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Map in Vancouver Airport
This map showed us the way to our US Gate The day started off early......
And by early, I mean 3:30 am. I think Trish was up earlier.
The flight from Yellowknife to Calgary at 6am was pretty uneventful. Got a little shut eye, but not much more. We then had 2 hours in the Calgary airport to wander around and catch breakfast before heading to Vancouver.
You know, I've never considered Chilis for breakfast, but it did not disappoint. On to Vancouver, we head through US Customs. Customs was quick and easy. Interesting enough, in Vancouver you are not required to pick up your bag. When going through security and at the US border, there are digital images of your luggage. This is great! and gave me a glimmer of hope that our bag would continue the trip with us.
I've got to say, the Vancouver airport is probably the nicest I have ever been in. Great design, lots of natural light, great use of natural looking materials amongst the steel and glass.
We walked to our gate where we noticed something funny about the map....
Vancouver airport is also forward thinking and offers free WiFi. I was truly happy to see this as the internet is a great time killer. Trish was able to use her iphone on the WiFi also, so it was good for both of us. We sat and had a drink and killed some time.
We had to fly United Express to Los Angeles. I had no expectations as I hadn't flown a US carrier. Other than getting the last row by the washroom in a non reclining seat in what seemed to be the busiest washroom I had even seen and having to sit in the aisle where people waited in line for the washroom and crashed into me as the skootched past each other to exchange spots, we had a great flight. Thank goodness the flight attendant was funny and chatty with the chap across the aisle from me. Sleep flirted with me the whole trip, but i did catch 22.5 winks.
Luggage came without a hitch and we grabbed the shuttle to Thrifty. Interestingly enough their Blue Chip program worked! I was able to head straight to the garage, where I was informed that all I needed to do was head out to the lot, look at the cars in row F and grab one. First of all, let me tell you that I have used Thrifty exclusively for the past 5 years or so. Across Canada, Florida, California and multiple places in Australia. I really like Thrifty, but have found the BlueChip program has failed me a few times at check in. This aside, the program is great for savings, free and has given us a few free days rentals and some great upgrades. This deal was a few dollars less per day for a Medium car, however, it guaranteed you a medium car with the chance of an upgrade into any car higher, thus the choice of a full size car. Unfortunately, all the full size cars looked like cop cars or old man cars in powder blue. Good thing there was a silver Malibu available. We hoped in and headed out
Into 4:30 PM rush hour LA traffic.
This is funny as Trish says she can't read a map. Since our first Florida trip many years ago, I have forced her to read maps. She is absolutely getting better and proved it today. However, the 405 was wall to wall traffic once we got on the freeway. It took just over an hour and a half to 8 miles, but we were able to find the hotel and drive around Ventura Blvd a bit to get a handle on the area. A quick stop at Rite Aid got us some munchies, beer and headache meds as we were suffering a little ache due to the travel.
I've got to say did we score a deal on the hotel. For years I have used Hotwire to gauge what prices should be, and then the companies website to get that deal. However, I was lost this trip. I didn't book a hotel until hours before we woke up to start our trip, although I had looked at hotels for the past 6 weeks. SCORE!!! We landed at the Holiday Inn close to the Universal Gate for 50% off ($79 vs $155 a night). We had to pay for parking (reduced to $11 per day vs $14 for joining Holiday Inn rewards) but the internet is free, got a great room as we had an extended stay (6 days) in a quaint, retrofitted hotel project. Very comfy and great location. We don't generally stay at Holiday Inns due to the price. Great deal!
We really wanted to watch Survivor, and realized that due to the time and Universal's schedule, we wouldn't be able to do much at the City Walk portion. I had a few beers, had some munchies and we enjoyed Survivor.
Fortunately, there is an In and Out burger within a few blocks from the hotel, so i hopped in the car and went for burgers. Unfortunately, there are not as many ATMs around as there are back home. I drove around for about 20 minutes before finding one, right next to the RiteAid we were at early. Live and Learn! be more observant.
We scarfed the In and Out (to die for - you must have these burgers) and crashed..
with no alarm on
and no cats to wake Trish up at 3:30 am..
What to do Friday. Well, there's one Craig Ferguson taping to go to, the 5pm is canceled.
Trish's Report
I don't have much more to add. Has been a pretty easy going trip so far - except for the lack of sleep.
Vancouver airport was great for people watching. Easy way to waste time too. The lady with all her lotions and potions, the lonely man on crutches just looking for someone to talk to. A lady ordering hormones over the phone. T-money boys on a world tour.
Ditto on the late night In n Out burgers. So good... but so bad for you. But that is what holidays are for, right?
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Ian
non-member comment
Hooray for covert phalluses!
I'd like to think that you had me in mind for the bonermap. Take photos of delicious burgers next time! Did I show you my burger album? Drinking beer along with you, hopefully L.A. won't float into the sea while you're there <3 Ian