This morning we are leaving Skagit Valley. It was the first cloudy day we have encountered here. We will travel to Bellingham, drop off our rental car then catch an Amtrak train to Vancouver BC.
The Morgan’s dropped us off at the train station. It was sad to say “goodbye” to the people who have been so very kind to us the last several days.
When we got to Vancouver and through customs, we took a cab to the hotel. We got into a conversation with the Iranian driver about politics (we were all in agreement about the state of the world). One notable comment was “When the US sneezes,Canada catches the flu”. I thought that was a great observation.
Went to a great place for lunch, Joey’s. They have a lamp I want for the Carolina room.
After lunch we came back to the hotel and crashed. Having had such an active week in Pugit Sound, we needed some down time. In the morning we are to meet the shuttle to the Rocky Mountaineer at 8:00 am. Fortunately we leave our bags in the hotel room to be transported to the next hotel.
We got to Vancouver the day after a tragic event where a fellow drove his car into a community celebration killing eleven people. It was a Filipino celebration. Our waiter at a restaurant was part of that community. We spoke with him at length about the happening. It seemed to me that he needed to talk about it. The offender had just been discharged from a mental facility. It was a sad and poignant conversation.
On a much happier note. Since I have so many nights at Marriott hotels, I have lifetime “Titanium” status. This gets me into the club room at hotels that have them. So, we went to the club room for a light snack before our evening walk. There was a great view of the city.
Observation for the first day in Canada. When we left the US we were wondering how we would be received in Canada. There had been comments about being the 51st State, tariffs, border enforcement…. We were told by numerous people in Washington that there was a huge downturn of the number of Canadians coming to the US. We standout as being from the US, (we are both wearing LL Bean outerwear, what Canadian would do that). Well, this first day, every encounter was remarkably delightful. From the border officials to wait staff at restaurants, everyone was remarkably kind and nice.
Backpacking Bill 