Month: March 2005

Maybe it’s because the NHL cancelled its season, but curling led the sports news just about every night I was in Canada.
The major news story was, of course, the murder of the 4 “Mounties” in Alberta.
Even so, American programs dominated the TV, even on the local channels, and except for a French-speaking station, most of the music on the radio is US pop. And even the French station played US jazz.
Being the Pacific Northwest, it feels like home here. In fact, the prospect of going back to the US feels like foreign travel. Here means escape from the constant stress of there being “not enough” of everything – not enough money, certainly not enough civility, and too many people, especially in traffic.
Vancouver, of course, is a huge city, and it feels like any big city in the US – hurried, crowded, lots of cars.
Vancouver Island – even Victoria – seems to be on a different schedule. Even so, I noticed right away that where I was staying, about 2 hours away from Victoria, people drive fast, consistently exceeding the speed limit.
They probably get away with it because there are, literally, no speed traps. The only times I saw the police on the roadways, they were either adjudicating accidents or directing traffic because of construction.

Continue reading BC Trip, Part II: And Now, Sports. First: Curling

I’ve been wanting to voyage for my birthday, and this year, it happened by chance.
There was an old timeshare week to be used before the end of March, so last November, I made arrangements to travel to British Columbia the week of March 6.
Getting ready for the trip was a little nerve-wracking: the passport arrived only the Friday before, along with a couple of checks.
The day before the trip, Emme was performing in a production by the traveling Missoula Children’s Theater, an honor to be sure, and I was glad to be able to see her.
I had to get up at 3:30 am on Sunday the 6th to make my flight with the recommended 2 hour lead time.
After a lot of indecision on my part about how to get back and forth to Logan, Peter suggested I call a limo service – an unheard of luxury – but it turned out to be a good decision, for a lot of reasons: no bus service at that hour, and I got to leave my car in the driveway rather than risk being towed or plowed in should there be more nasty weather (and in fact, there was) during the week.

Continue reading BC Trip, Part I: To Canada and Back