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Uncle Markie out and about.

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Tue
7
Feb '12

Off To CanadaLand

Again.

Spent the morning babysitting the printer and packing for the trip to Vancouver.

Left the house a little before noon, hit the apartment to drop off Swanda’s car, and pick up the mail and drop off 3 dead toner cartridges (good thing I got more at UW last week) and then to the shop to drop off a 6×6 dishwasher rack to hold our champagne glasses, and then onto the highway with the top down all the way to CanadaLand.

So rare for an early February, reasonably warm and very sunny. Having pulled the temperature at Breitenbush Hot Springs for next week, I’m guessing no snow on the ground.

No line at the border, but it was past 3 when I hit the outskirts of the city, meaning northbound was down to one lane under the river (reversible lanes). I’ll remember that for the next time. Grabbed groceries at Safeway and was checked in with cocktail in hand at 4:20.

BamBam and Hummingbird for dinner tonight. Totally spaced getting a picture. Oh well.

After the PuPu platter, it was a Sunday Roast on Tuesday. Seasoned pork blade roast over a bed of potatoes and onions with a salad. Only a little of the pork left when all was said and done.

Nice to be back in Vancouver and seeing the boys who are just back from a month in Yelapa (just down the coast from Puerto Vallarta).

Helene for lunch tomorrow, Epick for dinner, and Marmot for drinks after.

And now to bed.

[211.2]

Mon
26
Jan '15

Trip Report: CanadaLand With The Boys (And A Little Girl)

This week’s adventure involves LOTS of people (well, for me). First through the door are Seth (31) and Maia (the little girl – 5½ years old). They drove up from Corvallis for our little adventure. Before long they set off for the airport to pick up Lunetta and Onyx who flew in from San Francisco.

Dinner for five – rib-eye steaks, saffron rice, salad, couple of bottles of Bonny Doon wine…rice instead of bread as I broke yet another bread machine a couple of weeks ago – probably should say “wore out” rather than “broke”.

And a good dinner it was…finding places for people to sleep was a little more problematic.

  • Maia in the single bed in the office so we could chat into the evening
  • Lunetta and Onyx in my bed
  • Seth and in in a double sleeping bag on the living room floor (until he couldn’t take it anymore and crawled in with the boys)

Up at 5am so we could get out of the house by six to catch our 8AM Victoria Clipper to Victoria, British Columbia.

At least it was a “pretty” early morning:

A pleasant trip north after a take-out breakfast at the Clipper Café (who also does the catering for the boat as well), though I’ll admit to sleeping through most of it – even forgoing my usual mimosa.

Wrangling a child means you are the last people off the boat and near the end of customs/immigration – which went smoothly as I’d warned Seth that he needed at a minimum a letter from Maia’s birth mother authorizing taking her out of the country. Seth made EXTRA sure and brought the custody agreement with him. Good boy.

Walked to the WorldMark Victoria, expecting to stash are luggage because it was noon, and check in is 4PM. To our surprise, our unit was ready – which rarely happens that early, but often does more in the winter than summer. Dumped everything in the room and headed out to Moka for Grilled Ham and Cheese with Potato Soup – seriously, we all got the same thing (limited menu). Thanks Lunetta for treating!

After the early morning, it was nap time for Maia, Onyx and myself – we send the engineers to the store for supplies that we didn’t bring. I’d packed:

  • 4 racks of lamb
  • 2 packages of shrimp (meant to bring the white fish to be breaded with the Panko, except for Maia who would get corn meal)
  • 2 cubes of butter
  • 1 pound of bacon
  • Artichoke Bruschetta
  • Cornichons
  • Corn and Bean Salsa
  • Panko Breading
  • The WorldMark Bag (pre-packed olive oil/balsamic, curry, brown sugar, flour, skewers, birthday candles, McCormicks Steak Seasoning, coffee meat rub, Korean hot sauce, etc.)

But you also need:

  • Salad (and dressing)
  • Bread
  • Eggs
  • Mixers
  • Cheese
  • Gluten Free Crackers (Maia goes bi-polar when she has gluten)
  • Corn Chips
  • Portabellas (to stuff with the Artichoke Bruschetta and top with the Panko Breading)
  • Etc.

Of course when you sent two engineers to the store, you get MANY more things in addition to those on the list. Take the generic category “Mixers”. They came back with:

  • 12-pack of Tonic
  • 12-pack of Diet Ginger Ale (mostly for me)
  • 6 pack of tiny Cokes
  • 100% Cranberry Juice
  • Handful of limes

Why so much? Did I mention what we picked up at Duty Free on the boat?

That would be 4 liters of hard liquor for a party of 9 adults tonight and 4 adults for the second night – and those Canadians like to drink hard at Duty Free prices ($85 for all four). And the guests are showing up with wine to go with dinner. And what a dinner it was:

In the foreground, the racks of lamb, Then the Stuffed Portabellas – which were a HUGE HIT, not just with the Vegetarian and Vegan guests (one each). For Maia it was an “adult night” when she was allowed to stay up until she collapsed.

Good food, good conversation (though not around the dining tables since it seats 6, not 10), good hot tubbing after dessert (thanks RobinHood and CrowDog!)

A late night, but luckily not an early morning – Seth was reading the schedule I sent out a laughed when he got to the first morning there, where it said brunch at noon:

The Boys Go To Victoria 

     

20-Jan 

12-4PM 

Seth arrives at UncleMarkies

 

4:16PM 

Lunetta and Onyx arrive at Sea-Tac. Seth picks them up

   

UA 492 

 

6PM 

Cocktails 

 

7PM 

Dinner 

21-Jan 

6AM 

Out of the house

 

6:30AM 

Check in and grab breakfast at the Clipper Café

 

8AM 

Clipper leaves for Victoria

 

8:15AM 

Order Mimosas and Duty Free 

 

11:45AM 

Clipper arrives Victoria

 

Noon 

Out of customs/immigration 

 

Noon+ 

Drop bags at condo and roam the city like a pack of dogs

   

Or grocery shop for the items we didn’t bring 

 

4PM 

Check in at the condo — 

   

Could be early, they will have my number 

 

6PM 

Cocktails with RobinHood, CrowDog, Royce, Kyle, + 1

 

7PM 

Dinner with same Royce = vegan)

