Restaurants

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Detrenchment

Today was the first day of my last weekend here at Pacific Border and it was beautiful! Here are some of the projects I’ve accomplished:

  • Putting winter stuff away under the rig

I stored the aluminum coated bubble wrap I’d used to insulate the cab window as well as the foam blocks I’d stuffed into the skylights. I left the one in the bedroom, though, because it blocks out the light. I also put away the rest of the winter clothes and took out the summer clothes. I shifted some stuff around and got rid of a tote, freeing up room to store some items like the charger in the basement instead of the cab.

  • Resealing the entrance well

Even though I’ve had a rubber mat over the stair thread, water leaked under. There was also an unmistakable smell of eau de chat.  I washed the stairwell, sanded it, and applied three coats of sealant. I didn’t think that the results would be visually apparent, but you be the judge:

stairs1

stairs2

I used Verathane water-based ‘crystal’ sealant. I love this product–it is easy to use, inexpensive, durable, and readily available. I usually get it at the home store, but Walmart had some for 6$ for a small container.

  • Cleaning the cab carpet

After so many months on the road and a few Tabitha accidents, it was definitely time to degrime the cab floor! I was going to rent a carpet cleaner to do so, but a rental was about 40$ for a day, plus a deposit. Also, the machines were very bulky and I worried that I wouldn’t be able to get into all the nooks and crannies of the cab. I therefore spent quite some time in the vacuum cleaner aisle at Walmart and decided to instead buy a carpet cleaning machine of my own for 80$:

Even though it will mean something extra to store, I have tons of room for it and the machine will pay itself with three cleanings.

I am very impressed with it because it is so easy to use that I even cleaned the seats in the cab, the bucket chairs in the lounge, and the dinette cushions!!! The machine’s footprint is small enough that I can wedge it between one of the bucket seats and the back of the passenger seat so that it can remain handy, but out of the way. It also seems quite sturdy.

This was in no means an impulse buy; I’ve been looking for a compact carpet cleaner and this was the first model I found that seemed halfway decent. So far, so good!

I also, finally (*rolls eyes*) laid down some plastic mats in the cab.

  • Charging the truck battery and testing the starter

I have been remiss in keeping the battery at a good charge, so I trickled charged it this afternoon, then started the truck to make sure it would. It took a bit of coaxing, so first thing I will do Saturday morning is get the charger on it.

I spoke with some neighbours and was told that the Mr. Lube at 200th and the Fraser Highway in Langley will be able to accommodate Miranda, and this without an appointment. That’s right on my way north, so super convenient. If my shopping goes well tomorrow, I might head out of this area on Saturday after all!

Finally, my cats would like to start the rumour that I am the most horrible mother in the world. I would like the opportunity to respond to that. Since I was cleaning the carpets and sealing the stairs, and it was a beautiful day out, I decided to throw open all the doors to make drying easier. I therefore had to ‘lock’ the cats in the back part of the rig (LOVE having a real door!). They had fully half the rig to themselves–the dressing room and the study, with three big windows for entertainment and two skylights for air (plus the shower skylight!). They also had food, water, a litter box, and several soft places to curl up on. They therefore had no reason to be sit at the door howling to be let out!!!

For dinner, I decided to try out Chicken Bob’s Cantina in White Rock where I had their very yummy chicken enchiladas, cantina-style, and a couple of Coronas. Sure felt like a Saturday night even if it’s Sunday. 🙂

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Sushi and Gelato in White Rock

Sushi

At the risk of sounding overly sushi-addicted, I cannot leave this area without recommending Taka’s Take-Out Sushi in White Rock!

This tiny, spotless gem is quite probably the place to go in the lower mainland for takeout sushi. Everything is prepared fresh to order and is beautifully presented.

Tonight I had a spicy tuna cone (big surprise) and I decided to try their ‘mango’ roll. I’m looking at the menu now and Googling ‘masago’, which I suspect is the fish eggs I’ll be picking out of my teeth for a week! Yup! This roll is really yummy, a refreshing alternative to California roll as it combines a comparable blend of textures and tastes.

The last night my friend was here, she wanted one more sushi meal but did not want to go out. I ordered two kinds of teka maki (tuna rolls), a spicy tuna cone for myself, California rolls (theirs are different, with a creamy filling), and ‘dragon’ rolls which are essentially roasted eel wrapped in avocado. We had both wanted to try eel, but were not fond of the dragon rolls; she because the eel did not tickle her taste buds and me because I’m not nuts about avocado. I’m going to have to try eel again to get a firm feel for whether or not I like it. Their miso soup is also divine and it’s very telling that I slurp it all down without frowning when I say that tons of mushrooms float in that heavenly broth and I abhor mushrooms!

