 |
| COMFORT ON THE AMTRAK |
 |
| MARY MARGARET AND DOUG AT HOME |
 |
| AT THE STEAM CLOCK IN DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER |
 |
| ON TWO WHEELS AGAIN |
 |
| A-MAZ-ING LAUGHTER STATUES NEAR ENGLISH BAY BEACH |
 |
| FIRST NATION TOTEM POLES IN STANLEY PARK |
There were a few other people there. When the train arrived, one couple who had reserved a sleeper were asked to board. The train then started moving again. I hoped that I hadn't made a mistake and everyone else was somehow waiting for a different train. It was a relief when the train stopped again several carriage-lengths down and all the passengers with tickets for regular seats were asked to board.
I was allocated a spacious window seat, and the seat next to me remained unallocated throughout the journey which greatly aided my comfort. It was too dark to see much out of the windows until we got to Klamath Falls in Oregon State. The rail journey would take 15 hours to get me as far as Seattle in Washington State, and there wasn't much else to do but eat, sleep and enjoy the view.
Every few hours the train would stop long enough for folk to stretch their legs. They called this a smoking/fresh-air stop, which seemed a contradiction in terms.
At one point in the journey I started making some repairs to my shoes which had been given a hard time over the past couple of months. A young lad across the seating aisle had obviously been observing me and suddenly thrust a pair of trainers at me. They looked about my size so I thanked him for his thoughtfulness. I did look at his feet to check that he wasn't giving away something he needed.
Then he said he really needed $1.30 for something, which spoiled things a little. Offering what appears to be a kindness and then asking for or expecting money for it is common in the USA and, in this respect, seems to put the country in the same category as some third world countries. I gave him $2 and later told him that I had fixed my own shoes so he was welcome to take his back, which he did.
As we passed through Oregon and Washington, things became much greener, wetter and cooler than the more southern west-coast states.
We arrived at King Street Station in a rather wet Seattle at 8.00pm. The bus to Vancouver, BC, left at 9.30pm so I had over an hour to spare. I took a walk around the block, which was enough to confirm that Seattle had its fair share of street people, but not really long enough to identify anything that would distinguish Seattle from other US cities. I did come across two Christian Missions, so perhaps they do more for the street people than some other cities do.
The bus journey took another three and a quarter hours, including the Canadian border checks, so I was quite drained when I eventually arrived at Vancouver's Pacific Central Rail Station at 12.45am.The friends I had come to see, Mary Margaret and Doug, were already waiting for me. We had met only once before in 2010 when we were both on the Wainwright Coast-to-Coast Walk in the UK. The invitation to come and see them in Vancouver had stood since then so it was great be here at last. Because of the late hour they quickly whisked me to their lovely log cabin home.
Mary Margaret and Doug are both retired, she from a career in agronomy and he from an executive career with a pipeline company, but with deep interests in urban sociology and architecture.
It was a late start the following day (Thursday) as I caught up on my sleep, but in the afternoon Doug and Mary Margaret drove me to downtown Vancouver to get an appreciation of the central areas. We walked around Chinatown and Gastown, with Doug providing a commentary about the history of the region and the architecture of many of the buildings.
On Friday Doug fixed up a pushbike for me so we could all take a cycle ride around the peninsula comprising Downtown Vancouver and Stanley Park. We put the bikes onto the Skytrain to get to the Downtown area. The streets were busy as there were many other cyclists and pedestrians out enjoying the pleasantly warm weather. Part of the route we followed took us along the Seawall, and we finished up near Coal Harbour enjoying a beer.
It was dark during our cycle ride home and I had no lights. However, Mary Margaret had a functioning front light and Doug a rear, so we just rode in line with me in the middle position.