 

8PM 

Hot-tub Party 

22-Jan 

Noon 

Sleep in, make brunch, explore 

 

6PM 

Cocktails 

 

7PM 

Dinner 

 

8PM 

Hot-tub Party 

23-Jan 

10am 

Brunch 

 

Noon 

Check-out, leave bags at desk 

 

3:30PM 

Check in for Clipper to Seattle

 

5PM 

Boat leaves

 

5:15PM 

Order cocktails and Duty Free 

 

7:45PM 

Clipper Arrives Seattle

 

8PM 

Pick up car from garage and head home

 

8:30PM 

Cocktails 

 

9PM 

Late Dinner if we didn’t eat on the boat 

24-Jan 

6PM 

Cocktails with Bliss

 

7PM 

Dinner with same Royce = vegan)

25-Jan 

3PMish 

Boys Uber to the Airport

 

4:21PM 

Lunetta and Onyx fly home

 

Yep, guess that makes me anal retentive in my planning – but that’s how it worked out.

The boys and Maia set out to explore the city while I stayed home for some quiet time (much needed after all the excitement). My job was to fill in the gaps in the night’s meal (smoked fish, more cheese, and chocolate) and to grab a little lunch snack for me at the food truck in front of “Finest At Sea” a local fish wholesaler that has a small retail shop in the back:

I got the special – three rockfish cakes with hot dipping sauce. I had one, saved the other two to share with tonight’s pupu platter. After the shopping, NAP TIME!

Tonight’s menu (after the pupu platter):

  • Curried Shrimp Skewers
  • Salad
  • Bread (not for Maia!)
  • 3 bottles of various BC Red Wine

Life is HARD on the road.

And before you knew it, it was time to check out – this is what we put in storage since the boat doesn’t leave until 5PM:

Not like we pack light. The plan for today:

  • Store luggage
  • Head to the Royal BC History Museum and watch an IMAX film (mostly to entertain Maia)
  • Have lunch
  • Go to the boat

Here is a great picture of Seth after the movie (in the gift shop):

Lunch was at Santiagos, which is close to the ferry terminal (though we had to backtrack to grab out luggage). I’ve eaten here often because they always have muscles on the menu, AND they have HUGE drinks by Canadian standards, and cheap ($11) – again, but Canadian standards.

I had the Thai Mussels, Seth and Maia the HUGE nachos, Lunetta and Onyx the Ceviche and the quesadilla. We ended up taking a bunch of the nachos for the boat trip home.

Did I mention the pitcher of Sangria? And my favorite shot of the lunch:

Yes, they supply crayons, which was great for entertaining Maia.

Got to the terminal later than I wanted, but we were already checked in and had our boarding numbers, it was just the line to check in luggage that was a pain. And luggage we had – four checked bags.

But we did get a table for all of us. Here is Seth sating his Solitaire addiction:

Technically that’s 8 seats, but on the inner section so less coveted.

Three hours later and the last people through customs and this is the scene:

Four and a half people and their crap in a Saab. Tight quarters, luckily for only 20 minutes.

Once back to the house, an exhausted Seth and Onyx claim the big bed, Maia in the small one, and the Marks (Lunetta and UncleM) on the floor after staying up for hours beyond the others.

Seth /Maia/Lunetta/Onyx were out of the house before I was up – Seth /Maia headed home and dropping Lunetta/Onyx at the Rental Car Center at Sea-Tac to pick up a car for the overnight.

Work until 4:30 for me, then back to the house to prepare dinner for the boys, Bliss and myself for the final night of the CanadaLand holiday. Tonight’s menu:

  • Little lamb chops (LOTS of them)
  • Salad
  • A Spanish Red
  • MANY COCKTAILS

After another late evening – it was time for me to head to a real bed, albeit a tiny one in the office.

I was out of the house for work before the boys were out of bed, feeling a little spent. While fun, it wasn’t one of the more “relaxing” holidays I’ve had recently.

[226.8]

Sun
6
May '12

Saved By The Canadians.

The Day Before I Head To CanadaLand.

What a seriously slow day at the shop. I blame the first decent weather in weeks. 90% of the days sales were in the second hour with one customer making probably 75% of the days sales. Couple of nice bottles of Dunham, a grower Champagne, a $47 bottle from the tasting. In all, six really nice bottles. Of course, being from Canada, all our wine looks cheap compared to what they have to pay in BC – just means they are drinking much nicer bottles down south.

Funny thing — the Canadian, when I mentioned I’d be in Vancouver tomorrow and staying at The Canadian, he laughed and said “Me, Too, we have one of the townhouses (3 stories with roof-top deck, NICE). I should have gotten his number and invited them up for a drink.

Speaking of sunny days, yep, got off work, fixed a drink and immediately headed out to mow the lawn. By the time I get back next week, it would have been a jungle. It was a bit of one as it was.

Pork loin chop (again), but this time with sauerkraut that had been marinated in white wine (Camus Conundrum). Quite tasty.

Next up – PACKING.

As you can see, Mister Lobster is going along for the ride. He’s a nice pillow if nothing else.

[209.4]

Fri
9
Mar '12

Bye, Bye, CanadaLand.

Out of the condo by 10:30 and to the border by noon, only to find the Nexus lane backed up about 15 minutes worth. Better than the 30 minute wait in the regular lines. As Rich’s home bar is stocked, I got his allowance of duty-free so I scored the 2 bottles of Bombay Sapphire for $29.95. Not a bad deal. I prefer Plymouth Gin (also $15) but the deal on the Sapphire was better.

Stopped on the way down for 30% off steaks and gas from Safeway, a quick trip through an antique store I’d been passing for years (as it turns out, for good reason). Dropped steaks and Rich off at the house, he headed south to battle Friday afternoon traffic and I headed to the apartment to pick up mail for Swanda, and then off to the hospital to deliver it.

Question: how do you weigh someone who is 600+ pounds:

Looks almost like a mini treadmill.

After all the entertaining of the last couple of days, it was time for a quiet steak dinner at home.

I might need to get a bigger plate, or maybe just a smaller steak.

[? ? ?]

Sat
22
Oct '11

Hello Canadaland.

It was a VERY early morning after a very late night. It was mid-morning that I realized that I was so asleep in the shower that I forgot to shave. There was lots of napping on the boat ride north.

