What a day! I look back on all that happened today and can't really believe that it all occurred over such a short period of time. Dom and I have certainly been trying to make the most of the short amount of time that we've been given this week. We woke up bright and early to get ready for the day and enjoyed a great breakfast provided by the hotel. I have to really compliment the hotel that we have been staying at. It was recently remodeled so the rooms feel quite new and nice and all the service has been great. The breakfast was quite nice (well, as far as continental breakfasts can go I suppose) as I enjoyed waffles and your typical assortment of fruits, yogurts, and eggs. They even had little baby Chobani Greek yogurts, something I have oddly fallen in love with recently, so there you go!
After all morning preparations were taken care of, we began our journey to Canada! We decided that since we were only about an hour and a half away from the border that it would be fun to drive up and pay a visit to our neighbors up north. This was something we considered in advance so we were both prepared with our passports. I have never been to Canada and was excited to visit a new place and add another country to my list of travels. The drive went by pretty quickly for the most part, though we did encounter some obnoxious rush hour traffic. As we approached the border, however, it seemed like all the other cars began to disappear! When we stopped at border patrol we were actually let through pretty quickly and then suddenly we were in Canada! I panicked briefly when I began to see signs that indicated the speed limit by Kilometers, but fortunately Dom pointed out that my dashboard did in fact also indicate kilometers per hour as well as miles per hour.
First city after crossing the border!
We initially had just planned on crossing the border and spending a little time at a random town, but we decided that since we were already so far north, we might as well make the rest of the drive over to Vancouver. It was about an hour more than we had planned on, but I think it was well worth the drive. Canadian traffic was very similar in a lot of ways, though it did remind me a lot of Utah in the way that people were a little more aggressive and inclined to rush through yellow lights. There were a few minor things that threw me off. Certain traffic lights would blink rather than show a steady color and we still don't know quite what that meant. There were also no dedicated turning lanes. Most roads that we traveled on had two lanes, and if you wanted to turn left, you would simply be in the left lane. That meant that if you were at an intersection and still just wanted to go straight, you had to wait for the friend in front of you to go. This meant that the right lane got pretty clogged as people wanted to avoid those that were turning! There were also signs all over that restricted left turns at certain hours to avoid busy times. It was nuts, but I think we managed to find our way around pretty well, even as we lost cell service, and by extension, our GPS! We drove in some pretty rural neighborhoods until we suddenly turned and there was a gigantic city right in front of us! Vancouver is huge and is quite beautiful!
Our "Oh look! A city" shot
An amazing view from below the bridge
We drove into the city proper to get a good look at what the general feel was. Though it was tempting to stop and stare at all the things, we decided that we wanted to find a park where we could sit down and have a picnic with some food that we had packed. We finally settled on a park that we discovered just on the outside of the city, across a small bridge. The park was situated on the beach and was incredibly beautiful. We struggled to find some parking and ended up finding a free spot in a residential neighborhood that just required a minor hike to the shore. We set up a blanket on the sand and proceeded to eat our sandwiches and fruit. Even the weather was perfect! While Dom took a stroll along the sand, I pulled the blanket up next to at tree and just enjoyed the view. I also made some dog friends, because dozens of dog owners walked through with their pets.
Picnic on the beach
Our great view. Canada, who knew?!
After spending about an hour or so on the shore we decided to make our way back to the States. Unfortunately our return journey did not go as well as our drive this morning. Without our GPS we got mildly lost. Nothing too bad as we found our way back after a little while....at which point we ran into some serious traffic. We eventually made our way back to the border and unfortunately I made the worst possible choice in regards to a line of cars. The lane that I chose moved incredibly slow. The lines next to us would have about six or seven cars move through the gate while ours had one. We soon discovered why. The awesome border patrol agent that we got seemed sure that everyone was out to get the United States. He did not believe that we actually looked like our Passport photos (could be that they are over five years old) so he insisted on seeing our licenses as well. He then interrogated us for a while, and insisted on going through our cooler. We lost our poor grapes...the grapes we brought from the states. I understand that all of these things are done to protect our country, but it felt incredibly abrasive and rude. After our run in I think Dom and I were both shaken up because we drove for about an hour in silence. It was awesome! I don't handle confrontation well. Fortunately we have both recovered and can laugh about the experience now.
For dinner we decided to go to the Chipotle that is right next to our hotel. We both acknowledged that there are indeed Chipotle restaurants in Utah, but when it is one of your favorite places to eat and is just two minutes away from your location, you have to indulge. It was delicious and we were both quite satisfied.
As the evening came we made our way back into Seattle. We decided to take a ferry to Bainbridge Island. The ferry ride was absolutely fantastic. We left the pier just as the sun was setting. The light made the water and the city both look radiant. I made Dominic laugh as I scrambled around the large ferry taking pictures and looking over the edge of the vessel. We got a spot right at the front where we had a perfect view of everything.
Waiting on the pier for our ferry to arrive.
I'm on a boat!
"Dom, take a picture of me!"
So. Gorgeous.
"Dom! Take a picture of me.....over there!"
Our stay on Bainbridge was a pretty short one. We landed on the island and made our way over to an ice-cream parlor called Mora, which was recommended on many Seattle blogs! Look at us! We are getting so cultured in the world of ice-cream! I ordered a delicious cup of ice-cream with dark chocolate and cheesecake jam flavors. The Cheesecake jam had cheesecake flavored ice-cream as well as real jam! Awh poop I am going to get so fat if I keep eating like this!
Some of the creamiest ice-cream that I have had in a while.
After our quick trip to an amazing island we returned to the pier to hop on a ferry back to Seattle. This time around the sun had completely set and all of Seattle was lit up. We found ourselves at the front of the boat again and had quite a different view to enjoy! We had a great talk and I was so content as well went across the water. I'm so grateful for the great times that we have had, even (especially?) the little moments like standing at the front of a boat with your best friend on a great night.
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