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At the end of January we headed to San Francisco for a weekend getaway. Unfortunately, the trip we planned wasn’t to be. It’s still too fresh for me to rehash in detail so let’s just say that an expired passport and a sudden illness meant we had to pack up and return soon after we arrived.
But all is well that ends well, and we are grateful for the (short) time that we got to spend with our American-residing friends.
A couple of weekends ago Alyssa flew east and I flew west and we met in Calgary. We went to visit our friends Lori and Paul and their girls, Erika, Marin and Nora. We had a great time. It was a weekend filled with relaxation and a few family outings.
We tried unsuccessfully to do some Christmas shopping. We didn’t get any gifts for others but we did pick up a few things for ourselves. It wouldn’t be Christmas shopping if that didn’t happen once or twice. We also visited the largest hunting and angling store I have ever seen. Even if you aren’t the outdoor type I recommend a visit to a Bass Pro Shop. It is quite a store.
Here are a couple of pictures from our weekend, including me beside one the many stuff animals scattered in lifelike scenes throughout the Bass Pro Shop. We also visited the Calgary Zoo. Check-out the picture of Alyssa, Erika, the hippo and the giraffe.
I arrived under the cover of darkness and expect it to stay that way for most of the week. According to the Farmer’s Almanac the day length is expected to be around 6 hours this week.
Aside from the snow covered runway, one of the first indications I was in the Yukon was the snow blower on the sidewalk outside the Yukon airport.
In preparation for my first visit to the Yukon and Whitehorse I did some research. The total population of the Yukon is about 32,000 and more than 24,000 of those people live in Whitehorse. The Yukon was named for the Yukon River. Whitehorse was named by gold miners who thought the rapids at Miles Canyon looked like the manes of white horses. For many years the town name was actually two words.
I’m sure the next few days will bring more interesting information.
Vacation is just around the corner and oh how excited am I!
I got a head start today and stopped by the Tourism New Hampshire website to check out their foilage report. The forecast is good: almost all areas of NH promise to be in “peak” or “near peak” condition for my peeping pleasure come mid-October.
New Hampshire’s tourism motto is “You’re going to love it here.” (Not to be confused with the state motto, which is “Live Free or Die”). I think they’re right.
Google Maps says it takes five and a half hours to get from Portland to Vancouver. Friends have said it can take upwards of six or seven hours. Our journey home on Sunday took us almost 12 hours.
The day didn’t start well. We wanted to grab a quick breakfast we could eat on the road so we stopped in at a place called the Half and Half. We had walked by it a bunch of times over the weekend and it was always bustling. Not sure why. Bad coffee and worse food.
We made up for the bad start by making great time over the first few hours of our drive. Everything changed around 11:30AM. We suddenly found ourselves in the middle of an enormous traffic jam on Interstate 5. The I-5 is a four lane highway so we were pretty concerned when all lanes were stopped. We tuned into the traffic advisory station (there are signs all along the highway telling you to tune into a specific radio station when their lights are blinking) to find out what was going on. Bad news. There had been a terrible traffic accident earlier in the day and all north-bound lanes were blocked. The advisory said all traffic was being re-routed along a smaller highway. The problem was the the exit was six miles away and we weren’t moving.
We finally made it to an exit and luckily found our way to the alternative route. Problem was the alternative route was moving just as slowly. Three hours later we were back on the I-5 moving at regular speed. After a quick re-fueling at Red Robin we were on our way to the border.
As if we hadn’t suffered enough, the wait at the border was excruciating. Another two hours in stop and go traffic. When we finally got close enough to see the border crossing we noticed a number of people were having their trunks searched. Finally something went right and we sailed through the gate when it was finally our turn.
On a trip to Seattle a few years ago, we discovered the Ace Hotel. A low(er) cost hotel right downtown with a very high ‘cool’ factor. An Ace recently opened in Portland so we got to compare the two hotels this past weekend.
To be honest, we don’t remember much about the Seattle Ace except that one wall of our room was covered in Che Guevara posters. If it is anything like the Portland Ace it is home to hipsters and other people cooler than you are.
The Portland Ace is located in the building the used to be home to the Clyde Hotel, which is apparently and old, somewhat famous Portland hotel built in 1912. It is right between the Pearl District and downtown and only a block from Powell’s. Everything has been redone with a very Portland vibe.
The lobby has a library thing going on to reflect Portland’s strong literary scene and each room includes a number of Portland-esque artifacts. For example, the blankets have pictures of elk on them in reference to Portland’s elk statue.
Aesthetics aside, the thing that really makes the Ace is the people. Lots of funky t-shirts, facial hair and laid back attitude. There were also people hanging out in the lobby drinking coffee and reading. It seemed like the same people were in the lobby our entire stay. Professional Acers maybe.
Macs for use whenever you want, a photo booth in the lobby and free pink pearl erasers and Ace pencils all add to experience. Check out this article for more pictures.
If you ever find yourself visiting Seattle or Portland I can’t recommend the Ace Hotel enough. Rarely does a hotel actually become one of the experiences you talk about after your vacation, but with the Ace, it will be.
Alyssa and I finally made it back from Portland last night (more on the long delays later) so expect a few Portland-related posts this week.
On Saturday afternoon we got out of the city for a few hours to take a drive along the Columbia River. Our final destination was Multnomah Falls. Instead of taking I-84 to the Falls, we decided to take the scenic route. The windy road resulted in some great pictures.
If the views from the scenic road weren’t enough the Falls were beautiful.
A couple of Tuesday’s ago I had the good fortune of playing golf at Bear Mountain, just outside Victoria. A few of us who’ve been working in Victoria a lot for the past few months decided to cut out of work a bit early for 18 holes.
Bear Mountain was designed by Jack Nicklaus and is a beautiful golf course. Lots of great terrain, spectacular views and wildlife. We saw at least three families of deer during our round.
You have to take a cart when playing Bear Mountain. Good thing to. There were some serious hills. Each cart was equipped with a GPS system. You could see how far ahead the next group was and how far it was to various parts of each hole, including the pin. Pretty cool.
It was first 18 holes of the golf season and it showed. It took me a bunch of holes to start making a few pars and in the end I didn’t make that many. I did end up winning all the money, though.
The golf course is nestled between a large residential development and a Westin Hotel. The homes apparently start around $600,000 and go well into the millions. Lots of them backed right onto the golf course. Close enough for an errant tee short to end up in their living room.
I’d definitely play Bear Mountain again but not sure I’d buy one of the homes…
On Monday I had to travel up to Kelowna for a day of meetings. It was my second trip there in three weeks. Each time I’ve flown Air Canada and each time my trip back has been delayed because of mechanical problems with the plane. On Monday we boarded the plane, sat on the tarmac for an hour, drove back to the gate, got off the plane, waited some more and finally flew back to Vancouver.
I’m urging Air Canada to please put more effort into the maintenance for the planes traveling the Kelowna – Vancouver route.
