Out of the house at 10:30 to pick up Solus+ at the train station and pick up my ticket for tomorrow’s train trip.
Solus+ arrived on time and while he waited for his luggage I finished this morning’s Wall Street Journal – yes, it is still coming almost three months later (was supposed to stop on May 31st).
And luggage he had –briefcase, carry-on roller bag, and this massive suitcase. All of which, including us, needed to go into the tiny Miata. Thank goodness for the trunk rack and the straps I keep in said trunk.
First stop was Filsons for a little shopping – he actually got out of there for under a hundred dollars, which is hard at Filsons – great quality, at a cost. He was after a ranger belt (http://www.filson.com/products/1-1-4-ranger-belt.63206.html). Funny that Solus+ and my brother both love Filsons.
Next stop is Salty’s At Alki for a little seafood lunch with a view:
Solus+ and the view:
Solus+ had the grilled Klamath River King Salmon on a bed of roasted potatoes and greens:
And after my half dozen Penn Cove oysters, it was on to the blackened salmon Caesar that came with a cup of their wonderful seafood chowder that was topped with a little sherry:
Safeway and the liquor store for Solus+ trip supplies and it was home to dinnerand cooking for me while Solus+ napped.
Think Pork Shoulder Roast, asparagus in a roasted bell pepper sauce, a nice loafof challah, a little slaw, good conversation with a bottle of nice Turkish wine in honor of Solus+’s upcoming trip to Turkey.
Out of the house at noon, out of Swanda’s place after watering the plants at 12:30, and off to the border we go.
Odd thing at the border — the Nexus line was actually LONGER than the standard lines, though it was only a ten minute wait (with no way to get out of the Nexus line once you are in it. The hitchhiker (Jack Daniels) was safely sitting in the front seat. Sort of odd that the crossing guard asked more questions than usual.
Traffic in the city was oddly heavy, maybe the holiday shopping season with everyone taking their cars rather than the bus?
A stop at Safeway for groceries, no need to stop for wine as Solus+ is bringing both a red and a white.
Here is a shot of the view from the condo:
I finally figured out how to force the flash on in “Happy Heart” simple mode — it only took twenty minutes reading through the manual on-line.
By 7 or so both of the boys were here, the pupu platter was out, and cocktails in hand.
Dinner at 8ish with a marinated pork tenderloin, a chunk of backed squash, a large salad. The plan was for a baguette, but I had left them on the roof of my car in the garage downstairs and when I returned they were gone. The funny thing is that a little after 9 the phone rang, it was the front desk asking if I’d happened to leave a couple of baguettes on my car roof. Too bad we were done with dinner at that point.
The rest of the evening was spent in conversations over kilt design, I brought up some WILD fabric for a kilt and Epick is a kilt-maker.
Work during the day along with a little running around. I should really get serious about packing for Canada, but it just isn’t happening.
Off to the airport to meet Solus’ 6pm arrival from Iceland. He arrived looking a little dazed, and not from drink. From a long flight and a bit of emotional turmoil.
The reason for the turmoil? It seems that in his last half hour in Iceland, several phone calls are about to change his life.
Forty-six years ago Solus ran away from not only his homeland of Australian, but a fiancé and the call of the church and worked on a fishing boat in Iceland. During his time on the boat, knee deep in fish guts, he bonded with one of the other fisherman, talking life, philosophy, the nature of god, not your usual deckhand talk. After the season, they went their separate ways.
Fast forward to yesterday and a conversation with the hotel/café owner where he was staying. The friendly chap was talking of how he had reunited a man and a women after a thirty year absence as part of his job as an innkeeper, to make his customers happy. Solus pasted on the tale of his missing friend and the mutual connection of the owner, Solus, and the missing friend as having all worked for the same seafood company during their lives (a common story in Iceland). He asked the boat, the year, and made a call. Lots of Icelandic chatter, a five minute wait, and the phone rang again. More chatter before handing Solus the phone. On the other end, his lost friend Tor (if I remember the name correctly). With five minutes before his bus to the airport they had reconnected, but now another trip to Iceland was in order. It turns out his friend is a mucky-muck in the central bank, and as the innkeeper said he’d be sad to miss him on his next visit as there would most likely be a car and driver awaiting him at the airport and a run to a country estate.
Makes me smile.
Compared with the above, a simple dinner of pork and beans (pork loin chops in a Cuban lime marinade and steamed green beans), salad, steamed rice and red wine hardly compares other than long time friendship.
It seems like it was only a couple of weeks since I was on the Ruby Princess – wait – it WAS just a couple of weeks ago!
New partner this time, and a different itinerary, but with all the same stops, just in the opposite direction.
Now – just point the arrows in the other direction – I couldn’t find a graphic for our trip, and it seems that next late summer they are making other stops coming down the coast.
Our trip started with an early morning Amtrak ride to Vancouver, BC where I spied this “private car” parked at King Street Station. It is the Silver Rapids, part of the California Zephyr fleet. They mostly rent out the cars to parties, tours, etc., though they do some of there on tours as well – check on this page – but sit down before you read the prices.
As for Rache and I, we didn’t have such luxury, but they did assign us four seats in Business Class which was nice and roomy.
I do wish they would run a mid-day train. Getting into Vancouver at noon means waiting around the condo until our room is ready. Luckily it was at 2:30 rather 4pm which is the real check-in time. The extra time allowed me a nap in the rec room, Rache a walking tour of the city, lunch and grocery shopping for both of us.
Once we got into the 2-bedroom, 2-bath unit, the view was lovely – we even had one of the rare units that has a tiny balcony:
Dinner tonight is with Solus+, a longtime friend (and dinner companion.
Out of the condo a little before noon, cab to Canada Place and a relatively smooth boarding process. I’m afraid I’m spoiling Rache with Business Class on the train (first through immigration/customs), Elite passenger check-in a boarding for the Ruby Princess, and the mini-suite that we got for $179 plus $45 port fees per person. I can’t believe I didn’t take any shots of the interior; you can find them here on the previous trip on the Ruby. Here is the layout from Princess:
Of course, you’d have to flip our, but that’s basically it, except double the size of the deck since we were the last cabin on the side:
Since we were actually on before 1pm, we actually got to do a sit-down lunch! Tasty!
And, of course, we had to have dessert…both of which were EXCELLENT:
No shots of the mandatory life-boat drill. Rache got some so maybe I’ll link to his trip report at some point.