Interesting what happened at immigration. We were the ones picked for more scrutiny. Not only passports, but drivers’ licenses which I never heard of before. Onyx was annoyed, but Lunetta and I were more like “they need to justify their jobs.” Check-in time isn’t until 4pm, so we had plenty of time to kill.

With the room not ready (they hadn’t even checked out yet), it was stash the bags and go to Barb’s Place for fish and chips (yes, me — that will be my carbs for the month), calamari, shrimp, chowder (the boys). This is there last weekend being open until they return in the spring (just like salmon).

Still no room at 1:30pm so off to the coffee shop we went. VERY comfortable chairs — so comfortable that the boys managed to fall asleep mid-page in their books.

By 3pm we were in the room and trying to decide on dinner. I checked out the mini-mart around the corner (was too tired to think about walking to the big market twelve blocks away) and picked up some soda pop, water and chocolate. Once we decided that we were cooking in, it was off to Finest At Sea, a boutique seafood shop a couple of blocks away for scallops and sable fish (black cod) for the grill and iceberg from the mini-mart for the salad (cook thing I travel with oil and balsamic, though Onyx used lemon juice instead) and stuff for a poo poo platter. Finest At Sea isn’t the cheapest (nor is the mini-mart), but it is definitely the freshest.

And here are the results (yes, another blog food shot):

For the first time ever dining with the boys, we had the TV on because PBS was showing “After The Thin Man” with William Powell and Myrna Loy (and a very young Jimmy Stewart). There were about six of these films mad (late 30’s early 40’s black and white) and the earlier ones are the more boozy ones (before they had a child, just the dog).

Onyx was in bed early, and Lunetta and I headed to the hot tub to lessen our woes (or aches and pains from aging).

[? ? ?]

Tue
6
Dec '11

Carbon Footprint 2012

Where has Uncle Markie travelled to in the calendar year 2012?

January

  • Boston, MA

February

  • Vancouver, BC  CanadaLand
  • Breitenbush Hot Springs, OR

March

  • Vancouver, BC  CanadaLand
  • Kansas City, MO
  • Portland, OR
  • Big Island, HI via Berkeley, CA overnights

April

  • Edmonton, AB to Vancouver, BC  CanadaLand – Upper Berth on ViaRail
  • Honolulu, HI

May

  • Seaside, OR
  • Vancouver, BC to Toronto, ON  CanadaLand – ViaRail Roomette

June

  • Santa Fe, NM
  • Portland, OR
  • Seaside, OR
  • Coos Bay, OR

July

  • American Ridge, WA
  • Yakima, WA
  • Whistler, BC

August

  • Victoria, BC
  • Breitenbush Hot Springs, OR
  • Portland, OR

September

  • San Diego to Los Angeles on Private Rail Cars
  • Denver, CO
  • Kansas City, MO
  • Vancouver, BC
  • Birthday Cruise from Vancouver, BC to San Francisco, CA
  • Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

October

  • Santa Fe, NM
  • Road Trip SAF-SEA
  • Seaside, OR
  • Las Vegas, NV
  • Palm Spings, CA

November

  • Palm Springs, CA
  • Honolulu, HI (mileage run)
  • Yakima, WA (mileage run)
  • Vancouver, BC

December

  • Honolulu, HI
  • Santa Fe, NM
  • Portland, OR
Wed
12
Oct '16

Trip Report: Saskatoon Bound, First Stop Vancouver

Who doesn’t want to go to Saskatoon for a couple of hours! It’s really just about the journey, not the destination. Rache and I are going on a train ride! Actually TWO train rides, one short (to Vancouver), one long (Vancouver to Saskatoon). You might ask why not Edmonton (would require a hotel room either two or from because of when the trains arrive/leave), or Winnipeg (same reason), or Toronto (it arrives Saturday, and this week I’m also working Friday). The train from Vancouver arrives at 8am in the morning (assuming it’s on time), and we have a 3:20pm flight to MSP, then SEA. Enough said.

I really wish Amtrak’s Cascade Service had a mid-day train. Our only choice was the 7:30 departure which gets us in at noon, and our ViaRail connection isn’t until 10:45.

Don’t I look happy on the train:

It’s a little better once we are on the train and I have a little food in me, but…

Lovely fall colours (since I’m headed to CanadaLand I’ll get a head start on the spelling):

Here is a shot of the Vancouver train station. Sorry for the lighting…j

We need food, so we head in the direction of China Town which I’d never really explored – found this piece of street art made more sinister by the shadow of my hand – I’m seeing a theme here!

We walked, and walked – what we were looking for was a sit-down, service, bar, nice lunch. It wasn’t in China Town, but there were enough street junkies and people shooting up, hanging out, offering us drugs, that I was glad it was noon on a sunny day with lots of cops around.

An hour and a half later – stumbled into Per Se Social Corner and settled in for a cocktail for me, and a beer for Rache:

Before settling into our shrimp and vegetable linguini with flatbread and salad:

Wonderful presentation – and on the lunch menu the food was $14 CAD each, my drink was $12 CAD – and the booth was comfortable and the bathrooms clean.

After our leisurely lunch, MORE WALKING – YES, ME. Passed by the Law Courts, spied the WorldMark Vancouver, passed three JapaDog stands, ended up at the Waterfront near the Cruise Terminal.

Random Vancouver tourist pictures….

Decided to take a ride to North Vancouver on the ferry. Neither of us had ever been, and at $4, seemed like a great way to kill time even though the transit was under 15 minutes. Man, they have loading and unloading down to science!

Since it was after three at this point in the day – HAPPY HOUR – and we found one in the Harbour (those crazy CanadaLand spellings) at the Tap and Barrel:

It was a HUGE space – look at the Keg Room!

And the bar area (dining area is at the far end, upstairs to the right are private function areas):

And it really is about wine and beer (but with a full bar). The barrels are the wine taps, the stainless steel, the beer:

I ordered a Happy Hour highball (Rye and Diet Coke) for $4 (CAD) for the 1oz shot (they are a little skimpy with hard liquor in CanadaLand), Rache went for the $10.50 beer sampler:

And who can say no to deep-fried pickles (well, Roxy could – he hates pickles and anything else sour, except for me):

It was easy to kill time in the only two cushy club chairs in the place – right in front of the non-running fireplace.

