good music and (2) lots of left over Olympic memorabilia.

Then we drove through the city to a GIANT park where we changed clothes and went on a run. That was an interesting way to experience a place. Saw lots of people roller blading, playing instruments, laying on the beach, running, biking, and so forth! And I think it was good for both of us after so much riding around... so so much riding around! Like around 4,000 miles worth of riding around!

Afterwards we spent awhile trying to find a place to eat but didn't really know where we were going so we ended up making our way back too Granville island where we went to this fancy restaurant and enjoyed delicious food! And we had just enough Canadian money to pay for our meal and leave a good tip with a few coins left over to save for keeps! woohoo!

By that point we were tired and decided to go ahead and head back to Seattle since it would take us about 3 hours. This was the conversation on the American side of customs.

dude: just went in for the day?

caro: yes

dude: buy anything to bring back?

caro: nope

dude: have a good night.

seriously?

amazing. but we didn't get stamps for our passports! bummer!

Overall, Vancouver was a very peaceful seeming place. I enjoyed it. Very friendly, helpful people (BESIDES CRAZY MAN AT THE BORDER!) And so so beautiful. Wouldn't want to live there I don't think, but would definitely go back!

A day or two later after some final moments in Seattle... I flew out back to South Carolina.

An adventure doesn't even come close to accurately describing this trip... more thoughts to come!