Arriving and Exploring Vancouver

Sunday, May 10, 2009--San Antonio to Vancouver via Denver

My friend Lyn made a brunch for Jack, Drew, and me. We had about 6 cold salads with crusty garlic bread and wine. Then we had coffee with chocoate cookies. It was so tasty and just right as a send-off for the trip.

Jack and Drew drove me to the airport where everything went so smoothly. I already had my boarding passes, so all I had to do was check my one bag. I went downstairs and talked to one of the Volunteer Ambassadors for a while to pass the time. Then I went to the gate.

Both flights were on time, and I had great seating in the Economy Plus sections. The knee room was so nice.

It was drizzling when I arrived. After being asked LOTS of questions by immigration, it took an extra long time to get my bag. Then I ran into a bit of a problem trying to get cash. The first machine would not let a card be inserted. The second machine took my card, but after humming over and over again sent the card back out saying the transaction was canceled. Since all the ATMs at the airport were operated by the same RCB company, I realized I needed another plan. There was a 7-11, and inside it was an ATM for another company. It worked.

Taking the bus to town went smoothly. I waited only a moment for the airport bus, then it took only a few seconds to transfer to the downtown bus at the Airport Station. The bus dropped me off just across the street from my hotel. It was about 20:30 at the time.

The hotel was much nicer than I expected. It is very stylish and seems newly remodeled. There are nice paintings, comfortable comforters, chocolates on the bed, a flat-screen TV, etc.

This trip was scheduled 5 years ago. Unfortunately, that was the trip when Arne had his stroke. After he died, I had to take his remains back to Denmark. It's a nice area. I think he would have enjoyed being here.

Wes arrived about 1:00 having had no problems himself on his flights. We visited briefly, then went to bed.
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Monday, May 11, 2009--Vancouver

It was raining this morning. In fact, the forecast calls for a 60% chance of rain every day this week. Wes had not brought an umbrella, so buying him one was our first task after having breakfast--scrambled eggs with bacon, juices, coffee, muffins, cereals, etc.

We wandered the downtown area seeing the waterfront with all the sea planes coming and going, the Gastown area with its old storefronts, Chinatown, two old train stations, etc. We stopped at the downtown Costco (only 7 blocks from our hotel) to have a hotdog for lunch.

Because of the rain, we went to the Imax in the afternoon and bought a discount ticket for seeing two features back-to-back. We saw Space Station 3-D and Under the Sea 3-D. Both were very good films. I thought that Under the Sea was especially well made, though. The fact that Tom Cruise narrated the Space Station film bothered me; I would have preferred an unknown voice.

The sun was out when we left the theater. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the downtown shopping area. Vancouver seems like a very big city. It is filled with highrise apartment buildings that all seem brand new, and the residents of all those apartments suppurt block after block of stores.