The boat was all decked out for Christmas:
As was Vancouver, BC:
Before you knew it was we’re departing, passing under the Lions Gate Bridge:
Then quickly off to the LGBT gathering set for 5:30 in the Adagio Lounge, deck 16 aft:
There were at least 25 of us who showed up – the group pictured I’ve been on other cruises with – probably upwards of 10 previous cruisers – seems there are a lot of us who like the little under a week cruises.
When 7pm approached, a couple of the ring leaders invited us next door to SHARE, a Curtis Stone (LA restaurant guide whose restaurant, Maude, is in Beverly Hills) venture. They’d gotten a tabel for eight. What the hell, opening night, new restaurant put in while the Ruby was in dry dock – I’ll swallow the $39 (per person) upcharge.
And, oh my god, the food. There were enough of us that we got to try EVERYTHING on the menu:
Said menu:
By the time all the dishes started coming out it became clear that there wasn’t going to be a cover charge for us tonight – I celebrated by ordering a $48 bottle of wine.
Truly a stunning meal – I wa even more stunned when I realized that the wine was going to be comped as well. Had I know that, I would have suggested the following pairings:
Patz & Hall (California) & Ridge Vineyard Lytton Springs Zinfandel for the mains
Punch reviewed the resaturant at 2am after dinner – by the morning, it had 2,000 views, by afternoon 5,000 views… read the thread here. First post is the about half the menu, scroll down for the rest of it.
But, then, of course we had to go see some of the entertainment…
Something about “Colors Of The World” or some such thing…kept us amused until it was time to return to the cabin be explore how the pull down bed worked.
Of course, you have to have a “special key” to drop the bed down, but I happened to have one in my suitcase – it’s called an “emergency tool”:
Good for beds, electrical cabinets, hose bibs, random screws…
There is a “downside” of a wonderful meal of shared plates – at 3am you are starving, and unfortunately room service is merely a phone call away – and oh, did we order:
Because, of course, by 3am, all the ice had melted – that would be “Ice – Bucket Of” – if you look two pictures up, you can see Rach ordering the above (as seen in the mirror). I didn’t need really need breakfast when IT showed up at 9am. I went back to bed.
Onboard, you can always see where you are (and there is always “The Love Boat” on one of the channels):
At that moment, I was basically off my brother and sister-in-law’s places in Coos Bay/Corvallis – but this was my view:
The weather is starting to get a little better, at least no rain. I REALLY like this extra large balcony!
Another think about cruise ships is that they like to carve things, luckily not the guests. This was from the Elite Lounge on night two where it was salmon (most likely farm raised) on toast points with capers and Bermuda onions.
You should see what they do with a watermelon!
Another BIG gathering at the Adagio Lounge for the LGBT gathering – more cocktails, after we’d finished the cocktails brought from our suite…and then it was off to dinner – which the queue up for the dining room was MASSIVE so we opted for the buffet on the Lido Deck. My meal:
Not bad, but I prefer sit-down service – but hunger trumped waiting.
The entertainment for tonight was “The Uncle Markie Show” – featuring yours truly posing on a pedestal meant for a poinsettia:
And then there was tragedy on the “dis-mount”:
I hit the marble with a thud, and suddenly there were four Princess staff swarming in – luckily I’m padded (and was lubricated). Of course, I need a room service bacon cheeseburger to ease the pain. Please notice the absence of fries (bucket of ice not shown):
Our final day at sea was STUNNING – and made the balcony more worth it.
This give a nice idea of how big out balcony was, and these too give you an idea of how the weather was:
Another well attended (25+) gathering of the LGBT crowd – not bad considering that this isn’t a “gay” cruise:
No shots of dinner, just a couple of shots of dessert:
We shot for another show after dinner and I made it through ½ of one song – it was like a bad junior-high-school musical. I abandoned Rache to go grab another cocktail from the room, but walked past the remodeled Wheelhouse which now has another “upcharge” restaurant called “Salty Dog Gastro Pub” and found “the boys” trying out the other new venue:
Technically, that’s one of the waitresses in my puss print Santa hat.
And the menu – mind you, I was just eating the lukewarm leftovers which still weren’t bad!
Sigh, out last night aboard, and our final shot of the post. Moon off the balcony…
We had to vacate the cabin before 8am – but we had squirrelled away muesli, bananas and yogurt so we didn’t have to brave the morning buffet line or have a lackluster final sit-down meal.
Reporting to the Elite Disembarkation Lounge (thankfully in Club Fusion, one deck below so we didn’t have to brave the elevators) we had a little coffee, juice, pastries, though not enough for the MASSIVE delay in getting off the board. The phrase “clusterfuck” comes to mind. When we got to the lounge boarding groups were running 20 minutes early – always a good sign. And then there was the announcement. “There will be a delay in disembarkation, we will have details soon.”
We were an hour late disembarking, then another hour in line for customs. It seems that MANY of the passengers decided to ignore their designated times and swamped the customs/immigration lines. This seems to be a problem with cruises between Los Angeles and Vancouver. I hear even worse stories of cruises terminating or ending on Hong Kong. Must be a cultural thing. Serious points off to Princess for not checking people’s disembarkation numbers
Add another hour waiting for people to get to the airport transfer, and I’m starting to stress out. Our flight is at 1:25pm and I’d planned on getting a couple of hours of work in at the airport in the Board Room. By the time we got checked in and through security (EVEN with TSApre for both of us) I barely had time to slurp down two cups of soup, a salad, and a couple of drinks.
We were number one on the upgrade list, but First was stacked full, at least I had the seat next to me open, and we both got a free cocktail (me for my MVP Gold Status, Rach’s from the middle seat MVP who didn’t want hers).
A wonderful trip marred at the end, but still a fun way to spend five days.
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:
Up and out of the house one time at 9:15 for a 10:15 BoltBus to Vancouver – the cost for the two of us to get to Vancouver… $13. Not bad.
CaddyDaddy and I on the BoltBus getting ready for the 3 hour trip to Vancouver.
Got to the condo at 1:30 or so, and of course the room wasn’t ready so it was drop the bags and go out to lunch and do the grocery shopping for dinner. Hummingbird met up with us at the restaurant and wentshopping with us. Room still not ready upon our return, and Hummingbird wasn’t feeling the best so he picked up his presents and package in the game room at The Canadian.
At 3:30 the condo was ready and Epick and Aaron were waiting for usat the door when we got to the 22nd floor. Apparently they were right behind me coming into the lobby as I was leaving.