And the two random photos from the dock area of North Vancouver – two signs:

As for the upper one, self-explanatory, the one below, just because it’s a sign for a Green Market with a planter of dead plants, both of these The Tacky T-Shirt Lady would love.

Here was our wondering journey this afternoon – if you look closely you can see the miles and steps on the map (dashed line = public transit):

What, were we (NOT) thinking!

[? ? ?]

Fri
27
Aug '21

Trip Report: Canada – FINALLY!

The Canadian border opened to U.S. residents on August 9th – albeit with conditions:

  • Must be fully vaccinated
  • Must have Negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of entering Canada

That said, Canadians are prevented from driving into the US until at least September 21st.

I’ve been fully vaccinated since the end of March, bring on the booster shot – I want to get this thing whipped so I can go back to barely-restricted travel!

Looks promising….

NEXUS lanes aren’t open but there aren’t many cars….but other drivers seem to be less prepared with the right documents than I am.

Half an hour later, I’m through the border, but feeling “weepy” – it’s been two years since I’ve been to CanadaLand.

So nice to be back at the WorldMark at The Canadian:

Oddly, this is the view from the 2nd Bedroom (bathroom in the hall) rather than the Master Bedroom, which is en-suite:

Unit #2302 – WorldMark has a half dozen of the middle floors of the building.

In all my excitement about being back in CanadaLand, didn’t get a pic of first night’s food – which was a couple of pork loins over a bed of potatoes, salad, red wine, bubbles, and much, much, whiskey. But I did get a shot of Solus+ and Tantalus:

Tuesday night was a “me” night, which started with Happy Hour nibbles next door at Relish. Started with prime ribs sliders, and a double highball:

BUT, that didn’t turn out to be enough food, so I ordered the Poutine:

Which turned out to be TOO MUCH food.

Wednesday afternoon snack was a trip to JapaDog, which used to be more convenient when it was across the street from the closest grocery store – now, they are in a store front:

I had the #3 –


OROSHI

Freshly grated radish with a special soya sauce. East meets West.

Dinner guests, Epick and Jase, showed up at five for a salmon dinner – which I remembered to take pictures of!

As you can see, there is no dining room in this unit – but at least they provide TV Trays.

Thursday dinner was a repeat of Solus+ and Tantalus….

Butternut Squash Ravioli, salad, lamb chops – as you can see, didn’t get a photo when the plate was pretty:

Friday morning, I was out of the condo before 10 (sadly, pretending it’s COVID related, WorldMark has moved checkout from noon to 10am.

Fortunately, Duty Free was open on the way south, but as you can see, there aren’t any people to shop:

YES, that is a 4.5 liter bottle for $110 Canadian – sadly, it would have put me WAY over my booze limit coming back into the US.

The NEXUS lane was even open, with no one in front of me, or in the other lanes. They flagged my car over for x-ray inspection – which I chalk up to being bored and wanting to keep the training standards intact. It was a 5-minute delay with a look under the bonnet and in the truck, and a welcome home.

Stopped in Mount Vernon to hit a favorite low-end thrift shop that supports the Humane Society and found a glass for my airline memorabilia collector friend.

And just because I’m travel paranoid (and I wanted to check out how the process worked), I swung by a drive-thru COVID-19 testing center:

Oddly, these were previously Emissions Testing Centers run by the state – great reuse considering they were already striped, open-air facilities.

Had the results in 12 hours – NEGATIVE as expected, but I’m getting ready for my first overseas trip in early September.

Oh, how I missed CanadaLand.

Upon my return I booked 3-nights in December and realized that I had October reservations for 3-nights, and two 3-4 nighters in Victoria for January 2022.

[? ? ?]

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Wed
9
Dec '15

Trip Report: Ruby Princess With LACraig

Tis the season for cruising apparently – with Princess offering $179 per person (plus $45 port fees) for a mini-suite on the three-day cruise from Los Angeles to Vancouver.

But first I have to get to LA, which was being a little problematic. Made it to the Board Room on my usual schedule, even to my favorite seat on the plane (1C):

I’m still in my jacket because they had just pulled the plane from the hanger. Maybe they should have left it there. We were headed down the runway when the captain came on to say we were going back to the gate because of a mechanical issue…never a good sign. After 30 minutes they let us off – this is the dead plane:

Yes, I was in First Class, but the plane wasn’t going anywhere. This is me in my office of two hours – since they kept changing boarding plans, no time for a quick cocktail and snack in the board room:

A call to Princess was next (to tell them of the flight delay since we’d contracted for the Princess Transfer Package), an energy bar after that. Two hours later we finally loaded – my plane that was supposed to land at 10:20 was now landing at 12:33 – the guy in seat 1D on his way to Santiago, Chile (and several other 1st class passengers) abandoned the trip. I was seriously hungry (that energy bar didn’t last that long) and we were at least 45 minutes in when food showed up – at least it was good food:

Landed, found Craig, found luggage, and then…another hour wait – this time for other passengers on delay flights. I should have used the transfer ticket Alaska gave me for the inconvenience of almost missing my Princess Transfer, it was a shared van rather than a shared bus:

In fairness to Alaska – even while I was seated waiting to take off I got both a text and an email apologizing for my delay, and telling me that there would be a $125 eVoucher within the next 24-48 hours for a future flight. As it turned out, the voucher was in my inbox when I finally landed. I may have been frustrated at missing lunch on the Ruby Princess, but at least Alaska came through with compensation without asking (which I would have).

Got to the boat at 2:30pm, the upside is that there is NOBOBY in line, no booze check, no mandatory embarkation photo portrait – just through all the hoops and onto the boat. The downside is that we had 15 minutes to slam down our mini-suite welcome champagne and grab our life vests for the mandatory lifeboat drill. What we both wanted was food – which after the drill the only thing open was the burger/dog stand. But we are on the boat at last. At the drill, champagne in hand:

And this, taken after the drill – don’t I look much calmer?

