Thursday, August 14, 2014

A Short Walk on the Waterfront & Excitement is Building

Yesterday I took a vacation day and took the bus downtown


I got off the bus and had to cross the bike lanes to get to the intersection so I could cross the street.  Bike lanes are frustrating the drivers who pay taxes and insurance to drive their cars, while bikes get a free ride and get to use these new facilities for FREE.   Yet another lane taken away for bikes while traffic gets gridlocked in rush hour traffic.  This is a two lane highway for pedal power, one lane in each direction


It's still raining, not the best day to go for a walk


Here's our rectractible roofed stadium.  Not very busy for a Wednesday


Walking under the Cambie Street Bridge I get a little refuge from the falling rain


They seem to have statues all over town in strategic spots.  Here we have a mushroom or a space ship as I walk along water here down at False Creek.   This was the site of the former World's Fair, our Expo '86


Farther along I spot some paddleboarders, I wonder if they had also taken a day away from work, or perhaps they don't have to work.  Do you ever wonder how many people are out and enjoying the day and think whether they phoned in sick, or took some vacation time ?


While the City is money hungry and you have to stuff our parking meters every day, 7 days a week from 9am to 10pm each day, how they also manage to give motorcycles a break with free parking in selected spots around the city


We are in Quayside (pronounced Key Side) Marina down in yuppie Yaletown.  This used to be in our warehouse district but it is now home to expensive, upscale condos for young professionals.   I have lived many years in the downtown area, but now I seldom come down here, mainly due to lack of affordable parking


I'm hungry and I haven't had anytbing to eat yet.  I would have preferred to sit outside and enjoy the summer by having a meal outside on the patio, but today isn't the day


I then go across the street over to Urban Fare to grab a quick bite but it wasn't enjoyable due to the screaming baby who just wouldn't stop.  It was irritating to my sensitive ears.  This is the second time in recent weeks that this has happened.  I don't know what new parents are thinking and have no regard for the peaceful co-existance of others and general lack of courtesy.   This has nothing to do with Urban Fare as my meal was delicious the portion was so large that I had to leave some behind, and I am not usually a wasteful person


This store is well stocked and you can find most things to your desire.  This product gave me wandering thoughts . . . and it didn't take long for my tongue to salivate


As I walk around I noticed this sign.   FREE is good so I went inside


And here we see a restored Locomotive, CPR engine # 374  which was the first train to make it to Vancouveer on the newly completed rail line across Canada


You have to be careful where you walk and keep to your correct side.  The bikes are quiet and the riders go fairly fast.  I nearly got run over the last time I was here


I am guessing that this is a dog walker.  I mean how can anyone own so many dogs ?  I am not so sure it is good for a dog to have to walk on concrete all the time and be confined to a small condo or apartment in the city without a back yard to be able to roam free


Not many more sleeps until we embark on our new Adventure .  My vacation starts after I leave work tomorrow.  I have to thank my friend Nigel for proposing this idea 2 years ago and for all his help in getting my car roadworthy and ready for this long trip

In the previous post  Here ,    I posted photos of my car being shipped to Harrisburg, PA

And this morning they arrived


Here is our Trailer in Harrisburg, PA being unloaded this morning


What a relief to see them just as we loaded them


One more thing off our minds.    They have arrived just "as planned", exactly as we imagined.   We did have some logistical problems which were thankfully, overcome and for a while we thought that we would not have our cars there on time


So here are our four cars, waiting for us to claim them next Monday.  Excitement is building . . .

EDIT:   Addendum:

Richard has an interesting comment so I'll explain that there are 15 Corvettes heading to Bowling Green, Kentucky from our Corvette Club.   11 are driving to Bowling Green, while the 4 of us have shipped our cars to Harrisburg, PA instead.   We will sightsee for 4 or 5 days and attend the Corvettes at Carlisle event.  Then we join up with the New Jersey Corvette Caravan and follow them for 4 days as we drive with 200 Corvettes to Bowling Green where we will rendezvous with the rest of our group and stay at the same hotel.  We are basically buying time and making our vacation a bit more relaxing,  rather than having to drive long days and be tired when we arrive at our destination (Bowling Green)

Here's the link to our itinerary for the first week or so.  We are traveling with the New Jersey Caravan

Link    click here  

14 comments:

  1. Only four cars? For some reason it looked like a lot more than that were in the trailer. Or were some of them headed for other destinations. Right now, I'm looking for flights into Harrisburg, PA, in October so we can visit Bridget's dad.

