Monthly Archive for September, 2007

Location: Redmond, WA

We are now back in Redmond and ready to pass out, but a quick post is in order before we do so.

We had dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory, which I just now discovered is a big chain of restaurants.  I preferred the idea that it was an independent establishment.  Regardless, the food was good.

After dinner, we drove to the ferry docks.  Since the 9 p.m. ferry is the last one for the day, it was fairly empty, which was nice.  The ride itself went smoothly.

Once we got back on the road, we headed for the U.S. border.  We had been given a hard time by customs upon entering Canada, so we weren’t exactly excited about entering the U.S. again.  When we got to the border, the entire amount of time we spent answering questions and passing through customs was less than 30 seconds.  We know this because we had paused the Sirius and we could tell how many seconds had been spent with no signal – the time we had been under the canopy at the customs booth.  It was amazing how fast and easy it was for us to come back into the country considering how difficult it was to get out and how many horror stories we had heard.

In any case, the drive was easy and we arrived here in Redmond at roughly 1:30 a.m.  Jeff and Shalena had stayed up to welcome us back, which was very nice of them.  Now, Julia, Data and I are getting ready for bed.

Before I post photos, here is a quick list of things that we would like to accomplish while we are in the Redmond/Seattle area:

• We both need haircuts.
• Julia will post her photos.
• Julia must submit another application tomorrow.
• I need to replace my iPod headphones at the nearest Apple store.
• I will call the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles to find out the status of my mail-in license renewal.

Here are some photos from the ferry ride.  Click “there’s more to this” to see them all.

The vehicle bay of the ferry. Continue reading ‘Day 75: To-Do List’

Location: Victoria, British Columbia

I woke up this morning to the sound of Julia sobbing quietly.  I panicked for a moment until I realized that she was still sleeping.  Turns out, she had been having some sort of strange dream.  From what I could tell, she was dreaming that she had been playing field hockey and suddenly all different parts of her body turned to jelly or something like that.  We had a good laugh about it before trying to hunt down some breakfast.

We looked at the menu at Frank’s Honey Bun Cafe, but they didn’t have much of a selection, so we decided to take the easy way out and go to Denny’s.  Neither of us had been to Denny’s in quite a while because there is a Cracker Barrel nearby in Connecticut, so we’ve never had a need.  It wasn’t great, but it filled us up and surrounded us with some interesting company.  First, there was the girl who was eating by herself.  My guess is that she was recently pregnant, but still likes wearing her pre-pregnancy clothes.  I won’t go into too much detail, but let’s just say that certain parts of her torso were significantly larger than the low-cut shirt she was wearing was designed for.  Second, there was the guy in the bathroom.  I went in to pee and he was finishing up in the stall.  After exiting the stall, he came over and stood right next to me at the urinal.  Then, he followed me out.  He looked homeless and sat at the counter stroking his goatee for a while.  Really strange.

After breakfast, we parked in the tourist area of downtown Victoria.  We first went to Miniature World, an attraction with numerous miniature displays.  There were tiny versions of everything from spaceships to the Civil War.  We went through quickly.  It was a fun time-waster and I certainly can’t begin to imagine the amount of time and effort that went into assembling the displays.

We then went to the Royal BC Museum, which was showing an exhibit of artifacts from the Titanic and an IMAX film called Titanica.  Upon entering the exhibit, we were given tickets bearing the names of actual passengers on the Titanic.  As we left, we were able to look up our names to see whether or not we had survived.  I was a second-class passenger who died, while Julia was a third-class passenger who survived.  It was interesting to see some of the artifacts recovered from the wreck in person and then to see them again in the film.  The movie was more of an account of an expedition to dive to the wreckage and one survivor’s story than it was the story of the Titanic, but it was still informative.

We had been thinking about visiting the Undersea Gardens and Bug Zoo, but time did not allow it today, so they will have to wait until tomorrow.

After leaving the museum, we wanted Data to be able to get a workout, so we brought him back to the off-leash area on the waterfront.  There were a lot of other dogs around, so he was able to romp for quite a while.  From there, we drove east along the shore until we got to Oak Bay.  We left the car and the three of us went for a nice jog along the beach before returning at just after sunset.

We then drove back to downtown Victoria, stopping at Subway for a quick dinner before a quick view of Craigdarroch Castle.  We then caught the 9:20 p.m. showing of The Brave One.  The movie could have been really good, but the ending ruined it.  Plus, Jodie Foster is too old for that role, I don’t like Terrance Howard very much and Sarah McLachlan ruins any and all soundtracks she appears on.

Now, we are back at Stain Cafe, which is closing in 10 minutes, so I have to wrap this up.

Here are some photos.  Click “there’s more to this” to see them all.

The space exhibit at Miniature World. Continue reading ‘Day 74: Titanic’

Location: Victoria, British Columbia

We slept in the car again last night, which has become very comfortable. Julia woke up before me and decided to go for a jog with Data, which was probably great for both of them. I used to run in the woods with Data every day before we left for the trip, so he was probably thrilled. We then went back to Blenz for a few before setting out for the day. Our first stop on the way to the ferry was at the Fritz European Fry House, which Chris had recommended to us when we first arrived. We had fries and a veggie hot dog, both of which were good, but not as unique as one would expect from a place that specializes in fries. In fairness, I think their specialty is in their dips, toppings and sauces, not the fries themselves.

After walking around the area and stopping for gas, we set out for the ferry docks. We arrived at approximately 5 p.m., meaning the next ferry was at 7 p.m. We spent our free time relaxing, walking Data and browsing around the little shopping area nearby. Because the Thule top put the Suburban’s height at roughly 7′5″, we had to pay the oversize rate, which was about $90 ($60 for the car, $10 per person plus tax).

The ferry ride itself was easy and uneventful. It took about 90 minutes and we spent most of the time in the car watching an episode of The Wire that I had downloaded. There was a pet area, but it was basically just a small room with concrete floors and nobody in it, so we just let Data hang around on the back seat. We also walked around the passenger decks, but since it was raining, there wasn’t much to see.

Upon arrival at Vancouver Island, we had one initial mission: shower. We hadn’t showered since leaving Chris’, so we both felt grubby. We tried to find the nearest campground, which turned into an adventure. First, we turned too soon and ended up in some coastal town. Then, we couldn’t find the turnoff we needed at all, so we ended up about 30 minutes past the campground we were looking for. Luckily, we stumbled upon some other random campground, where we happily took showers and refilled our water bottles.

After showering, we drove back into downtown Victoria, stopping at McDonald’s for a quick snack. We can tell the city is nice, but since it’s rainy and dark, it will be interesting to see what it really looks like.

We initially went to the Marriott to steal some internet, but their network was horrible, so now we are sitting in the car in front of Subway, which has wireless internet.

Tomorrow, we are going to explore!

Here are a few photos from the ferry.

The Suburban in the hubcap of a tractor trailer.

Pipes on the ceiling.