What a lovely Tuesday dinnertime it was to sit at my picnic table, enjoying the warm weather and sun, listening to the birds chirping, and munching on such good grub!

Gelato

Dolce Gelato on Marine Drive (right across from the pier) offers the best ice cream I have had in my life. It is made onsite, Italian-style, and and you can just taste the quality of the ingredients. It took a few tries for me to come up with the perfect cone, but I did–bacio and coffee. I used to buy Blizzards at Dairy Queen that set me back 5$ and change for a small with two ingredients when a generous gelato from this place (please indulge in two scoops!) is just 4.95$. Gelato is denser than American-style ice cream, the perceivably smaller scoop really amounts to the same thing and feels so much more satisfying for its light richness (gelato’s wonderful oxymoron!). Other combinations I tried were coffee and hazelnut (bacio gives you that plus chocolate!) and hazelnut and white chocolate (the latter of which has little chunks in it making it feel all the more rich).

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Journey to White Rock Across the Bottom of the Ocean

Today, all the elements came together to make a hike to White Rock possible. The weather was perfect, I was limbered up from all my hiking and walking, I knew what I wanted to see and do, and the tide was out (meaning that I could walk on sand instead of stones). It was a roughly 20km (12.5mi) expedition (according to my pedometre) on foot through Peace Arch park and down to the beach. It would have been much quicker to use the land route via eight avenue, but not nearly as scenic!

For the visual folk out there:

Google route in blue, my route in red

Google route in purple, my route in red

White Rock is a seaside resort town that seceded from Surrey, which surrounds it on all four sides, in 1957. The population is roughly 5,o00, but that number grows exponentially in summer. The community has a reputation for being balmier and sunnier than neighbouring towns and pilots actually call it the ‘hole in the sky’ because it often lacks cloud cover when the rest of the lower mainland is blanketed in fog! Walking Marine Drive with the ocean on my left, houses carved into the hillside on the right, and palm trees all around never fails to make me feel that I am back in southern California!

My mother has been to White Rock and was quick to advise me to try out the fish & chips at the Moby Dick restaurant. I figured that a 20km walk would mean a guilt-free indulgence in such a greasy treat, so I planned my day to have an early supper at this restaurant. I found the meal excellent, but it wasn’t quite the best fish and chips I’ve ever had (hint: the Lobster Barn, in York, Maine). The French fries were fantastic, the coleslaw was rather disappointing, and the fish was very good (not too greasy, light on the batter), but it needed lemon, which they don’t offer. I do highly recommend this place for fish and chips!

Today’s photo gallery tells the rest of the story. Pardon the French; I’ll be making my photo galleries bilingual from now on to save myself some work when telling my relatives about my adventures. 🙂

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Riding the Knight Bus

We got a late start on an absolutely beautiful Easter Monday. I’d suggested walking through Gastown and my friend found a jump on, jump off bus tour that started there, so we decided to do that.

After parking, we strolled down Water Street to the ‘Big Bus‘ tour headquarters. As it turned out, there would be a bus leaving momentarily, so our timing was perfect. The 35$ tickets are valid for two days. We would only use them this afternoon, so we were offered a free gelato as compensation, which was appreciated (and very delicious!).

The tour was excellent in that we got a chance to pretty much see all of Vancouver–Gastown, Chinatown, Stanley Park, English Bay, Granville Island, Robson and Davie Streets, and on, and on… We just did a full loop back to Gastown without getting off because of time issues. For someone with only a few days in Vancouver, this tour is a great way to see the city! My only complaints are about the jerky stops and the fact that the audio was often inaudible.

Gastown is historic Vancouver and it has really kept its old world charm, with cobblestone streets and buildings still showing their Victorian façades. The city of Vancouver grew up around this area, becoming Granville before taking on the name by which it is known today.

Vancouver’s Chinatown is the second largest in North America, after San Francisco’s. It is the least grimy Chinatown I have visited (compared to that of San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Toronto, and Montreal). It resides essentially a block away from Gastown, but is separated from it by the infamous Downtown Eastside. Our tour guide had very specific instructions for how to walk safely from Chinatown to Gastown. As an aside, I drove down Main all the way past East Hastings and I could not believe the difference in how the area looks when you approach it from Chinatown with a view of the water and mountains in the distance! One of the most interesting things we saw  in Chinatown was the Sam Kee building, which is the narrowest building in the world!