And yes, that would be LA Tap Water in my water bottle – actually, its swag courtesy of Craig from Los Angeles Water & Power emblazoned with “Pure, Clean, Refreshing TAP”. In through that would be bourbon and ginger. Notice the Pilot Boat in the background. And a beautiful sunset:

Complete with black hawk helicopter following us (sorry for the crappy shot, didn’t have the real camera on the trip):

The schedule had the LGBT gathering is at the Wheelhouse Bar at 5:30….Craig and I get there 5 minutes late to find 20+ people already there and by the time I did a count it was closer to 45 people. WOW.! No picture – privacy issues.

But there are plenty of other random photos to show…The Atrium (and then the deck):

The food (first is the fettuccini alfredo in the parmesan basket):

And not one meal at the “famed” buffet. I’d rather be served than serve.

Let’s not forget our lovely mini-suite:

We didn’t get our room steward trained to bring us ice, so we had to order from room service which brought us the “gigantico” size – this is the one that they serve half a dozen mini-Dos Equis in at 8am:

And the bars – this one set up for the Elite nightly cocktail party (tonight = salmon on toast points):

Or the shows after dinner (or before, depending on your schedule):

But really, most of the reason that I cruse is to do nothing at all other than look at the sea, day or night:

And to occasionally see old friends (several of which I’ll see on the Ruby December 15th as well):

On the second day of our cruise – just after I’ve finished watching an episode of The Love Boat (they have a separate channel on the TV for Love Boat reruns) – Craig decides to get some news. I’m a news hound so this isn’t a problem with me, well, until this was the news:

After three nights we disembark in Vancouver, British Columbia, CanadaLand.

We are spending the night at the WorldMark at The Canadian – so off by cab we go. And no, at 10am our room isn’t ready. My response is to go to the Recreation Room and curl up on the couch for a nap – Craig went our exploring.

After nap, it’s shopping for lunch, then praying that the room will be ready before 4pm (which is the official check-in time) – they got us in by 2:30 so I’m not complaining. It’s only a one-in-ten chance (or less) that the room would be ready in the morning.

And the room, it’s a two-bedroom, two-bath compact, no dining room (I hate that part, but it was what they had in a 2-bedroom):

The view isn’t too bad either:

One of Craig’s main reasons for signing onto this trip was the chance to visit our mutual friends Raspberry and Rosario who got married the week before our visit – I made them a post-wedding feast of chicken thighs poached in Salsa Verde (and I found the salsa in CanadaLand!), salad, bread, broccoli…

They brought wine – I brought whiskey – Craig just looked pretty. No pics of the wedding party or us – guess we were just having too much fun for tomorrow I head back to Seattle, while Craig stays on for a couple of days.

In the early afternoon the next day – Craig is off to the boys and I’m off for the train station for my trip back to Seattle. For a couple of hours, this was my office:

It was grey and drippy outside, figured it was time to catch up on some reading.

But if I’d wanted to buy some BitCoin in Pacific Central Station, it was available at the convenience store:

Before long I was at the American Border – handing over my customs form and drinking leftover wine that I’d put in those refillable shampoo bottles.

And a final shoutout to Whippet, who picked me up from the train station. I must keep inviting him to dinner to pay back these favors.

[215.8]

Fri
20
May '11

The Things You Forget – Day One Faerie Camp.

Erick was supposed to be early… but a dome light left on left him to arrive to do the lawn well after I’d left for Canadaland. Good thing there is a combo lock on the side gate and a key box by the back door.

Having left the house at a little before eleven, with a stop at the Seattle Architecture Society in the base of the Rainier Tower downtown (to pick up two copies of “Seattle Architecture — A Walking Guide To Downtown” that I bought off a Groupon coupon). Amazingly the parking was a snap with a 30 minute zone with my car pointed towards the northbound I-5 entrance.

Tried to stop at the Safeway in Mount Vernon for gas, but it was a clusterfuck with several pumps out of order and no order to the chaos with cars coming in from every direction. That left the Costco in Bellingham as a gas stop — and it only took two exits for me to find the right one.

At duty-free, my favorite sales clerk was on, apparently only Monday-Friday which is why I missed her when I came up with CaddyDaddy (aka Rich) for his birthday celebration. Two more glasses to add to my collection with the purchase of a 40oz. Jim Beam White Label. It’s a good thing as well since SuperModel is coming in September to pick up all the airline logo’d glassware from my trips.

One car in front of me at the border, and they just waived me through. Something about the bag of duty-free on the front seat screams “good tourist”.

The plan was to arrive at Faerie Camp exactly at 5pm which allowed for multiple stops to track down a USB to Mini-USB cable to charge my phone. Brought the tiny laptop, but forgot the connecting cable for the phone. Forgotten item number one. Forgotten item number two, a towel — which means using dirty shirts to dry myself off after my morning showers. Forgotten items number three — any sort of “fun” clothing for the gathering — all I brought was butch outdoor stuff. Forgotten item number four — a camera, other than the one on my phone.

Got all checked in and unpacked in the cabin. Five bunk beds and one single per cabin. Just like summer camp except we are all 20+ years older. Odd thing is that a couple of the Canadian Faeries actually DID go to summer camp here.

And here is the Evans Lake Forest Sanctuary just north of Squamish, which is just south of Whistler in lovely British Columbia, Canadaland.

As faerie gatherings go, this is a bit of an odd one as we are being served MEAT in the dining hall (with vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free available). The meal was your basic pasta in a red sauce (with some sort of ground animal), a Caesar salad, toasted French bread, and little mini-pumpkin pies for dessert. Looks like I’ll be sleeping soundly tonight!

Faerie 101 was at 8:30 (half of the guys here have never been to a gathering before, and we all need to know the Camp 101, like, boil water order so use the jugs) followed by the opening ritual.

All in all, with the sun out all day, and a little bit of a sun burn on my arms, face, and neck — not a bad way to start a gathering.

[229.1]

 

Sat
18
Jun '11

Glassblowing, Session Two.

Lessons learned from session two. Shorter day, two food breaks but only each half the sandwich each time, more water, do the martini glasses with stems in the morning when it is cooler, and you re fresher. Who knows, maybe there will be a day three unless my billable hours pick up.

Here are some still shots from the two days:

And here is a link to the various videos up on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/MarkStephenSouder

I’m still waiting to publish this mulit-gig video that puked loading. Will try again from Canadaland tomorrow.

Stopped at three junk/antique shops on the way back to the freeway from the studio, not good, but the one right in Stanwood was truly weird with surreal paintings and old electrical medical equipment.

