Becky and I went to Vancouver the week after Memorial Day weekend. I won’t bore you with the details, but here are some of the highlights.
– We departed Oakland on May 26, 2006.
– We saw my old friend Katie Saxon and her master’s recital at the University of Oregon in Eugene.
May 27, 2006 :
– Then, en route to Sasquatch (in George, WA), we stopped in Portland. We tried to have lunch at the Montage Bistro, but it was closed. (Fear not, we went back en route home.)
– Undeterred, we went to Powell’s. They have a lot of books.
– After traveling alongside the Columbia River (it’s really sweet) for a long time, we crossed into Washington.
– We stopped in Yakima, WA to get gas, and more importantly, an horchata, taco and a burrito. Apparently the Washington State Republican Party was having a convention there too.
– The Columbia River continues to be sweet.
May 28, 2006 :
– We hung out with folks waiting to get into Sasquatch on Sunday morning.
– Apparently Dharma has something to do with Sasquatch. They showed this symbol in between sets all day long.
– Nonetheless, Blue Scholars, were indeed, the place to be.
– The Decemberists were quite enjoyable too.
– Matisyahu rocked the house. He got these guys to dance.
– Becky and I had a great time.
– The Gorge is beautiful at dusk.
May 29, 2006 :
– On to Seattle. First stop was the Pike Place Market. We saw a monkfish.
– Found poem: “Love is everyone named Fred reborn as seedless jam.”
– Pike Place has a lot of awesome signs.
– We had lunch at Three Girls Bakery.
– And we learned some sobering history about Pike Place Market.
– Then, like all good tourists, we went to the Space Needle. It’s got a spectacular view. (Apparently the way to avoid the $14 admission fee is to go to the restaurant upstairs and buy something cheap, like dessert.)
– We went to Victrola Coffee. Becky fueled up on caffeine, and we both used the WiFi.
May 30, 2006 :
– Then we went to The Great White North.
– While the Canadian border guard admired our passports, they wouldn’t stamp them — saying that “too many of you come up here” — but in a really friendly Canadian way.
– We found our hotel in Vancouver, and pondered our existence in the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden.
– The Globe and Mail is full of interesting news that we don’t get south of the border. Like stuff about some guy named Stephen Harper? He’s important, I think. Not sure why.
– We stumbled across something called “steamed burritos”. As we walked away from this place, I quipped that a steamed burrito was “like a fried bagel.” A friendly Vancouverite, walking about three meters in front of me, turned around and said: “Hey man, don’t knock ’em until you try one.” He then reached into his wallet to pull out $6 CDN to buy me a burrito, but he discovered he didn’t have change. I told him that if he was going to vouch for them, I’d try one. I didn’t get around to it — so I suppose I’ll have to come back.
– Then I tried to arm-wrestle a bear.
May 31, 2006 :
– Totem poles are pretty amazing.
– We discovered that a Girl in a Wetsuit goes really well with sulfur. Or at least I thought so.
– After a couple hours of trekking around Vancouver, I procured some Havana Club.
June 1, 2006 :
– We learned that humans in the Northwest came from an oyster that was pried open by a hawk.
– I was excited to go to Wreck Beach, which is “clothing optional.”
– But I was mystified as to why there were no naked people when I got there.
June 2, 2006 :
– We returned Stateside via Seattle and Portland and spent the night in Waldport, Oregon.
June 3, 2006 :
– Driving south for a long time on Highway 101 eventually gets you back to California.
– We crossed the street and pretended like we were entering Oregon, because we didn’t get a photo of the sign on the way north.
– We set up camp at Patrick’s Point State Park. Dinner was had at Hurricane Kate’s in Eureka, CA.
June 4, 2006 :
– We returned home south on Highway 101, passing through the town of Willits, CA — making the requisite Gary Coleman jokes.