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    1. Richard:

      see Addendum above. We tried to fill the trailer but the others in our group wanted to drive both ways. We think we were smarter to buy relaxation time and it wasn't much more, and we put less wear on our cars. We bought our tickets on Hotwire.com months ago. I noticed that the fares are much more now.

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    2. I enjoy driving and going across country is a great trip if you have the time. For one or two people it may be more difficult to justify purely based on $$. Especially with the shipping costs thrown in…

      But I'm sure you made the right decision for your trip. Looking forward to seeing what a few thousand Corvettes look like.

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    3. Richard:

      I also like road trips. It's more about the scenery and natural wonders and my photography hobby. I don't really like to be in a big city but as I am with others I'll go with the flow.

      Our car only holds two anyway and it gives us a chance to make memories driving our own car, rather than a rental. As for having enough time, you are right. You can't do a trip like this with regular vacations. Starting last year I have been taking more unpaid leave

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  2. Bob I can feel your antsy anticipation.

    A procession of cars of that magnitude will be quite a site.

    Did you teach Yvonne to use your GoPro?

    I wonder how many attendees will use drones to capture video?

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    1. David:

      it will be a challenge to drive with such a large group but they have requested that we break into smaller 4-10 car subgroups. As we get closer to Bowling Green the police will be closing the entrances to the freeway to keep other cars out of our way. We may even get a Police escort the last few miles. They expect 10,000 Corvettes at this event from all over the Country. I packed my monopod and Yvonne knows how to "aim" the Go:Pro

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  3. Thanks for walking with me around, albeit a bit wet, downtown. I always enjoyed the False Creek area with the little restaurants and water views.

    I can't wait for you to blog from the road, and wish you many happy and safe four wheeled miles and smiles.

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    1. Sonja:

      I knew you would like it down in Yaletown. I also like it on MarinaSide. Generally I sit outside while having a meal but the seats were wet from the rain. I suppose you miss Urban Fare too ?

      Monday will be a long day. We have to go to Toronto first, then onto a small plane to get to Harrisburg. There are no direct flights. All of our luggage was shipped with our cars to that makes things easier

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  4. 200 corvettes in a line.....that could be quite the head-turner.

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    1. Dom:

      there are nearly 8,000 paid registrations. We are only one of hundreds of Caravans but the New Jersey group is the largest. I added a link (above) for our itinerary. After August 31st we start our own tour before we start heading home in your direction

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  5. Bob - enjoy the journey. It seems like just a nano second ago I was in Carlisle. Looking at the map, apparently I slept just 6.6 km from where you're corvette is sleeping now - I hope she's not pestered by the 'stink bugs!' (Don't worry, they weren't nearly as bad as the posters lead me to believe they might be, I only saw one.) So many criss-crossed roads, such a small world. I'm heading out Monday for one last kick at the can, you may be flying overhead, look down once the plane leaves Toronto. (And I'm sure Yvonne knows how to do much more than point the GoPro!)

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    1. Karen:

      I'm now off for the next 5 weeks. It's a real vacation when I don't have to wear shoes. Shorts and sandals is all I packed. Monday is a travel day, will be arriving just in time for dinner in Harrisburg, PA and then we have to find our cars

      Hope you get good weather where ever you are going. If you wave at all the planes I'll be sure to spot you. We are transferring to a small 20 passenger commuter type plane

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  6. It looks like you had a nice walk in the city despite the rain. A shame your meal was so noisy.

    How on earth did you get pics of the Vettes arriving in PA? Did you have a secret Vette stalker?

    That is a huge group of attendees. Even 200 out of the 8,000 traveling together will put on quite a show.

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    1. Trobairitz:

      If a baby cries, no problem. But if they are continuously shrieking it's very annoying, especially when the mother does nothing. Not even get up and walk somewhere else. There is no consideration for anyone else. If a child screams it is very high pitched and hurts my ears

      I forgot to mention that the photos were sent to us to show they arrived safely in Pennsylvania. I forgot to put photo credit for Dave

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