So they showed up early, Helene showed up late, Solus+ showed up late, dinner was ready at 7 which by that time it was just three of us for dinner, Solus+ left, Helene returned and I woke up at 2am on the couch.
Out of the unit a little after 11 to catch the 1pm ferry to Tawassan. Everything was going fine until suddenly the road was blocked by police and the detour was long, crowded and inconvenient – NOT what you want when you are trying to make a ferry. Instead of the ½ hour or so drive, it turned into an hour. And we know how I like to be early for things.
This is a lovely shot from the ferry:
Might have been better to go up to the sun deck and take this picture, but since I’d left my jacket at the condo, it would have been damn chilly.
Got to the Vancouver condo a little before four after a little last minute shopping at Safeway for salad and such. They were running a bit behind so it was almost 4 by the time I was in the unit.
Solus+, Marmot, Epick, and Tom for dinner tonight. Pork loins over a bed of potatoes, a nice salad, after the appetizer course… sounds like a broken record. And speaking of records we might have set a new one. Irish whiskey killed, bourbon killed, two bottles of wine killed… not a drop left in the house.
And Solus+ used the spare bedroom for the night and think he was happy to not have to head back to the suburbs.
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.
Managed to score some additional nights in lovely Whistler this August – one might in Creekside (where we spent two nights in two different rooms last trip), and three nights at Cascade Lodge, where we parked the last trip.
Lunch stop just after the border in Cloverdale. Boston Pizza was the choice – last time I was here was with CaddyDaddy when he was alive:
Steak strip French Dip, tasty, as was the salad…
You might have heard that there are wildfires burning in British Columbia – the smoke getting as far as Seattle and beyond. Here is the first example of the smoke. First photo is from previous drive up:
This photo is from the trip’s drive up:
I’ll post later about pictures of the mountain valleys, earlier in the summer, later in the summer.
Shopped for our veg and eggs in Squamish (cheaper than Whistler, and we brought all our protein) and some wine – but the grocery store in this hippy/hiking/biking/snowboarding/skiing town has a dispenser for growlers of Kombucha:
About our first night’s lodging, I love the BBQ and room size at Creekside, HATE the stairs. No way to avoid them, and we were on the first floor which is actually the basement floor, reception is on three. And it was the first night, so coolers, all the food, drink had to go down (and back up) lots of stairs.
That said, it was a nice place…
Living room above, second bedroom below…
And the SECOND bath:
And we had a nice meal….
In the morning, we repacked and headed to Whistler Village.
That is a lovely slice of paté on that crostini courtesy of Chef. Soon to be followed by the Vietnamese Pork Burger….
As you can see, the rosé vanished quickly.
Look at these photos – serious smoke in the air. Once again, my hiking has been thwarted.
Compared to late June….
Crazy wild difference.
Tonight’s dinner was leftovers, cleaning out the fridge – then out of the house a little after ten in the morning with a stop at the mining museum (too cheap to actually buy a ticket):
So, in the parking lot of the museum, there was this beautiful car camping hack – a 4″ black pipe mounted to the roof rack with a fill nozzle and a spigot to attach a shower to. In the sun, the black tube heats the water, and you get at least a warm shower in the afternoon. Brilliant!
Got into Vancouver around 1PM and Mags dropped me at Steamworks Brewery to meet up with Solus+. Got there early – ordered a Manhattan. What else!
And we both had the same meal – seafood chowder in a sourdough bowl with a small Caesar:
Wonderful meal, but it’s off to the train station to catch the 5:30pm to Seattle…didn’t know they had a Nexus line! I was business, so I would have gotten the same expedited service, but it’s nice to know:
Being the first one in line, the lady (turned out to be the Business Car attendant) gave me the best seat on the run – 1A, window, wheelchair blocked 1B.
Some nice views on the way home, and more than a few drinks….
Sadly, the train was running 45 minutes late into Seattle, AND I arrive at the station in the middle of a Mariners baseball game letting out. Total chaos. How far do I have to walk before I find a Lyft/Uber with non-premium pricing!
Made it home, made it to bed, for tomorrow, it’s off to work.
The morning was spent redoing all the bookings for the WorldMark Santa Fe for the second week of December. Why use points when it’s available cheap at the last minute.
And then came the panic.
The call from an unknown cell phone number with an area code I didn’t recognize — turned out it was Jim calling from the shop where we had internet service, but no phone line. Panic. No phone line on the day before Thanksgiving — one of the big wine shopping days of the year. Yikes.
Trip number one to the store: On the phone to Qwest. They confirmed no dial-tone. Escalation to the switching office. Right, no dial tone. Escalation to the programmer. Yes, the phone is programmed correctly, but it doesn’t have a dial tone. I head back home to put up my MajicJack — which is a VOIP (voice over internet protocol) device since we have internet service. Add a stop for ribs at the BBQ place on Cherry where a ½ pound of pork ribs is $7.50 and I swear it weighs in at over a pound. Several more calls from CenturyLink while I was driving home.
Trip number two was interrupted 2/3rds of the way back by… a call from the shop (Madrona Wine Merchants came up on caller ID). The phone is working. Jim got a call from CenturyLink and the rep said, “Well, it’s working again, and I have no idea why, but we’ve cancelled the service call for Friday.”
Needless to say I installed the MajicJack and trained Jim on it just in case. The thought of not being able to run credit cards for three days was unnerving. Maybe we should get one of those wireless merchant machines.
Done with the panic I went home and tried to relax. Should have had a nap, but it didn’t happen. Instead are started worrying about the Hawaii trip at the end of March to the south end of the Big Island. At the summer gathering I bought 3 nights in a three-bedroom three-bath house a couple of blocks from a clothing-optional black sand beach. The plan is to split the place ($350 for the three nights split three ways, and an extra $150 [again split] for an extra night) with Solus+ from Vancouver and DancingBear who has a boyfriend in Hilo, about 45 minutes away.
I’m feeling poverty stricken so the goal was to use as few as miles as possible while still flying First Class and not missing any days of work (since I’d like to actually take off the Breitenbush weekend in February). I was successful, but boy to I have an odd routing:
Sunday, after working until 5pm, fly from Seattle to Oakland, arrive 10:30pm, have a night cap with Mark and Onyx
Monday morning at 11am, fly from Oakland to Kona (direct on Alaska Airlines)
Friday afternoon fly back to Oakland and have a night cap with Mark and Onyx
Saturday morning at 9:30, fly to Seattle with enough time to show up at the 2-4pm tasting.