English Bay is on the northwestern tip of the city and boasts several palm-tree lined beaches. It is a beautiful area and host to the annual Vancouver Polar Bear swim!

Robson and Davie Streets are vibrant urban neighbourhoods filled with unique shops. The latter is also Vancouver’s ‘gay village.’ We’d already done Robson, so we ended our day on Davie Street where we tried another all you can eat sushi restaurant. It was quite good and I am now firmly convinced that spicy tuna cones are the yummiest thing ever concocted (vinegared rice, seaweed, raw tuna, and chili; who would think that would be so insanely delicious?!). My friend is now as addicted to sushi as I am and we’re having it for a third time on her last evening here!

I took lots of pictures, some of them of distinct buildings and others which simply captured the stunning diversity of Vancouver’s architecture. I never thought I would find a city more architecturally beautiful than Chicago, but I have. I hope you enjoy this wonderful photo gallery and warn you that Library Square will take your breath away.

I have fallen in love with this beautiful, vibrant, compact city that seems a part of nature, like it grew from the same soil as the redwoods and snowcapped mountains, rather than having these things regrow around it.

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Journey to the birthplace of Starbucks

Seattle rises out of the fog like an impressionistic painting, a gleaming beacon of civilization after a hundred miles of lush green mountains.

It was last night, in a fit of genius fueled by exhaustion, that my friend and I decided to go to Seattle today. She had put ‘go to Washington state’ on her list of things to do on this trip and when we realised that Seattle was barely two hours away, we decided to do something a tad more exciting than just going to Blaine for lunch.

We had an easy crossing into the States at Pacific Highway (the crossing we can see from my living room) and an easy enough drive to Seattle in pouring rain, arriving just shy of noon.  I’d had an idea of what we could do this afternoon, but my friend had seen the Seattle Aquarium as we came in and had her heart set on it, so our very loose plans changed.

I was famished (not news, lol!), so the first order of business was to drive around the general vicinity of the aquarium and look for food. We ended up at the Old Spaghetti Factory, where we both had a very satisfactory meal (I highly recommend the chicken penne).

Parking for the aquarium was the next order of the day and it was found quickly. Such a thing is ludicrously high in Seattle. We paid 14USD for 3 hours of parking, in addition to entrance to the aquarium.

While I had found the Vancouver aquarium to be quite disappointing, the Seattle aquarium was anything but! It has a touch pool, sea mammals, and interesting exhibits. My friend’s joy at the experience was palpable and her enthusiasm contagious. She fell in love with an anemone, while an octopus won my heart.

Rain poured down in sheets all afternoon, covering Puget Sound with a heavy grey mist. Neither one of us felt like driving home in damp clothes, so we didn’t explore the area around the aquarium. It was almost four by the time we got out of there and I knew the drive home would be difficult, so, satisfied and happy, we headed north without exploring Seattle further.

Approaching Bellingham, I suggested we stop and have dinner. Border wait times were already at the 20 minute mark and would only increase. I was also exhausted and achy from white knuckled driving seeing as there was enough rain that the car aquaplaned a few times. In the time it took to eat a fantastic meal at Applebee’s, the sky cleared. We drove the rest of the way home in beautiful sunshine and blue sky.

I didn’t realise that we needed to exit to get to the Pacific border crossing, so we wound up at Peace Arch. This was great seeing as the wait approached 40 minutes; my friend was able to see the Peace Arch and we enjoyed watching the sun set over the ocean. I did find the wait very difficult as I drive a standard and it’s a steady climb from the US to Canadian customs. I put on the hand brake a few times, but traffic was too steady to bring much relief. Crossing back into Canada was a non-event (note to my friend: whispering that the customs guy is really cute, even if he is, is distracting 🙂 ).

Pictures are on the Seattle page.

Each day has topped the previous, so we’re eager to see what wonders will mark our last full day together tomorrow.

As a side note, interstate 5, which connects Blaine and Seattle, WA, goes from the WA/BC border all the way down to the California/Mexican border. I have driven it from the Mexican border all the way to San Francisco and now from Blaine to Seattle. I just need to drive it from Seattle to San Francisco at some point! 🙂

(I never thought I would one day drive HOME from Seattle in two hours!)