Up in Vancouver now. Left Seattle at 6 a.m. and drove for about
3.5 hours. The drive was rather uneventful, and the border
checkpoint a bit of a let-down--I was expecting 20 lanes of
vehicles waiting their turns for the customs and immigration
checks, with armed Border Patrol guards and their snarling dogs
roving the area. Instead, it was a low-keyed, four-lane checkpoint,
with only one booth open and no lines.
We pressed on towards Vancouver and were overtaking all other
traffic on the road until we realized the speeds here were
indicated in kilometers per hour. Went straight to Richmond and
pigged out on dim sum. Then we drove around the area and into
Vancouver proper.
A few things we noticed:
1. The roads are extremely narrow, and downtown Vancouver seems to
the be birthplace of the 4-way stop intersection.
2. There are no fat people in Vancouver. Period.
3. The Richmond tourist brochure indicates that 60% of the
population of the area is of Asian descent. I'd say that brochure
is about half a century out of date. By my visual estimate, that
number is closer to, oh, 100%.
4. It rains in Vancouver as much as it does in Seattle.
Okay, I'm sleepy and need to retire. Pictures will be up
soon.
