North to Alaska on the Wonder--August 9-16 About This Page:

[Shadowfax]

Hello all!

I haven't done a trip report in a while because of graduate school, but I'm doing one now. Why? Because I graduated with my Master's degree in May and this trip was my graduation present to myself. I have wanted to go to Alaska since I was a little girl, so this trip was a dream come true.

Cast: Meg (that's me!), 47 years old and Dave (my significant other) 55 years old

(Meg and Dave at the Totem Poles in Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC)

Since the cruise left out of Vancouver, we decided to fly out on Thursday August 4 and spend a few days in Vancouver, exploring the city. We live on the East Coast, so it was going to be a long journey for us. The day before we dropped our dogs off at the kennel and then headed back home to get a few hours of sleep.

Our day began early. How early, you ask? 3:15 am. Yeah, that’s early! But we had a flight to catch in Portland, which is an hour drive from our house and that flight was at 6:35. In order to get there, check in, go through security and get to our gate we needed to be there about an hour and a half before our flight, so we had to leave the house at 3:40.

Three different alarms went off to wake us up. The week before our trip, I had experienced an anxiety dream about our alarm not going off and missing our flight, so we wanted to be extra sure that the dream did not come true! So we set both alarms on my clock radio AND my alarm on my phone. All went off, we washed up, got dressed and hopped in the car, which I had packed up the previous evening.

There is very little traffic on the roads at 3:40 in the morning, so we made great time getting to Portland. We were parking our car at my parent's house in Portland, so our niece Jess met us at my parent’s house and drove with us to the airport. We unloaded the bags and then she drove our car back to my parent’s house so that we would not have to pay parking fees.

We did not realize it, but our bags would not be traveling on the plane with us to Toronto and Vancouver. It had to do with a weight and balance issue in the plane. However, we had packed smart, and we were carrying a change of clothing and our pajamas in our backpacks, so we weren’t too worried about that. The gate agent told us that our bags should get there by about 5 pm Vancouver time. Check in and security all went without a hitch and we waited in the airport for a bit. While there, I saw a former student of mine and the school secretary! Who knew I would run into people I know at 5:30 am in the Portland Jetport?

We got on our plane...and it was small. How small? 18 seats small. Walk out on the tarmac to get on the plane small. Person who greeted us was not a flight attendant but the CO-PILOT small. I was sitting in the next to last seat...and I could see the instruments in the cockpit. However, I did enjoy having a window seat. Normally, I give Dave the window seat, but the plane was so small that everyone had a window seat this time! We had some beautiful views as we flew over the lakes, rivers and forests of the Northeast and the Adirondacks.

Small plane


Yes, we could see the instruments in the cockpit!

We landed in Toronto and walked and walked and walked to get to customs. We must have hit it just at the right time, because there was no one in the very large customs room.We went in, filled out our form, had our passports checked and stamped and then were on our way to security. We quickly went through security and were at our gate before 10 am. We got a breakfast sandwich and some water and ate that while we waited, Our plane was delayed a little and we boarded about 20 minutes late. This plane had TVs in the back of the seats, so I amused myself by watching a movie and some TV shows. Dave got my attention when we started flying over the Rocky Mountains and the Cascades. It was breathtaking! The mountain peaks were still covered with snow, even on the fourth of August.

We landed in Vancouver a little after 1 pm (Vancouver time) and went to the Air Canada office to check on our bags. They said they were on their way and they would deliver them to our hotel. We then got a taxi and rode to The Sutton Place. We had gotten a good deal through Hotwire and were pleased with the location and amenities of the hotel.

The city of Vancouver is beautiful, but it is most definitely a city. Lots of traffic and some not great areas. Our hotel is in a very nice area, but there were still some panhandlers that we saw on the streets. We checked in, and our first impression was “elegant but not snooty.” We headed up to our room, got settled in as much as we could and then decided we were starving and needed supper.

The concierge recommended Joey Burrard cafe, right across the street. Dave had something called the Beach Salad (with chicken, fruit and goat cheese) which he loved and I had a delicious maple glazed salmon with crispy mashed potatoes (mashed potatoes inside a spring roll wrapper, then topped with sour cream, cheese and bacon bits). If it sounds amazing, that’s because it was!

Afterward, I tried to go to the store to get some water and breakfast foods, while Dave went back to the room. The problem was that the store was having a labor dispute and was in the middle of a lockout. So I walked around the block and got a couple of water bottles from a little Asian market. Then I went back to the room. Dave and I were exhausted by this point. Jet lag had really hit us, so we decided to go to sleep. (We had tried to stay up until 7 pm Vancouver time. It wasn’t working.) We gave one last call to see if our bags had arrived (they hadn’t) and then we got into our pajamas and went to sleep in the exceptionally comfy bed.

Up next--Will our luggage ever arrive?

[DawnK]

Can't wait to hear all about your trip.....

That itty bitty plane sounded scary to me.

[Colexis Mom]

Great start Meg! Sorry about the luggage!

