Vermont Day 1 - August 17, 2010

Well I finally arrived in Vermont. This is such a significant milestone because I am halfway through my journey. I was so excited when I got to the Vermont Icelandic Horse Farm that I did not want to leave. But my good manners prevailed upon me to leave and prepare for my ride tomorrow morning.

I had a moderately hard time finding this place. But Google was true. The farm was not readily visible from the road. The driveway slopes down and the house is barely visible from the road. But the important thing is that I got here and I found it. Tomorrow I will ride from 10am to 1pm. The weather is projected to be sunny in the high 70's. Perfect New England weather. Notice the green grass in the picture? There's no drought here. It is a huge contrast to the west coast where the grass was dead from California to Vancouver, BC, to Idaho, and Montana.

I will have more pictures tomorrow of the horses and Burlington, VT. Good night!

This is a beautiful view of a river gorge by Vantage, WA. I was traveling on I-90 East on my was to Spokane. After crossing the river I saw a sign for a view point. I don't normally stop at these view points. But I am glad I did. It was an absolutely beautiful view. It reminded me of a scene from the old "Planet of the Apes" movie.

I am now in Post Falls, Idaho just outside Coeur D'Alene. I will be here through Tuesday and will leave on Wenesday. Tomorrow I will go to Coeur D'Alene and explore this city by the lake. I first heard about it from a class I took on the history of the Pacific Northwest. I will take lots of pictures and post them on Picasa.

Vancouver Day 4

Hi,



It rained pretty much all day today. The weather forecasters were wrong! But I went to downtown Vancouver anyway. I used public transportation again and it was easy. I got off at the Grandville station and promptly ran into an underground mall. The mall was called Pacific Center. It housed a lot of high end dept stores, coffee shops, and a food court. I walked around and tried to wait out the rain. But I finally realized that the rain was not stopping anytime soon. So I went down to the waterfront and explored the Vancouver Convention Center and the Pan Pacific Hotel.



Fifteen years ago I won a one week Vancouver, BC vacation at work. It was called President's Club. I took my mother with me and we went with all the other winners to Whistler-Blackcomb mountain, Victoria, and Vancouver. We stayed at the Pan Pacific Hotel. It looks as opulent now as it did back in 1995. When I walked in today it was as if I had stepped back in time. The lobby was all too familiar. I stepped out onto the patio and took pictures from that vantage point. I did the same thing back in 1995.



As part of the trip we went to Victoria (on Vancouver island) by ferry and flew back on a Seaplane. It was my first time to fly on a seaplane. It was a fun exhilirating ride. It seemed to take forever to take off. But once in the air it was like any other plane ride. I almost went on another seaplane ride last Friday. It would have been perfect. The weather was nice, warm and sunny. But as I recall my first seaplane ride back in '95 was cold, cloudy and rainy. Oh well...I'll be back.



I took a bunch of pictures at the waterfront and shared them out via Picasa. The pictures consist of the Pan Pacific Hote, Canada Place, and the Vancouver Convention Center and its living roof. I finally learned how to use the camera on my iphone. I can now create self portraits without turning the camera around. The iPhone 4 has another camera that faces the user. It's what's used for the two way video call feature called "Face Time".



Well I am all packed and ready to go tomorrow. Couer D'Alene, Idaho...here I come. Good night and have a pleasant week.

Vancouver Day 3

Hi Everyone,

This is what it looked like when I got up this morning at 8:16am. Rain was forecasted and it was sorely needed. Jamie at the front desk said it had not rained for quite some time.

So I decided this was going to be a rest day. Tomorrow's weather forecast calls for am clouds and pm sun. So I will go to Vancouver and walk around Robeson St, Grandville, and The West End.

I planned out the rest of my trip and made reservations for all my stops all the way to Sarasota, Fl. I actually got a lot of things done. I now know where I will be for the next two weeks.

I was able to do laundry yesterday and in the process learned that the machines take two "loonies". A Canadian dollar coin is called a "Loonie". The machines were configured to take quarters and loonies. They were clearly marked separate slots for each denomination.

Well the rain finally stopped around 7:30pm. The grass should be nice and green in a week or so. I will go for now. Take care and have a great weekend everybody.

Vancouver Day 2

Hi,

This is a famous statue that sits off of Stanley Park. The seagull made it compelling to take the picture.

I earned my Chinese dinner buffet today. Earlier during the day I took public transportation to downtown Vancouver and walked at least seven or eight miles. I took a bus to Surrey Central Station where I boarded the SkyTrain to Vancouver. At first I was tentative because it looked all foreign to me. I have ridden many subways in my life and they always have some sort of route map on the train. Once I foundit I felt more at ease. The Skytrain is very simple. It really has only one main line. LA has more lines and covers a wider area. The Skytrain is on the honor system. There are no turnstiles to go through. I bought a Daypass (for $9) that allows me to ride the bus, Skytrain, and the Sea Bus which goes to North Vancouver. My trip took about an hour and thirty minutes or so. I am glad I took public tranportation because it would have been a nightmare driving in during rush hour.

I got off at Burrard Street station and like a turtle hatchling...I immediately headed to the waterfront. I passed by and took a picture of a Pizza lunch truck. LA has its Taco trucks while Vancouver has Pizza. If it's still there tomorrow, I will partake and see if it's any good or not. My biggest accomplishment of the day was my walk along the Seawall. The Seawall is a walkway and bike path that apparently goes all over Vancouver. I went from the Convention Center all the way around Stanley Park's 2nd Beach. From there I cut across and took the path along the north side of Lost Lagoon and back to the path where I started. I went along the path for a little bit before heading onto W. Georgia St. and onto Burrard Street Station. I took lots of pictures that you can access via Picasa. I tried uploading on this blog. But it took too long. I don't know why. So from now on I will upload photos and videos via Picasa and blog about my day here.

Dinner at the Chinese Buffet was a couple of blocks away from my hotel. It was just what I needed. The only food I had before dinner was breakfast at 8am. I never really got hungry while I was out and about. On my way back I got tempted to try Filipino food at Surrey Central Station. But I decided to that another day.

Tomorrow I will go back and explore Granville, Robeson St, and maybe The West End. Good night for now.

Well this is how it looked last night. This is a NW view outside the hotel. I could not see the Aurora Borealis because of the cloud cover. It actually rained a little bit last night. But it was not enough to wash all that Yosemite dust. Luckily there was a Car wash a block away. So I washed the car this morning before heading out to Langley, BC.

From Medford, OR to Federal Way, WA

I left Medford around 8:05am today on my way to Federal Way, WA. It is adjacent to the Seattle-Tacoma airport or SeaTac. It's kinda like Westchester by LAX. Only this is so much prettier. I arrived around 4:30pm. I am staying at a Comfort Inn and it is pretty good. The hotel is close to everything. I walked a couple of blocks or so the local B of A and RiteAid. On the way I saw all kinds of restaurants from Red Lobster to Korean Bar B Q Grill Buffet. There's Sushi, Mickie D's, Pizza Hut, etc. too many to mention. Unfortunately I am already full from my lunch detour earlier in Portland, OR.

I went to a Vietnamese Restaurant called Yen Ha in the Hollywood District of Portland. The place reminded me of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It's very eclectic and artsy. I ordered their famous Salt and Pepper Squid with rice. This is the best Calamari on the planet. It is crunchy and tasty. The dipping sauce that goes with it is spicy. But it's not too hot. It was here in 1995 when I first had this dish. I fell in love with it instantly. I should look it up in LA.

I hope the clouds move away soon so I can see the aurora borealis tonight. If I see the aurora I will try and take a picture. That's all for now.