Whew!
Solus+ is now looking into arriving/leaving Kona the same dates using miles since he is going to the faerie gathering in Thailand at the end of January and is counting his pennies. It was made easier now that he doesn’t need to add a side trip to Maui onto the trip. Now I just have to get DancingBear on board since the dates we picked match when his boyfriend is out of nursing school on spring break. Hopefully that will happen tomorrow night when he meets up with Swanda and I for my Thanksgiving Number Two.
Nothing much to say about dinner other than a stir fry of ginger pork with a side salad. For once I missed rice.
A lazy holiday morning for the boys in the condo. Up at nine, bloody marys and breakfast at 10ish, followed by reading and a nap, and more reading and lounging about.
Tonight’s dinner guests are Solus (a priest) and Epick (a kilt-maker).
And what’s on the menu after a huge poopoo plater? Veal chops, a large salad, some black olive bread, and copious quantities of both red and white wine. Can’t legally bring the extra back home if we want our entire duty free allowance.
Today’s pictures aren’t from this evening as I totally spaced taking any, but are me and Epick at camp in May:
And here is an older shot of Solus and I — he wasn’t in priest drag this time.
A lovely scramble this morning before heading to the airport a little after noon. Taking Solus to the airport and picking up Jameson, nice to be able to combine the two trips, and let’s Solus meet Jameson.
Lunch was a variety of leftovers from the fridge. A little chicken noodle soup, half a sandwich apiece, a little pineapple upside down cake.
And now for the odd. This “vehicle” was parked around the corner from my house.
Let’s see, I’m counting one beetle (with sun roof), and 5-7 van bodies… Truly odd.
Spent the afternoon running around checking out Bamboo Hardwoods, an antique mall on Lander, Dick’s Restaurant Supply, and finally Crosscut Hardwoods. Didn’t end up buying a thing, but it was a great way to kill time until cocktail hour.
In honor of Jameson’s visit I grilled two massive steaks to go with the roast potatoes and Brussel sprouts and Caesar salad.
What a wonderful yummy dinner, and the hot tub afterwards wasn’t bad either.
Jameson off to bed a ten since he was up at 3:30am this morning to make his flights.
It really isn’t a cruise to nowhere… just an overnight from Vancouver, BC to Seattle, WA – with a couple of nights in Vancouver with friends at the beginning.
Since Swanda wants to see lots of selfies, this might be a report in selfies….starting with not getting to bed early enough…
But I make the train – cab is early so I boxed my breakfast and headed out. Luckily they boarded 40 minutes early so I could just chill and snooze.
Three hours later and a couple of drinks later, we stop at the Canadian border for a red signal…more delays.
Finally coming into Vancouver, British Columbia with snow-capped mountains in the background…
A beautiful day in Vancouver…
Had lunch with Solus+ at The Parlour – a great little Yaletown eatery. He was kind enough to pick me up at the station. We shared a bunch of appetizers:
Arugula — Anjou Pear, Red Onion, Butter Croutons, Parmesan, Pumpkin Seeds, Walnuts, Maple Shallot Vinaigrette
Brocco — Garlic, Shallots, Jalapeño, Pine Nuts, Sweet Soy Sauce
Stacked Short Ribs — Hosisin and Tamarind marinated, Granny Smith Apple and Jicama Slaw
Solus+ had a couple of stouts; I had a couple of Manhattans. What was I thinking! No selfie? No food shots.
Got to the condo after lunch – and only had to wait20 minutes to have my room ready – a couple of hours early. Hummingbird had left me bread and wine with the front desk – what else would a priest leave ( body and blood of Christ).
The early check-in gives me time to grab 10% off coupons and head to the IGA for some grocery shopping. Much wandering later the meal plan is in place:
Pupu platter which BamBam will decimate and not have it effect his appetite
Southwestern salad (pre-packaged kit)
Bread
Rolled pork roasts on a bed of multi-colored potatoes
Hummingbird showed up with white wine and dessert. Their friend showed up with more wine, which is good since there are four of us and all I have is two bottles of whiskey.
Great views from the apartment – we lucked out and got one of the few balcony units at WorldMark at The Canadian.
After dinner the silliness begins…
No, it’s not a stitched picture, it’s a times picture with two pieces of mirror in the background, showing off the BBC News we are watching.
The boys (minus Kevvy, their guest) spent the night since they now live north of town in the Frasier Valley. Way too much whiskey was consumed, so in the morning we were off to church after a breakfast scramble:
At the noon service he asks for healing thoughts for the family and friends of my buddy CaddyDaddy who would have been on this trip had he not crapped out last year. He is due to be planted tomorrow at 11:15am with full military honors in Olympia. The mere mention of him in the service left a huge lump in my throat – I can’t imagine the mess that I would have been had I attended his interment.
The boys were off after a quick run back to the apartment, giving me time to make a run for tonight’s dinner with Helene, and a quick nap, and some work on wine shop stuff (site updates, blog postings to other sites, graphics).
Tonight’s dinner:
Bread of Helene (a small baguette which wasn’t large enough for the carb carnivore)
Mixed greens salad for from the salad bar at the IGA
Broiled salmon on a bed of buckwheat noodles (leftovers from the boys – the noodles that is)
I love the condo vase with a couple of stems of fresh flowers. I’m sure that vase has NEVER held a flower in its life in the condo.
Luckily Helene brought wine, though with DancingBear dropping off wine on his way to dinner with friends, we didn’t get to it – but I was glad I popped next door and picked up another bottle of whiskey.
DB got home just as we were finishing dinner and we popped in the DVD that I bought the other night at the IGA – The Poseidon Adventure (the remake) which is appropriate since DB and I are going on a cruise tomorrow.
HUGE scramble in the morning:
Eggs (5)
The leftover potatoes from the first night’s roast
Seems it’s a WorldMark tradition to have scrambles in the morning with the leftovers from the night(s) before. Now you know why I pack butter, olive oil and balsamic vinegar (not the last for breakfast).
We (DB & UM) bail on the condo at 11:15am for the Golden Princess for our cruise home to Seattle. The lines were moving OK, in contrast to one of DB’s cruises from the same terminal when four ships were in port (as opposed to two today) where the line went out the door and around the building. Think three hours in line.