[DrDolphin]

Great start!! Can't wait to read more.

[ariel14]

Great start!!!!

[Grammy Grumpy]

Awesome beginning! The small plane would have been a bit freaky but to get to Alaska I'd do it! Can't wait to hear more, DH and I leave a week from tomorrow for the same cruise!

[chezp]

Great start! Sorry about the luggage.

[Shadowfax]

Dave and I woke up several times during the night, but finally woke up for good around 6:45. I had had several dreams about our luggage while sleeping. Obviously, it was on my mind. We got up, and I went downstairs to check on the status of our luggage while Dave showered. I talked to Jeff, the concierge, and was dismayed when he said that our luggage still had not arrived. He said, “Don’t worry, it will be here before you get on your ship!” I said, “Yes, but our ship does not leave until Tuesday! I’d like to be able to change clothes while I am in Vancouver!” He laughed at that, but said he would contact the airline and find out where our bags were.

We decided to go out and explore, so after my shower, we walked down to Canada Place, getting a bite to eat at Tim Horton’s along the way. (Side note, this Tim Horton’s did not take Visa! Only Mastercard or debit cards. They did take American money though.) We continued on to Canada Place, the port from which the cruise ships leave. It was gorgeous down there, right on the harbor with views of the mountains on the other side.



We had purchased tickets for the Vancouver trolley online (you could get two days for the price of one), so we traded in our vouchers and got our tickets and then we hopped on the first trolley which left at 9am. We rode the whole loop to get our bearings and then got off at the third stop, the Westin Bayshore. We chose that stop because there was a White Spot restaurant about a block away and we had been told by locals that the White Spot was a great place to eat. Plus, there was also a Chevron gas station nearby. We had also been told that Chevron stations had a free coupon booklet with buy one admission, get one free coupons for several of the places that we wanted to visit. So we stopped at the station, got the coupons and then went in to have lunch. We both had the special, a smoky BBQ burger with a fresh blueberry pie for dessert. And when they say fresh, they aren’t kidding! This was more of a fruit tart than a pie. Both burger and pie were delicious.

We then decided to walk the Seawall (which runs around Stanley Park) to go see the Totem Poles in the park. It was a beautiful walk, perhaps a little over a mile and right along the Burrard Inlet, with fabulous views of the city. I took lots of pictures along the way and we saw three or four seaplanes come in for a landing just while we were walking. Many of the locals use seaplanes to get around up here.

We got to the Totem Poles and I took more pictures there. I took a couple of pictures for people so that they could be in the photos with their families and they returned the favor for Dave and me. I wandered around the gift shop for a bit and then we caught the trolley back to our hotel (they stop right across the street!).

Now was the moment of truth...would our luggage have arrived? We walked in, checked with the concierge and were told that yes, our luggage was there and they had brought it up to our room for us! Hooray! When we got to the room, we also found that the maid had been by to clean. We got a drink of water, reveled in the joy of having our luggage, and then decided to head back out. I wanted to stop on another one of the Red Trolley Loop stops, Prospect Point. So we waited and waited for a trolley to come. (Really, morning is a better time to ride these than afternoon. In the afternoon, delays build up and they run off schedule.) Finally one came and we hopped on. We rode to Prospect Point, and hopped off. We got some water (the day had turned quite warm and I was very thirsty) and then we walked over and took some pictures of the Lion’s Gate Bridge, North Vancouver and the mountains. Then more gift shop browsing for me and we headed back to the room.

Once we got back to our hotel, we got off and walked to a local Rexall drugstore that we had seen when we had gotten our breakfast that morning. We picked up some more water and a few other toiletries. We went back to our room, and I uploaded the pictures from the day. I went across the street to the Blenz coffee shop to get a snack and snag some free internet so I could update my blog and check email and Facebook. Then I went back to the room, took a shower and fell into bed. It had been a long day!

Up next: Zen in the midst of the city

[duck addict]

Glad your luggage got there! (Had the same problem when I flew to Vancouver to catch a ship. Luckilly, like you, I came a couple days in advance )

Great start to the report.

[chezp]

Great day in Vancouver! We're taking the trolley too as well to see Stanley Park and I can't wait!

[Shadowfax]

I really liked the Trolley, Chez. I hope you will too. I enjoyed the narration, and the drivers change so even if you do the route more than once you pick up interesting new tidbits.

[pamcarey]

Great start! I love flying in small airplanes like that! Glad that your luggage made it.

[Colexis Mom]

Great update and pictures! Glad the luggage arrived!

[HollyH]

Hi Meg! Can't wait to hear all about your experiences on the cruise. We LOVED it (I think the last time you saw me, I was at the future cruise desk, wasn't I).

And yes, your plane was identical to our plane from Hartford to Montreal. The difference being that our luggage did travel with us.

[Shadowfax]

Holly,
It was great getting to meet you and Michelle! Dave and I loved cruising and are definitely doing it again, but not for a few years, I'm afraid.