To pooped to make a proper dinner, just went up the street and grabbed three fish tacos from the taco truck.

All caught up on registrations, at least until I’m back from Canadaland on Tuesday.

[229.5]

Mon
21
Mar '11

Back To The Dinner Party Circuit. Part Three.

Package at the apartment, the first of the two phone shipments, or is it three if you count the set of five connectors that are coming.

Spent the rest of the afternoon getting the MagicJack up and running. MagicJack basically allows you to plug in a regular landline phone into your computer and basically routes the call over the internet. It also lets you choose which area code you want. Me, I picked Manhattan. Now the website for Studio 403 has three phone numbers on it: Seattle, Santa Fe and New York City.

The other addition to the silly phone network in the house is to get the phone to actually ring. The old Western Electric phones need tons of amperage to make the bells ring, but I found a modern cordless phone in the garage (in my big box of phones) that has an electronic ringer, which is working nicely.

Tomorrow the 30-button phone arrives, but alas, I’ll be out of the country.

Tonight’s dinner party is a potluck down the street. My contributions are a seriously non-kosher pupu platter of pork and shrimp each with a dipping sauce, a couple of loaves of French bread hot from the oven, and a nice salad.

And once again, I forgot to take pictures. Maybe once I’m in Canadaland I’ll get some photos for the blog. But that’s tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow and the blog, there will probably be lapses in postings since I’ll be on the train from Tuesday to Saturday.

[230.1]

Sat
1
Jul '23

Trip Report: White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad

As part of our Alaska Cruise, Marybeth and I only booked one excursion… the White Pass & Yukon Route train out of Skagway.

For the tourists off the boat, it turns around at the top of the mountain and returns to town.

They say that if you are to take just one Alaska excursion, it should be this one!

All aboard and off we go!

And here is a little video of us passing a train going up the mountain as we are going down:

Now I see why they say, it you only do one…. And I’d do it again, though maybe not off a cruise ship and do the whole route into CanadaLand.

[185.0]

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Tue
17
Jan '17

Trip Report: Vancouver & Victoria

Well, the travel season has begun again – starting off with a road trip with my old college roommate, MB.

Left my place at noon headed for CanadaLand…with a couple of stops on the way:

Since we were going into a “crown county”, we thought we’d gets our crowns on early.

First stop is a WorldMark that I hadn’t tried yet – actually a trade with Vacation Internationale or something like that – Rosedale on Robson – warning, I didn’t take this picture:

But it gives you an idea. We were in a one-bedroom unit with a sofa bed in the living room…

Good day and night views…

Not as nice as the WorldMark at the Canadian in the heart of downtown – especially considering valet parking is $30 a night at the Robson on Rosedale. However, it does have a decent restaurant ion the ground floor – Original Joes – were we had cocktails and dinner:

MaryBeth had the Brambleberry, I went for the Royal Buffalo (Buffalo Trace Bourbon and Chambord Liqueur)

My haddock and mixed chips – biggest piece of fish and chips fish I’ve ever seen:

MaryBeth went for the noddle/broth dish – both excellent:

Out at eleven to catch our ferry to Vancouver Island, but first breakfast/brunch at the ferry terminal which has a HUGE food/shopping court. No, I did not have the sugarized apples:

And it was a GORGEOUS day for a ferry ride – and we had a front row seat!

Our room was ready when we got there!

MaryBeth ignored the howling breeze and hopped into the tub. Me, I stayed inside and enjoyed the view:

Before it was cocktail time:

Sort of a “faux” Lemon Drop – Citron Vodka with fresh squeezed “orange lime” juice – we found them at the local Thrifty Grocery. These are organic (hence the code starting with “9” – regular limes are 4306):

Looks like a small orange, but has the juice more like a lemon. And we liked them so we made two more runs to the store over the stay to get more.

As is my usual Victoria journeys, people are invited to dinner – including one of the checkers from the Thrifty:

Our first set of guests managed to drain the bar – resulting in this:

This was AFTER the hot tub, which with a 30mph breeze, was more like a lukewarm tub – with heads bobbing barely above the water line to keep from ice forming.

Wednesday is all about PIG – the restaurant called PIG, and one of the cooks at PIG.

Totally forgot to take pictures of our lunch – I went for the pulled pork sandwich, MaryBeth went for the pulled port poutine (fries, cheese curds, gravy, pulled pork) small portion, which was the size of a small child’s head.

Next up was to stock up on provisions….

Great guy working there who I assume was one of the owners – GREAT customer service.

Two bottles of wine, replacement vodka, replacement whiskey, and we are on our way to the fish market for dinner protein:

Love the fact they tell you what boat and where – this is why I shop with these folks (Finest At Sea) – they are a wholesaler who has a tiny retail store a couple of blocks from the condo on a side street behind their offices, and now, a food trailer out front.

So, they translation to US measures/prices – a pound and a third of troll caught salmon for $22USD which works out to $16.36 a pound (thanks to a 30% difference between the $USD and $CAN).

The dinner company is MaryBeth’s daughter’s boyfriend (who is a cook at PIG) and his mother – how’s THAT for an interesting dinner! And I’m making him cook after I do all the prep work – doesn’t it look GREAT?

And he taught me a tip – give it grill marks on the flesh side, then finish cooking on the skin side – I’d change this to a 45-degree angle – or a 45, and then a 90 for cross hatch.

No hot tub action tonight!

When I hang with friends at WorldMark places – even breakfast is “ensuite”:

That is a coil of sausage done on the grill, Caesars (that would be a Bloody Mary made with Clamato), scrambled eggs.

Today we are off to a CASTLE – and not the one that most tourist go to in Victoria – we are driving to Hatley Castle, not his father’s castle Craigdarroch Castle (FYI, his father died before the Castle was complete). Hatley was Royal Road Military College after the family finished the cycle from rags to riches to rags and lost the place, now it the Royal Road University, mostly on-line but offering career transitions. Thank you, MaryBeth, for stopping a person on campus who must have been in the administration for the great boiled-down mission statement.