DancingBear and I booked separate cabins so we could each get 2 Princess Cruise Credits (rather than 1 for a double occupancy cabin). I booked a balcony, he booked an inside and the plan was that we’ve hang in the balcony cabin and he had Princess put him 4 doors down from mine…but the upgrade gods (yes, even on Cruise Ships there are upgrade Gods) intervened and he got bumped from his Inside Cabin to a Balcony (a two-class upgrade), and I got upgraded from a Balcony to a Suite – a sweet Suite. I hadn’t looked at what cabin I was in for a while so I didn’t notice the upgrade until I got to the room and thought “this looks bigger than I remember balcony cabins”.
Yes, that is a King Size bed on a Princess. Yes, there were TWO flat screen TVs. Now add a porch with a couple of lounge chairs and a table.
We had a quick drink in the cabin before heading to the Donatello Dining Room for lunch, bypassing the huge crowds at the buffet:
Our quite sit-down lunch at a shared table with other cruisers was:
A little quiet time after lunch and before you know it we are in full swing – 3:45pm is the Mandatory Life Boat Drill:
After the drill it’s time to get underway. Here is us sailing away under the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver:
Honest – I was trying to get my phone ready to take a selfie, and not drop my Manhattan. We were out there for the LGBT gathering – formally known as the “Friends of Dorothy” which I sort of miss… “code and all”, like “beard“. Apparently the youngsters don’t get the old reference. FOD is to the old gay world like FOB (Friends of Bill [W]) is for the people in “recovery”. It always amuses me on cruises with they have the recovery people meeting in a bar that isn’t open.
That party quickly moved to the Skywalker Lounge (17 Aft) because it was Happy Hour with Hors d’oeuvres in the Platinum Lounge with discounted drink of the day. We ran in to a couple of other Gay Short Curisers – or as they are known on Facebook as the Seattle Princess Sea Men.
Some chips and guacamole, a way-to-sweet top shelf Margarita for cheap and we were back to the cabin for another round before dinner – the way-sweet margarita was helped by watering it down with the last of the white wine we packed on board. The red wine was headed to dinner with us ($15 corkage fee – on Princess you are allowed to bring one bottle of wine per person free and the corkage fee only applies to having it in one of the restaurants.)
We probably DIDN’T need to order THREE desserts…
With Limón cello for me and Bailey’s in Coffee for DB (both on sale). My best shot is of the heart “broken” to share:
That’s the Princess Loveboat Heart in the foreground and the flan in the background (the other was a flourless chocolate thingee).
DB was done after that… and I surfed the internet until midnight (150 free minutes to use as a Princess Platinum) until hunger called again at a little after midnight. I didn’t reen the cheeseburger and fries (free) but I did need the Diet Pepsi Mixer ($2.25 with fees). I asked for a “bucket of ice” – and they brought me a damned bucket:
Things from duty free and some emptys… and the “bucket” next to the ice bucket:
Don’t worry – the ice is sitting in front of a mirror.
Up early – yet another meal in the dining room – so far haven’t hid the buffet at all – a record.
Separate disembarkation lounge for the Platinum Folk (both DB and I) so it was basically leave when you want and it was home by cab (in different directions) for both of us. I actually got a nap of over an hour before heading to work for the opening shift.
Dinner at Swanda’s for dinner with two mutual friends and then it was hone to bed. Long day. Or should I say long days.
Got to the condo around 10AM – and check-in as at 4PM.Been there, done that. Left my name and number at the desk, went down the hall to the lounge, gathered a couple of pillows and took a 3-hour nap.
The nap done, it was off to find some lunch…and a coupon from WorldMark to make it cheaper. The choice? Relish, a European Gastropub just around the corner. The deal? 15% off food.
Got there to find the house wine, a Naked Shiraz on offer for $4 a glass, VERY cheap by Canadian standards and not a bad glass pour. I paired it with the Duck Confit tacos ($11) for a wonderful little lunch:
That put me back at the WorldMark around 2PM – room still not ready, so it’s off to the IGA Marketplace with a 10% off coupon to get the rest of the stuff we need for dinner.
Tonight’s dinner guests are Solus+ and Helene. The dinner menu is:
Fish that Helene is bringing
Sourdough bread
Caesar salad
Red and White wine
Croatian cookies for dessert
But before that can happen, I have to get checked in, which turns out to be around 2:30 – after declining to have them fix a broken light in the kitchen. I think I can suffer.
Helene arrived around 5, Solus+ around six…alas, none of the dinner picture turned out…might have been the wine…
A late night, and a late morning of sleeping in…did a 3-egg fish scramble with cheese for my breakfast this morning, before settling into getting caught up on the blog… and by 3 it was time for another run to Relish for their oyster happy hour from 3-6PM with oysters at a “buck-a-shuck” – paired nicely with a Beefeater slightly dirty martini in honor of Pucci:
I ended up having a dozen of those “buck-a-shucks”.
Back to the IGA for a little more fish – Helene brought more than enough, but not quite enough for two meals – more salad and a little more for the pupu platter that BamBam always devours….
Croatian chocolate cookies on the left, sliced up heirloom sweet peppers that were on sale at the IGA for .99 a pound.
The boys (Hummingbird and BamBam) got there a little after 6, and with no word from Epick since I emailed him yesterday, finally a text response that he wasn’t coming….would have been nice to know, might not have bought more fish.
But a good dinner it was:
With leftovers for the boys to take home.
Their big news is that they finally, after seven years, have settled with the insurance company over their house fire. The money is in the bank, and they’ve found a place that they want to put an offer on in the city, in a neighborhood that I really like (as does Helene), so I’m wishing them the best of luck.
Another relaxing morning capped with another 3-egg omelet (no fish this time – sent it home with the boys for the cats). Checked out a little after 10:30AM, waited a few minutes trying to flag down a cab and finally just decided to save the $10+ and walk back down the hill to the cruise terminal – at least it wasn’t raining!
This is one of my favorite oddities on Hornby – it’s actually the bottom floor of what is now the Vancouver Art Gallery, but obviously in the past it was a police station…
Showing up at 11am seems to be the thing to do…unless you are on the Holland America boat that isn’t boarding until 1PM since they had a little norovirus outbreak. The downside of the Vancouver Cruise Terminal is that everyone, no matter how many boats are in dock, are all shoved through the same security line….meaning to Elite Line. At least past security – where they always notice my bottle of wine and direct me to the registration table – which I’ve started ignoring since no one seems to notice – there were dedicated lines for Preferred Passengers.
And a waiting area with coffee and pastries — too bad my Cruise Card is still showing Platinum (Silver) rather than Elite (Black) …I hate to start my cruise by bitching someone out, but I want my free mini-bar setup and I’ve got shirts that need laundered and starched.
