Vancouver

We went to Vancouver on August 13. Jim and I flew through Houston and met up with Daddy. We took a limo to the Holiday Inn Downtown (we stayed free with points). It was too early to check in, so we took a cab to Gastown. We walked around and saw the steam clock. It is the only steam clock in the world. Jim saw a store front selling Cuban Cigars. Daddy said he would buy one for him. They got the cigar and we continued on. From there we walked to Chinatown. We had been warned of a few blocks to avoid due to "street people" aka homeless people. Well, we ended up RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THEM! We quickly walked through them without eye contact trying to get away. It was unnerving. When we got to Chinatown, we were very disappointed. We've been to Chinatown in San Francisco and that is what I expected. No. It was just blah. We went to a restaurant while there and Jim ordered various foods. He enjoyed it very much and me and Daddy just did not want to eat it again. Not that it was bad, it just wasn't for us! We walked down the street trying to get a cab and could not get one! It was ridiculous. We finally had one stop that had to go to another place, but they radioed dispatch and had one sent for us. We went back to the hotel and got into our room. It was very nice. We were tired and went to bed by 9:30. About 11PM Bob Blair, a friend we had not seen in about 20 years called us. He moved to Vancouver about 8 months ago and I had sent him a message on Facebook that we were going to be in town. Jim told him that we would call him the next morning.

We had seen a Tim Hortons one block from the hotel. We had eaten at several of them in New Brunswick before, so we wanted to go to this one. Before we left the hotel, Daddy was looking for his socks! He has varicose veins and wears support hose (really they are knee high socks). He only had one pair so, after eating breakfast, we walked about 4 blocks to a shopping area. Sears did not have them, but there was a Long's Drug Store across the street. They had what he needed, so we bought them and started walking back to the hotel. Bob called and said he would meet us at the hotel. After arriving back to the hotel, we just sat around the room. Bob called and said he would meet us at the dock. We requested a cab and got to the dock about 11AM. I thought it was gonna be too early, but it wasn't. We checked in, but did not go through customs. (when you get on the ship, you are entering the USA). We went back outside to wait for Bob. While we waited, Jim took pictures of the ship with his new zoom lens. Right after he took them, he was approached by a lady from FIRST AID. She had been told to ask him what his pictures were of. He told her it was just the ship he had photographed. She left and we were just wondering around when she came back. She had been told to LOOK at the pictures. Jim showed them to her and she was not concerned with what he had taken. We went back inside and waited for Bob to show up. He finally got there and it was great to see him. We had spent a lot of time with his family when Jim and Bob were working for Reading & Bates. While we were talking with Bob, THAT FIRST AID LADY CAME BACK! I SWEAR! THIS time she was told to really look at the photos and see if there were any of the port. Jim showed them to her and I think he might have deleted one of them. She was very nice and kinda embarrassed about the whole situation. About 1PM, I told the guys that we needed to get on the ship. We told Bob goodbye and headed to customs. We breezed through and went aboard. We went to our room and could not get in, so we went to the Windjammer and ate lunch. After lunch, we went back to the room and the key still did not work. I sprinted to the front desk and had to have 3 new keys made. We finally got in our room. We (really me) budgeted our trip as cost effective as I could, so we shared a room with Daddy. We had a balcony with 2 chairs. The sofa made into a bed, but we found out that there was another bed in the ceiling. In the ceiling I said! Gil was our room steward and he used a special key to lower the bed. When not in use during the day, it folded up against the wall. I thought that was just about the coolest thing! I told Daddy that I would sleep up there, but he insisted. We went to the casino and did not win any $$!! We had supper in the Windjammer and went back to our room. This was the first night on the ship and we were tired! Went to bed probably by 9:30! The next day was a sea day.