It’s “shoulder season” so no tours of the Castle since it is a “living building”, i.e. and Administration Building – but still pretty:

 

And the lobby…

And my favorite lobby sign from its former life:

Even though there wasn’t a tour – there is a small museum in the basement (along with gift shop, and oddly school supply stop):

Back in town, it was time for an afternoon snack – I’d taken the chicken from the first night, turned it into stock, skimmed the fat after an evening in the fridge, add noodles and frozen veg…and a lovely soup!

Got a lot of use out of that chicken! After we’d had our fill, I packed up four small containers (left over from appetizer plates) for the staff – nothing like a little homemade chicken noodle soup. They are VERY understanding of my life – they even got me chocolates for my birthday in September.

Dinner tonight was a friend of mine who connected over social media and his husband – one of those, “stop by for a cocktail” that turns into dinner. Take the two marinated steaks, cube, skewer, grill, add a couple of salads, and we have dinner!

Another day…another castle! This time it’s dad’s castle — Craigdarroch Castle!

Search on Craigdarroch on my blog to see more pictures of the interior – this time I was specifically looking for this one plaque:

Specifically, for this portion of the plaque:

My “faux” nephews Julian and Jameson, apparently names after Julian Jameson (there is a mention HERE).

Love this radiator in the library….

It was a great tour before getting in line for the Coho Ferry to Port Angeles. But first, LUNCH:

And we did have calamari with those drinks. Honest.

In the line:

On the ferry:

Made the last ferry (Bainbridge) with just enough time to line up and be the last car off the ferry.

Home, MaryBeth headed home, I headed to bed after opening one of the bottles of Duty Free and making a cocktail.

[218.4]

Fri
18
May '12

Friday In Print Hell.

Got back around noon from Olympia. Logged in for email, found approval from the QRs for the summer gathering so it’s time to print the postcard call for the gathering.

Basically it’s a 500 postcard mailing, most in the US, some in Canadaland and six overseas.

By 5:00pm the cards were printed, taken to FedExOffice to be cut, then to the post office for $185 in postage, reverse side mail merged from the mailing list complete with return address, and finally stamped.

Next stop is the post office on the way to a birthday party/house centennial party with friends of my from Dublin (Ireland, not Ohio) attending.

Good to see the kids, but I ducked out of the party around 8 and headed home with the top down – our run of sun continuing for another couple of days yet.

Spent the rest of the evening making changes to the Gathering Website (http://www.cascadiafaeries.org) for the summer gathering. Now all that’s left it the true pain-in-the-arse electronically submittable PDF of the registration form.

But that’s tomorrow.

[? ? ?]

Thu
26
Jul '12

Full Day Whistler-Creekside.

Lazy morning with Swanda up hours before me. Nothing new there.

Apparently I’ve missed an 8:45am phone call – will look into after coffee 2x and breakfast. I can do email on coffee alone, but not talking to people.

When I finally get to voicemail (ponying up the $ per minute fee since I’m in Canadaland), it’s a call from QuickenLoans about my mortgage refinance. They want to set a closing date – does Monday the 30th work to send the notary TO MY HOUSE to sign the docs. Hell yes.

Got this email to confirm:

Hello –

This is a friendly reminder from the Quicken Loans Closing Team regarding the property at 1036 S ROSE ST, Loan Number: 330XXXXX398. You are scheduled to sign your closing documents on 07/30/2012, at 10:00 .

If you have any questions/concerns regarding your appointment, please contact the Closing Hotline at 800-226-6308 Extension 1XX67. The Closing Hotline is available from 8am-11pm EST Monday through Friday, and on Saturday from 9am-5pmEST.

Thank you!

What this does to my payment is significant:

  • Current payment: $1525.86
  • New payment: $1121.88
  • Savings: $403.98
  • Percent savings: 26.47556 (round numbers, over 25%)

At a little over $1100 a month it doesn’t make sense to downsize to an apartment since any neighborhood I’d want would be over that with parking. Maybe I should rent out the second bedroom and move my printing equipment in to the garage (rent would pay for insulating the garage).

Another day.

My version of a celebration photo:

Here is the view from the hot-tub….

Swanda left a little after 11am for a meeting in Whistler Village with the hotel that they book for the American Thanksgiving weekend with his club. Nice to have some quiet time though saying that I should also say that it isn’t usually an issue with us – we both need it and feel no need to fill every silence with chatter.

Dinner tonight is pork loins on the BBQ, the left-over asparagus, a big salad with hare-boiled eggs and tomatoes and a nice bottle of rosé.

Trying to go to bed earlier tonight since tomorrow we are out of the condo at 9am to miss rush hour traffic in Seattle.

[? ? ?]

Mon
13
Aug '07

Feeling Like Dog Waste.

Oy Canada.

Stayed up to 4am chatting with Dave-son. That meant an hour and a half nap before heading back to the airport so he could get his flights back to Tokyo.

Breakfast at the Denny’s around the corner from Helene’s before picking her up for our trip to O Canadaland to “check-in” — I mean land. Probably would have been better if she’d come in solo (or with a Canadian) since the surly immigration lady (and I use that term loosely) put Helene through extra hoops — however, on the customs line (to declare the goods to follow), it was the exact opposite — not exactly here is your Canadian flag pin, but at least “Welcome to Canada.”

Got lost in Vancouver and took a  nice tour of the city — blame my tiredness (had to stop in Mount Vernon on the way up and take a half an hour nap!) Finally found Commercial Drive but I couldn’t find Toby’s Sushi Restaurant — long since closed — so we stopped by to see if Tom (Tuma) was home. He was, boyfriend Stephen was, and most amazingly, Michael, Helene’s Vancouver roommate just back from Brazil was as well. Much conversation which included a local recommendation for lunch since I was once again fading.

The burger at Fets was really good — but the waitress should really right things down. Helene didn’t get her dressing on the side, I got fries instead of the salad I’d swapped it out with — and for some odd reason, the iced tea was sweet — we ain’t in Georgia (but the Memphis BBQ was in the next block).

After lunch it was back to the border. On the way up — there were two lanes open with two cars in each. Quick (except for the 45 minutes to “land”). On the way home…. an hour wait at 2pm to get back across the border. Maybe it’s time to get the Nexus pass (quick, short lines since you’ve already given them all your information in advance).