Onto the train to Vancouver for dinner with Will and Solus!
Somehow, I have no shots of Will, Solus, Jen, Jonathan, and I. But here I have one with Jen and poutine:
Wonderful meatloaf dinner tor fix and The Canadian.
And soon it time to make or way Food Pleasure Dome, oh, I mean boat:
5
Jonatjan is off to a massage at 2pm, but I have a makeover at 1PM(was supposed to be shave at one with Jen tags along to photograph.) And frankly, it felt so good I didn’t winch about the extra $100
After that it’s time to dress up for dinner!
And then more fancy dress for the format night – which means pictures!
.
Cockails in hand, time for photos!
The boat docks early and we are off it. Showing up to the hotel lobby for a 4PM check in we hang in he business center. Better than the lobby! And very close to one of the best ABC stores on Waikiki.
When I got the diagnosis of colon cancer that had spread to the liver on April 22. 2022 it was a shock, but it had taken weeks to get to that point, and I got to this Zen place. I’ve lived an amazing life. I haven’t worked a desk job since I was 43. I’ve traveled the world. My heart goes out to those people who put that off until they are 65, and then they get my diagnosis. Also, VERY glad I took social security at 62!
Handed a statement to my doctor to that effect and his response was, “fine, you are at peace, let’s talk treatment”. I love you, Doctor Gold. I couldn’t have wished for a better oncologist, and after a year and a half I feel that we have become friends and I see your pain in my decline. You used every tool in your belt, but my disease was a willy one, changing courses, blowing out colon, ballooning my liver tumor.
Eighteen months later I still have that Zen feeling, albeit they are more intense on hospice meds. Today we received that last piece we need for me to get the prescription from Death With Dignity. Those who need to know the date will know. Not making it public incase that nutcase from Topeka wants to turn up and protest.
This is the last formal photo from the boat — getting dressed up and ready cost me that day’s energy, sending me to my stateroom for the remainder of the trip, but it is a great one to remember me by.
This is what I was able to complete in the 18 months of cancer and chemo:
I started this blog in August 10th, 2008 after a trip to China with The Colonels – our first trip together since the 5-week Lisbon to Antarctica trip in 2004-05.
Saturday, my priest/friend/Solus flew down from Vancouver to perform last rites. While I’m not overly religious, it is an important part of Solus’ life and by extension, of his 40+ year friend. We both needed closure. He started the service with this piece, Kontakion, by Rupert Lang, composed in Vancouver, and this staging was at the main Cathedral where I was last year for The Eucharist with MaryBeth after a train ride across Canada.
Going Forward
Please feel free to comment on this page, which I will monitor while I’m still here, though likely won’t reply due to energy levels. After I’m gone comments will be moderated by someone else to keep out the haters.
A tad late updating the bog with the final adventure in Uncle Markie’s May Train Month.
Because I need the miles, and I had a discount coupon I decided to fly from Seattle to Vancouver to catch the train, giving me most of the day (noon-6pm) to poke around Vancouver. Sadly, my buddy Solus+ was under the weather so there went my lunch plans.
I got an all-day transit pass ($12.50 – 30% exchange rate) which got me from YVR to the train station where I ditched my bags for the beautiful day.
Ditched the bag and got back on the SkyTrain to Granville Station – the closest to the WorldMark at The Canadian on Hornby. Why swing by a condo that I’m not booked into? Coupons for 10% off on groceries (mixers for the whiskey I bought at Duty Free and 15% the food portion of my lunch at Relish, a couple of doors down from The Canadian.
Which helped pay for this:
That would be a Manhattan (duh!) up top, with a hipster Ruben (has avocado on it) and fries on the bottom.
Ended up hanging out there for a couple of hours – not like they had a rush – reading, drinking, relaxing.
Swung by the IGA for a six pack of Diet Pepsi – not my favorite, but it was the only thing diet they had in 16 ounce plastic. I’ve got a 28-hour train ride in front of me.
When you travel on The Canadian in a sleeper (for one), you get all your meals included, and the right to consume your own private alcohol in your stateroom – and access to the Lounges in Vancouver and Toronto.
I had ViaRail Preference points that needed to get used while they were having a 40% discount in honor of Canada’s 150th birthday. I also have a coupon for 50% off on The Canadian which I need to use before the end of April.
Today’s train is a LONG one – 2 engines and 23 cars (of which, only two are economy). So many cars that there are TWO dining cars.
Boarded at 6:30 for a 7:30 departure (the train is so long the break it in half to load passengers:
Time for a cocktail before heading to the bubble dome car for some bubbles:
Since I’ve been on this route before – knew that I had to ask at boarding if there was a table available for my room:
And here is a shot of how the toilet and sink work (yes, you have to remove the table):
We they said “champagne” I was not surprised that it was really Italian Spumante – they “might” have had real champagne in Prestige Class where you get your own double bed and 32″ flat screen TV.
But, the view was lovely:
Having just the week before taken the The Cresent from New York to New Orleans I’d forgotten the difference between Amtrak and ViaRail in terms of food service. This was my morning breakfast:
Rye toast, eggs up, fresh ripe fruit, chicken sausage, grapefruit juice and coffee on china with a white linen tablecloth. On Amtrak, the plate would have been plastic, the white linen covered with butcher paper, and all options microwaved/reheated.
Lunch was equally wonderful – I started with the vegetable soup which had fresh fennel ferns in it:
For the main I got something I’d NEVER order on AmTrak – the Chicken Pot Pie, which looked and tasted like from scratch:
That would be a glass of Ontario red with my Chicken Pot Pie. Here was my choice of options for lunch:
Might as well get dinner out of the way before changing to scenery!
The salad course, followed by the main, which was rack of lamb…
Obviously, I’m not on AmTrak where the food was so underwhelming it didn’t even deserve a picture.
But the trip isn’t just about the food, it’s about the scenery!
Maybe a video clip or two?
Before I knew it, it was time to pack up and get ready to disembark in Edmonton. We were due in at 11, but it’s more like 12:30am when we arrive. I’ll use this moment to show you what the berth seats look like:
The upper pulls down and the lower pulls together, meaning the lower (cheaper berth) is a bigger bed!
Soon, I’ve Uber’d to the airport for my 6am flight – which check-in doesn’t open until 4. I actually manage a couple of hours of “flat” sleep on a “lounge couch” in the departures lounge. Before you know it, I’m checked in, through customs and immigration, which means that duty free has NO limits, other than what you can carry.
