Day 1 - This is going to be an adventure
Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 9:47 pm
August 2, Saturday: Tom said, “I have to pull over here and go inside for a minute; I’ll be right back.” Before long Dan joined me and I told him Tom had to go inside so they can check something out. It was 6:15 pm, we were all in Canada, had already eaten our dinner... day one was turning out great.
After about a half hour both Dan and I started to wonder what Tom was doing in there. We both joke a bit about the fact that Tom is probably enjoying getting the “rubber glove treatment”. Some border guards come by and asked us what we are waiting for. We point to Tom’s bike and say we are waiting for our friend to come out so we can go. It’s been an hour…. what could they be doing in there?
Finally, at about 7:25 here comes Tom with two border guards, I lift my camera to take a picture of Tom and it looks like I am about to shoot Bambi. I can’t do it; Tom’s expression says everything we needed to know. Looking back I should have taken the picture because I can not describe how upset Tom looked. He was devastated, totally blind sided after planning this trip for over a year. Tom would not be joining Danno and I on our trip to Alaska. We agreed to try and touch base in a day or two. Perhaps Tom could work things out and catch the ferry to Haines. He got on his bike and was turned south into the line to enter the United States.
Dan and I decided to stick to the plan and head toward West Vancouver, find someplace to stay, and hit the Sea to Sky Highway north in the morning. We climbed on our bikes and headed north. As we drove through downtown Vancouver on a warm summer evening things were really festive. There were people walking everywhere, taxi’s traffic horns, it felt like we were riding through New York City. By 8:30 we had made our way out of the city and west on Highway 1 to the junction with Highway 99. That is where we saw a big sign that said Highway 99 was closed. (We didn’t know it at the time but a huge landslide had taken the road out.) Now what? Let the adventure begin.
We’ll just head back a few miles to West Vancouver and get a room. We checked three hotels in West Vancouver and they were all booked. At the fourth hotel we asked what was going on. It’s BC Day, everyone is in town to see the fireworks. What? It turns out that BC Day is a Provincial Holiday and kind of like the forth of July if you live in British Columbia. It’s a Holiday weekend, we’re screwed.
A few telephone calls… everything is booked. We are told our best chance is to head back to Richmond near the airport. We should be able to find a room there. We back track through town stopping at multiple hotels along the way but everybody is booked. Finally at 11pm we find a room in Richmond for $230. Ouch! Good thing we ate dinner in Bellingham. We check into our room, head across the street to the Foggy Dew for a few beers and then call it a night.
399 miles and 16 hours after leaving home day one is behind us. This is going to be an adventure.
After about a half hour both Dan and I started to wonder what Tom was doing in there. We both joke a bit about the fact that Tom is probably enjoying getting the “rubber glove treatment”. Some border guards come by and asked us what we are waiting for. We point to Tom’s bike and say we are waiting for our friend to come out so we can go. It’s been an hour…. what could they be doing in there?
Finally, at about 7:25 here comes Tom with two border guards, I lift my camera to take a picture of Tom and it looks like I am about to shoot Bambi. I can’t do it; Tom’s expression says everything we needed to know. Looking back I should have taken the picture because I can not describe how upset Tom looked. He was devastated, totally blind sided after planning this trip for over a year. Tom would not be joining Danno and I on our trip to Alaska. We agreed to try and touch base in a day or two. Perhaps Tom could work things out and catch the ferry to Haines. He got on his bike and was turned south into the line to enter the United States.
Dan and I decided to stick to the plan and head toward West Vancouver, find someplace to stay, and hit the Sea to Sky Highway north in the morning. We climbed on our bikes and headed north. As we drove through downtown Vancouver on a warm summer evening things were really festive. There were people walking everywhere, taxi’s traffic horns, it felt like we were riding through New York City. By 8:30 we had made our way out of the city and west on Highway 1 to the junction with Highway 99. That is where we saw a big sign that said Highway 99 was closed. (We didn’t know it at the time but a huge landslide had taken the road out.) Now what? Let the adventure begin.
We’ll just head back a few miles to West Vancouver and get a room. We checked three hotels in West Vancouver and they were all booked. At the fourth hotel we asked what was going on. It’s BC Day, everyone is in town to see the fireworks. What? It turns out that BC Day is a Provincial Holiday and kind of like the forth of July if you live in British Columbia. It’s a Holiday weekend, we’re screwed.
A few telephone calls… everything is booked. We are told our best chance is to head back to Richmond near the airport. We should be able to find a room there. We back track through town stopping at multiple hotels along the way but everybody is booked. Finally at 11pm we find a room in Richmond for $230. Ouch! Good thing we ate dinner in Bellingham. We check into our room, head across the street to the Foggy Dew for a few beers and then call it a night.
399 miles and 16 hours after leaving home day one is behind us. This is going to be an adventure.