Last Day in Vancouver

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I woke up this morning to beautiful, bright sunshine! I’ve had awesome weather during my stay here in Sechelt/Vancouver. I slept in this morning waking up around 7:30 or so. I had a shower and went downstairs to enjoy the breakfast that the hotel puts on. It was pretty decent. Scrambled eggs with turkey sausage links, some ’home fries’; chunky potatoes with some chunks of sautéed peppers and onions. Coffee, of course.

Finishing that, I went back up to the room and then got things tidied up. I then went out to start my day. I walked from here to the post office to post a parcel in the mail to Mom, and then walked to Gastown.

I wanted to buy a couple of t-shirts for the family, and took some video and photos (see attached). I found a nifty RFID protecting credit card wallet holder made in Holland (www.secrid.com) I bought mine in a bright yellowie-mustard colour; harder to lose sight of that one!



I enjoyed my walk around downtown. It then got to be lunch time. I decided to have a big lunch so that I would not eat as much at supper due to the flight and upcoming time change back to Ontario time. I had the White Spot Bacon Cheddar Bigger Burger with fries and a Nat Bailey Pale Ale on the side. So tasty. I love the White Spot burger.

After lunch I came back to the hotel to lie down a bit. I didn’t sleep much because of the noisy city traffic, but I rested.

It was then time to change clothes and walk down to Cactus Club in Coal Harbour to meet up with Kristine and some friends. What a great time we had over supper and drinks. Our table was right by the water in the corner which boasted a commanding view of the mountains and harbour / inlet. Gorgeous.

Alban brought cigars with him (so did I) and we did some swapping and after supper enjoyed a stogie outside by the fountain that had a sculpture that I opined looked like ‘lady fingers’ cookies.

After more socializing there, it was sadly time to say goodbye to everyone and walk back to the hotel.

I passed by so many restaurants with patios full of people enjoying their evening. Eating, drinking, playing games, relaxing….the evening was very calm and peaceful. The air was warm from the hot day’s sunshine. I walked up Granville Street towards my hotel and it was busy with people. No buses that I could see at that time on Granville Street either - they must route them somewhere away from downtown or cut service times.

Street people, drug addicts, prostitutes, and other elements of the ‘street’ were peppered here and there. Vancouver’s sidewalks no matter where you are now downtown have a smell of dried urine emanating up from the ground. The streets really need to be cleared and pressure sprayed more often. It’s tragic to see the destruction and human waste drug and substance abuse has on folks.

I made it back to my hotel to pack - man is this suitcase full! I’m happy I don’t have to lug it far. I showered and got the sheets and pillowcases off the bed and ready for the cleaning staff. Used towels are neatly folded and ready on the counter for them along with a l’il tip in cash.

I’m now off to the airport early to pass through security and check this monster of a bag.

I took a taxi from the hotel to the airport; no Uber pour moi, nope. Nice driver. We had a great chat on the way to the airport. The fare was $32.25 - gave him $50.00 and got $10.00 back. Excellent.

I showed my military ID to the Baggage Drop clerk and got my bag checked through. Then it was off to the notorious security checkpoint. The line to get into the line wasn’t too bad, and took a minute and a half for me to get to scan my boarding pass from my phone. Then, I was in the ‘cue’ waiting for the screening line. That took all of two minutes, and then about a total of five more minutes to get my stuff off and in the baskets (carry on bag, shoes, new RFID wallet, iPhone, etc..) the hold up was that there were other bins being scrutinized a bit more thoroughly down the way so we were all waiting for that to clear up.

Finally, I was free and clear. Now it was time to find a decent place to eat some breakfast and then scope out my gate (B13).

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Photos

Store display in Gastown
This was in a hat shop in Gastown.

Friends at Cactus Club
Robert, Suzanne, Caroline, Kristine, Angela, Alban, and Eric.

Doggie Relief Station
Walking through the airport and saw this station set up for dogs. Very cool!

Current view
My blogging iPad set up as I’m typing this with my cup of coffee waiting for my breakfast.