Oddly, I bought two more bottles (rum) because they gave me a free travel bag and a 22% coupon for more purchases the same day. Let’s see. Duty Free, 30% off because of the exchange rate, and a 22% coupon for two bottles of rum (which came with glassware). I could barely get my carryon into the overhead with all the extra weight.
The Edmonton Airport has some INTERESTING seating options (and no lounges):
I seem to remember a chorizo egg sandwich at the Starbucks because I ask about food on the flight in First Class, and the gate agent said, “minimal”. She was right.
I took the bite, it didn’t come that way. But I was on a E175 (operated by SkyWest) and I was in 1A, which is a single seat window/aisle seat.
Not bad for a regional jet! But I still look tired.
I look better with a drink, but not much. Nothing like a couple of hours sleep on airport furniture.
And I get views…
Not a bad view or seat. I was home by 7:30am in the morning with the time change – and went directly to bed.
Checkout time is noon, the train is at 10pm. What to do with a day…leave the luggage at the hotel and do a little unscripted exploring.
Breakfast in Europe, lunch in Asia.
Back to Sirkeci Station (the train station I leave from later tonight) to hook up with the Marmaray Metro Line that goes under the Bosporus and ends at Aynlik Cesmesi where I catch the M4 (Metro not Tram) to Kadikpoy station where there is a historical trolley doing a circular route. I found the trolley, but for the life of me couldn’t figure out how to pay since it looks like they only took cards and not tokens. Tokens I have, cards I do not – and the thing was jam-packed so that dampened my enthusiasm. But it’s a cute little thing:
Lunch was a little Doner sandwich at the dock that included fries and pepperoncini peppers IN the sandwich. Really good and only 5 Lira. Solus+ had mentioned going to Princes’ Islands, but that ferry wasn’t for a while and seems to run every two hours so timing was an issue. As is the fact that it’s ninety minutes in each direction and I have a train to catch.
You will find Princes’ Islands located at the bottom right of the map below – it’s a car free set of nine islands that the emperor used to send his troublesome princes for blinding, execution and the like.
Instead I went to Besiktas and turned about and came back to Kadikoy. Here are some tourist shots from the ride:
Hopped back on the metro headed for the Outlet Mall I spotted yesterday to finally get a light-weight jacket to replace my beloved maroon and black leopard print that went missing on my arrival to Istanbul earlier this week. The Outlet Mall is at the Gungeren T1 Tram Stop and features a Carrefour Xpress (grocery store) and four floors of shops, a huge kids entertainment area complete with rides and, of course, a food court which was handy for having dinner before catching the train. Several turns around the building and I settled on a 60 lira ($30) cotton jacket that almost feels like neoprene, but has some lovely maroon bunting. Sort of funny that it’s the same color combination as the one I lost. There were ones in the 30 lira range but they were ones that I just couldn’t see wearing ever again.
Dinner at Green Salad in the mall – which I’ve been craving more salads – I had the mixed platter with 3 different meats, a little pasta, and a salad. With the Diet Pepsi it was under 20 lira (less than $10).
Off to catch the train after swinging by the hotel to grab my bags and a cab. The tram was clogged on the way back, luckily I started so far out that I got a seat, but it being Friday night traffic on the roads was ugly – it took a while to find a cab to get me to the train station. Made it with time to spare but you know how uptight I get about missing connections.
So, here is the map of train connections to the major European cities – you will find my route on the lower right:
Actually the “train” is a bus from the train station to where the Bosfor (what they call the train running from Istanbul to Bucharest) terminates due to work on a massive train tunnel under the Bosphorus – that would be Cerkezkoy station, 110km to the north. This the station that the Orient Express was snowed in for days in 1929 which gave Agatha Christie the idea for her 1934 novel. It hasn’t changed much:
I’m actually lucky enough to have hooked up with a couple of Berliner (25 and 27) on the bus who are working on a project on European youth’s impressions of Europe as an entity – but more on that later. With the boys in the car ahead of me, I don’t see them again until the border.
Its midnight when we board the train. From what I’d read on www.seat61.com (everything doing with long distance trains no matter the continent) the trains consist of newer Romanian sleeping cards with 1, 2, or 3 berth compartments with a washbasin and a Turkish couchette car with 4 and 6 berth compartments. The boys ended up in the more modern car, though the rooms didn’t have a washbasin, and I ended up one car back in the Turkish Couchette Car in a Soviet-era car complete with birds eye veneer in most places, and rooms that could have three berths tall and open the connected doors and you have a 6 berth configuration. They had mine made up for 2 berths, but it was just me all the way to Bucharest – for half the price of a room booked as a single.
Notice the differences in the hallways. Their car:
And now my hallway:
I should have re-taken the shop during the day, but I think you can get a feel for the difference… plastic versus wood. And here are a couple of shots of my home for the next 20 hours:
Made up for the evening above, and made up for the day, below.
I used the washbasin area to store all my snacks to keep them cool and the cabinet above for the liquids:
Nice that the washbasin had a closable lid – makes for a nice food prep table:
With memories of a EurRail adventure 30+ years ago with Tim, and knowing probably have to get off the train to get our passports stamped at the border, I’ve come up with this little security arrangement using a laptop locking cable. There is no way to pull the cable out of the suitcase and the suitcase is locked though the briefcase. Did I really need to do this, probably not, but too many stories of past grab and dash. These days with everyone flying, there aren’t enough people taking the train to make it worth it for thieves is my guess.
At about three in the morning we arrive at Kapikule on the border with Bulgaria – time to get our passports stamped:
Passport control is on the left hand side of the building – and I was amazed that there was a Duty Free shop at the train station – and open at 3am in the morning. Apparently the train coming in the other direction also arrives about the same time. It was a pitiful little shop, but the 1liter bottle of Jameson was a welcome site. An hour stop here… and then an hour stop on the Bulgarian side of the border. But know I have some really nice passport stamps!
Slept well on the train – amazingly. Next border stop was around 3pm – that would be the border between Bulgaria and Romania. Quicker, but again two stops, punctuated by crossing Europe’s longest steel bridge at 2.4 kilometers long.
The train is scheduled to arrive in Bucharest at 6:30 at night – we got in about 5:15 which is amazing because it has a reputation for running 1-3 hours late.
