Seattle, Here We Come

We packed up after our visit to Kamloops and prepared for the final leg of this adventure. Sherwood agreed to take on the pilot duties for this last stretch of "white knuckle" driving and performed flawlessly. She got us down from the heights and we were soon moving past huge agricultural areas.



The territory to the east of Vancouver is filled with cattle and horse ranches, miles of row-crops, vineyards, orchards and poultry farms. The small towns along the route proudly tout their agricultural lifestyle and they certainly earned that privilege. Even though we were running short on time (based on when we had hoped to get to Seattle) we opted to make a stop in Vancouver as originally planned.



It was going to be impossible to make it to Victoria but we just decided that would provide incentive for a return visit. Entering Vancouver is quite a chore on the main highways right now because of the tremendous amount of construction being done.
In addition, the route we took carried us through some of the seedier sections of the city. But we worked our way to the "city centre" and stopped at Starbucks to finish off our Canadian Currency. Then, it was on to the waterfront to see what we could see.

The Convention Center provides a perfect place to see the constant hubbub of activity in the waters around Vancouver.




The eighth largest city in Canada, Vancouver has become a true "melting pot" for a diverse and fascinating population.  Just walking around the waterfront exposes you to a tremendous international presence and the place defines the term "cosmopolitan."  After a brief, but enlightening, visit we headed for "The Peace Arch", the gateway to the U.S. We properly "yessirred and nosirred" the stern T.S.A. Border Guard and were soon cruising toward the Seattle skyline. We reached our hotel, got checked in, returned our trusty steed to the gigantic 'rental car return complex' and headed over to Dave's Diner, one of our familiar eating spots, for our final evening meal on the road. It was the end of a long and incredibly emotion-filled trip and although we had had a great time .... it was time to go home. So, we'll set the alarm for an absolutely ghastly hour and hit the sack. We'll be knocking on the door early so sleep fast.  And, tomorrow we'll be back with the wrap-up for this trip so check back in with us. See ya!!


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