Today we took off for Vancouver, BC, Canada.
It has been over 1.5 years since we had last been up there. It never seems that long, but it is. When we moved to the Pacific Northwest we just assumed we would be up to visit friends and family every few weeks or so, but of course life got in the way.
Around 11am we crossed the border into Canada at the Peace Arch, normally it takes 20-30 minutes to cross but this time it only took about 10 mins. However we was questioned by the border agent with questions we had not been asked prior, such as, how did I know Pauline?
This is one of those question’s you REALLY want to answer with some smart ass answer, but I have a past “incident” with this same border crossing where I dealt with a very unprofessional agent who decided to call out the SWAT team to make sure I was not trying to take over Canada. I’ll share that story some other time. Anyway, We answered the questions and was allowed into Canada.
We arrived at my nephew’s home in time to leave for their basketball games. Both games at the same time, on courts side by side. It was like watching tennis. Look left, look right, look left, look right.
Jon is 12 and was playing against some larger bodies, they lost by 2, but from what I saw, his team put up a good fight. Jon has the skill’s to be a good player, he just needs to learn the patience to become a great player. Once he figures out how to be quick, but patient and controlled, he will be really good.
Dylan is almost 9, and he was the biggest kid on the court but not by much. Most of the kids were either “short and stocky”, or “tall and skinny”, Dylan is “tall and stocky” when compared to the others.
Of course both of the boys tried to “impress” their Auntie and Uncle by trying too hard, once they calmed down and played their game, they did much better. Dylan stole the ball, ran down the court and drilled a 3 so deep everyone watching gave a roar, and to make his “Uncle Pup” even more proud, he stole the inbound pass and laid it in. My Nephew scored 5 points in about 3 seconds and stole the ball twice in about 10 seconds. I am a proud Uncle today. 🙂
We had lunch with the boys and their mom and friend of theirs and spent the afternoon with them. Â A very good and enjoyable visit. But a short one. Which makes it worse knowing it will be about a year before we will get to see them again.
Skype will have to do.
After we left their home we went to downtown Vancouver to visit our friends Kris (KGB) and John. We have known them for about 13 years or so but had not seen them in almost 2 years. Kris is a professional artist and has a unique style. As she says, she “makes cute”.
They was at a arts and crafts market, so we timed our arrival with the end of the day so we could all go out for dinner/drinks after. They took us next door to some “fancy pub” that was in a great location, so I walked around to take a few pictures, unfortunately it was also unseasonal and freakishly cold so not exactly a comfortable walk outside.
After dinner we all went to a local coffee shop and just sat back and talked for about a hour. It was nice to play catch up with each other after so long of a time. Normally great food and great drinks are required to have a great night, but our company and conversation won over the food/drink.
I have alway loved Vancouver. I am not sure why. I am not a city person at all. And honestly the narrow streets and crazy highway setup’s annoy the crap out of me, makes it for a very tense drive. But as I have told many, if I was ever to move out of the USA, I would move to Vancouver. However their fancy pub burgers blow and so do their local coffee shop cappuccino. Just saying.
I am a a simple burger guy, you don’t need to try and “fancy it all up” with fancy crap, just give me some cheese, ketchup, mustard (not the fancy kind) some raw onions and tomatoes if available etc. I am just not hip enough to eat fancy food. I’ll stick with my boring burgers.
But overall we had a day of food that honestly, did not appeal to us at all. Almost to the point we think the United States should invade Canada so we can get food the way we like  it. I know, we are not asking for much.
Around 8:45pm we crossed back into the USA in under 2 minutes. No car was in front of our line, the line into Canada was by far the longest we have ever seen it, well over a mile long. All the Canadian’s who are returning home from doing their shopping in the USA.
As I have already mentioned, we had a cold morning before we left home from 8-9am. You know how it is, you just woke up, trying to get ready, and know the furnace is on, but it never really warmed up. So for the rest of the day you are second guessing each other over “did we get any heat from the furnace” when we left or not. I recalled seeing Drew in front of the vent when I got out of bed like normal. But we couldn’t recall actually feeling the heat.
We got home about 10:15pm and as soon as we walked in, we knew the furnace was not giving off any heat.
Damn. It. All.
This is now the 3rd time since we got Ackbar his furnace has gone down. The first time was the “brain”. The second time was the burner. And if I had to take a wild guess, I would say its the “brain” again since it is doing the exact same thing it did the last time it was the brain. The blower blows, we hear the ignition trying 3 times to ignite, and nothing but cold air.
We have our buddy heater going right now, when we woke this morning it was 42F outside and 44F inside. It took about 45 mins, but the living space got up to about 62F. Livable.
Monday I will take the “brain” to Roy Roberson RV and have them test it, if it is that, and I *REALLY* hope it is, we can deal with that. If it is not…
Let’s just hope that it is that.
***Added Monday, March 25, 2013, 10:23am
Pauline decided to try the furnace once more before she called our dealer. Works perfectly again.
Yeah, that makes sense…
Now, without further ado… Pictures.