As for my arrival – WOW, a real functioning train station with cash machines, restaurants, shops, masses of people. Got some cash on the second try, grabbed a cab and headed to the hotel – which turns out is out of the city center near the large green belt. Doesn’t look to be tram friendly but the cab was cheap for the distance – 10 Lei (about $3) for the 20 minute ride.
I’ll drop the story right there saving Bucharest for the next post but I’ll return to the Berliners and their adventure. Here is the selfie I took on the platform in Bucharest:
Here is their itinerary – 3 months’ worth if I remember correctly:
The final leg of their journey is to Kiev – timed before all this nonsense, but it should be a good final chapter since their GenerationOne project is talking to youth about what it means to be European. You can follow their project here: http://herrundspeer.de/the-project/
I’m off to explore the city and pick up my return train ticket for tomorrow’s return to Istanbul.
[? ? ?] Clueless but I’ve been having more carbs that usual, but walking a ton.
Final trip of the year, if you’d like to see where I’ve been in 2018, here is a link: CLICK HERE.
This is a driving trip – which starts with a long drive through the driving rain to get to Vancouver and the moderately OK Rosedale at Rosemont Suites, which are part of the WorldMark system until the end of the year. With the cost of parking, the limited kitchens, not sorry to see these units go away. Hence, no pictures of the place. Just pictures of food and friends.
We had our mutual friend Solus+ over for a chicken, pilaf, and salad dinner.
We were just in Vancouver for an evening, the main goal being beautiful Blaine, staying on Birch Bay, so Rache can do his Nexus interview. The wait in Blaine is a couple of weeks. The wait at the Seattle office at Boeing Field is at least three months out.
Another downside of Rosedale on Robson is the 10am check-out time, which is standard for Wyndham and Vacation International units. Bloody early by my standards.
On the upside, Rache nibbled on biscotti with his coffee, and I waited for an early lunch at Ominitsky Kosher Deli. Kosher Rueben for me:
Smoked Tongue for Rache, who doesn’t love a hot tongue?
They are also a deli and small market – which a huge selection of cold-case pickles:
Plus, a guide to your wiener:
Not too much of a delay at the border – and it will be even smaller next time now that Rache has his Nexus card!
Got settled into our lovely 2-bedroom Handicapped unit at the WorldMark Blaine, which is right next door to the WorldMark Birch Bay – but a more intimate place with nicer furniture. Again, no pictures, just food.
Our first (of two nights) was steaks and asparagus off the grill (sadly on the roof deck than on our deck, unlike next door), and scratch made Hollandaise, complete with my sister’s handpicked and dried hot peppers which we whirred up in the blender:
And I found this Chilean Malbec in honor of our trip to Santiago, Chile, next month:
While I didn’t get pictures of our unit, I did take some shots of the VERY underused lounge…complete with “Elf on a Shelf” or, in this case, at a table:
Even our morning breakfast was lovely, with the leftover steak and asparagus:
Our final dinner of the trip was bratwursts off the grill and Rache’s mac and cheese:
The final trip of 2018 – and 2019 is filling up at an amazing pace (CLICK HERE for what’s on the books for next year).
Some of you have been following my obsession with Amtrak Guest Rewards and gaming the system. Well, the game is changing as of January 24th. Here is the current zone system:
Amtrak Guest Rewards
Sleeper Rewards
Zones
Roomette
Bedroom
1 Zone
15,000
25,000
2 Zone
20,000
40,000
3 Zone
35,000
60,000
Under the new system it will be an almost complete rip-off of the Delta SkyPesos program. It’s all about the dollars you spend and how you spend them, including no points earning for slightly discounted tickets:
Q: What fares do not qualify for point earning and redeeming?
A: As is the case today, members may not earn or redeem points for Amtrak 7000-series Thruway services or the Canadian portion of joint Amtrak/VIA Rail Canada services. Additionally, discounted Amtrak fares (including Saver Fares, AAA discount, Senior Fares etc.) will not be redeemable.
Currently Saver Fares aren’t eligible for the AAA discount, but at least you still get the dollar spend – pity my rail buddies like Solus+ who gets the senior discount (which is the same as the AAA discount). So, if we look at some older posts you can see lots of examples, but I’ll use my favorite trip as an example:
Currently this is considered at Two Zone Award Ticket costing 20,000 miles in a Roomette and 30,000 in a bedroom. These tickets are for two passengers including all your meals and access to the Metropolitan Lounges in (on this itinerary), New Orleans, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland.
Under the new scheme this routing would be…
Post January 24, 2016
Amtrak Guest Rewards Redemption Values
How Far Out
Roomette Retail
Points Cost
Price Per Point
Old Points Cost
Price Per Point
3-months out
$ 1,733.00
59,789
$ 0.03
20,000
$ 0.09
6-months out
$ 1,529.00
52,751
$ 0.03
20,000
$ 0.08
9-months out
$ 1,657.00
57,167
$ 0.03
20,000
$ 0.08
How Far Out
Bedroom Retail
Points Cost
Price Per Point
Old Points Cost
Price Per Point
3-months out
$ 2,872.00
99,084
$ 0.03
40,000
$ 0.07
6-months out
$ 2,592.35
89,424
$ 0.03
40,000
$ 0.06
9-months out
$ 3,339.00
115,196
$ 0.03
40,000
$ 0.08
Some notes on the chart above. Three months out from today is mid-December (mid-season, pre-Christmas), 6-months out is mid-March (low-season), 9-months out is mid-June (high-season).
As you can see, under the new “scheme” points have been devalued by 2-3 times.
What to do about it?
If you haven’t bought your maximum number of points this year (15,000), top up that account and book your trip before January 24th, 2016. Current costs are .04 each, but sometimes they have bonus points sales (up to 30% extra points), though I doubt that is likely to happen again before they change the system.
Get the new Amtrak Chase MasterCard and pray that your 20,000 points bonus (after spending $1000 in the first three months) hit your account before January 24th, 2016 and book that trip (and don’t change it) under the old rules. They say 8-12 weeks posting time so spend that thousand dollars quick.
Take the train this fall between 9/21/2015 and 11/21/2015 and register for the Double Points Promotion.
Looks like I’m going to bank as many miles as I can over the next couple of months, and book as many trips as I can before the middle of January since once the new program is in place, that will be the end of my freewheeling days on Amtrak.
And in other news, Amtrak has just released a bunch of new ads to get people to take the long distance trains – the first in 15 years. Maybe there is hope for the system after all. It’s a lifestyle choice, not a dollar choice.
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