Got Helene back in time for the 5pm local news, got myself back in time for the 5:30pm national news. Was asleep on the couch by 6:45pm, was asleep in bed at 7:30, and was back up and groggy at 9pm for a sandwich and a glass of whiskey (and some fine Monday night television).

Jameson probably coming up tonight to avoid the unknown traffic of the morning.

Fri
26
Aug '22

Trip Report: Return to Whistler

Well, this trip started with a hiccup, and a cancelled first night out of town, so I used the day to rest up, with a little “mental health” trip over to the Museum of Flight to just sit in the Pavilion amongst the planes. It is an incredibly calming place for me.

Later in the day MB came up to join me on my trip to Whistler – last minute substitution, but I’ve been meaning to spend more time with her now that she is partially retired.

It was a lovely dinner before retiring at getting out of the house at 8am – we are planning a LEISURELY drive north – including time to see the outside display at B.C Vintage Truck Museum, sadly, only open to the public on Saturdays:

And I’m not sure if the graphic matches the message:

Off to Whistler we go!

And the condo is ready for us at 2pm – normal check-in is 4pm:

In the morning we had a little breakfast, and headed out to the hot tub (we were too exhausted last night to tub, but MB did swim in the afternoon):

Did a little shopping later – and in the odd Canadian Sign category:

Not sure WHY Kraft Dinner gets its own line.

Then it was a stroll to the dog stand I love:

And then we were at Zogg’s Dogs!

I must have been hungry to not photo my own dog! Lots of dog covered poutine going out the window.

Did get dinner photos!

Free rosè from last week’s points run!

Sadly, I needed to get back to Seattle for an immovable appointment, so, back on the road we go!

And then – hour delay getting through North Vancouver, followed by an hour wait at the border with only ONE lane open for Regular and one for Nexus (which MB isn’t, YET).

And my haul from Duty Free!

Well, it was a fine couple of days in lovely Canadaland.

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Tue
8
Jan '13

Dentist. UW Surplus. Safeway.

A dentist appointment that has been postponed three times is now a reality at noon.

And it’s the expensive one.

  • X-rays (though now digital so why do they cost so much)
  • Dr. looking in mouth (my, you’d had some really nice work done)
  • Dr. making one minor note for something to look at next year
  • Lots of gas
  • Teeth cleaning
  • $400 bill – no dental insurance

At the UW Surplus sale found 5 toner cartridges for the Faerie Printer (HP Laserjet 4550) at 5 bucks a pop… got to pick those up.

Next is Safeway for more bargain meats, running out of room….

We’ll just call this the “Meat Locker”. Luckily there is a trip to CanadaLand coming up so I’ve got boys to feed.

It’s so bad when your default meal is a steak and salad and an anti-fat absorption pill – and some wine.

So far it’s keep the weight off.

[212.0]

Sun
23
Jan '22

Trip Report: Two Trips To Vic

After two years of not being able to visit friends in CanadaLand, I seem to be trying to make up for lost time:

Yes, I over packed, but with the chance of snow, better to take the big car rather than the hockey puck.

With the Coho Ferry out of Port Angeles down for winter maintenance, and The Victoria Clipper still out of service until the spring, it means crossing the border and taking the Tsawwassen Ferry to Swartz Bay, north of Victoria.

Very odd to find NO other cars at the border crossing (and nobody at Duty Free other than the clerk). Had enough time to get food at the ferry terminal:

Probably one of the worst Rueben I’ve ever had. Looked NOTHING like the photo on the menu board.

Yellow mustard? Cheddar cheese? Really? Should have stuck with my usual bratwurst!

On board….

Other than the bathroom, just hung out in the car and fiddled with the phone and napped.

About 35 minutes after getting off on the other side – I’m at the condo, early, but the room is ready.

Here are some shots of the views from two-bedroom condo – the handicap unit on the 6th floor.

And from the hot tub on the first night when I don’t have company:

One of my favorite pics from recent times!

Will and Solus showed up on day two…along with the snow….

Fortunately, we had done the shopping before the bad weather hit.

We did NOT pick up this…..

Not sure how long that would take on the BBQ – great price, but you have to buy the whole thing! And I can’t take it back over the border.

Nice to have dinner with family!

The final breakfast for the three of us, was leftovers – bread and eggs turned into French Toast and the remaining eggs and pork griddled up.

Friday, I headed back to the city to work the weekend – in a perfect world I would have stayed over, but Jim is out of town, so someone has to open the shop.

Got to the ferry line to get some bad news – several of the morning sailing were cancelled due to high winds. Meaning long lines…

Nice to have an inverter in the Escape so I can get some work done:

And an even WORSE ferry line meal:

That was one SAD dog.

Finally made the 3PM ferry (after showing up at little before 11am).

It was after dark by the time I got home – in no mood to figure out dinner other than going to Loretta’s far a Double Tavern Burger:

Worked the weekend, getting tested on Saturday morning for COVID so I could get back into Canada, and headed back for the border:

And, of course, the bridge decides to go up. Sigh.

But before I knew it, I was back in the ferry terminal line, with a Bratwurst in hand!

Messy but good – had to go back in the terminal to wash my hands.

A little closer to the front of the boat – car 31 both on and off the ferry.

I arrived around 3pm, the boys closer to 5pm. And kitchen prep was underway!

It is a stunning seafood casserole with crab and shrimp from the local seafood wholesaler. VERY RICH.

Wish I’d gotten the rest of the Rabbit Pie recipe – not that it’s easy to find rabbit these days.

Sadly, Will and Solus left a day earlier than planned, Solus hadn’t been sleeping well, combined with the rich food took its toll, and he needed his own bed.

Those boys DO NOT travel light – but they had been on the road for a week (they stayed up island over the weekend):

I spent the read of my days cooking for myself…

Leftover duck sausage and eggs:

Making a grilled sandwich out of the leftover seafood casserole:

And some fresh food, a capicola cut piece of organic BC pork, some of the leftover peppers on a skewer, a Greek Salad, that was WAY too large:

Breakfast of smoked white salmon, cream cheese, on a bagel:

And there is wildlife going after a crab…

And sunsets…

My last full day I went over to the seafood place for my afternoon snack – thinking fish and chips. I ended up with this:

And the final dinner…

And before I knew it, I was on the ferry again!

Lots of driving over the last two weeks.

But well worth it.

[? ? ?]

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