It was a quick decision to harness a free Saturday and wheel off to Canada. Now that we are located in the general Seattle area, “Canadia” is a simple 3 hours off by car, and as I have just found out, also by boat (car ferry).
Mired as I was in my own self-induced panic over pending adventures abroad, it seemed like a good idea to step over the border with the kids and pretend to be on a wild adventure to another world. In truth, as I will detail below, it was a bit more of an adventure than we were expecting, beginning with a bit of delay at the border due to our license plates, and ending with us getting lost in the woods – thanks to no data on our phones, and so no Google to the rescue.
Having not made plans ahead of time, we didn’t get out of the house until about 10:30 a.m. Our new life on an even smaller island means that every adventure abroad starts with a ferry ride. We calculate a casual 1-hour into all plans now, both departing and returning home, and so, we were safely across the water and in Seattle at about noon. Headed north, it was traffic that delayed Canada for an extra hour, and now that I know there is a car ferry between Seattle and Canada; I’ll opt for that next time – the view being somewhat nicer than the highway.
After a suspicious customs officer interrogated us over our out-of-state plate (California, not Washington), we easily navigated our way into Vancouver, a bustling city wedged beautifully between towering snow capped mountains and gorgeous pacific fjords. Truly, the views of Vancouver are perhaps some of the best I’ve ever seen. This, my friends, is a beautiful cityscape.
A quick late lunch at Rangoli (http://www.vijsrangoli.ca/market/index.html), and we headed straight for Stanley Park, the famed natural escape in the middle of busy Vancouver. Without Google on our side, we had to take the old fashioned route – we asked for directions.
Stanley Park is a 1,000+ acre natural public space in the heart of Vancouver. Bordered on three sides by water, the area is now crisscrossed with wooded hiking trials and wrapped in sunny Canadian beaches filled with happy weekend bathers. This stretch of land is believed to have been Coast Salish tribal lands dating back some 3,000 years before the ever-steady flow of Europeans arrived, transforming it over the decades and forcing out those who once lived off these lands – a common story in the Pacific Northwest.
Today there is a spray-park for children, aquarium, totem pole exhibit, miniature train and miles and miles of trails for sunny bicycling, roller blading, and sun bathing. Inside the park, giant conifers shade additional trails for hiking. We managed to get rather lost in this interior area, spending a couple of extra hours trying to find our parking space amid these huge trees and sprawling trails. Tempted as we were to turn our phones back on at the expense of international data charges, we continued to wander, the sun setting beyond the trees.
As much as Canada seems like a mild adventure to another land, it was just enough to really get us out of our comfort zones on a Saturday. It’s the little things we take for granted when out and about in our regular routines. Parking meters, currency exchange, and polite conversation are each a little different than at home, and as small as they are, it is amazing what shakes you out of yourself. For us, the idea that, in the end, we weren’t under the same laws as we would be in the USA, made us (well, made me), question each of our actions. It’s so interesting how somewhere so close to home, and so similar, can still feel so completely foreign.
Though our trip to Canada was brief this time, it was a needed exercise in change and will be followed by many more adventures in the near future – I hope!
13 Adventures 