Canadian Vacation (Part 1)

Happy Zeroth Anniversary Uncle Tristan and Aunt Linda. I still think this guy would have made a better ring bearer than I:



That Canadian bearer was just waiting by the side of the road in a field of wildflowers for a cute flower-girl to pair up with.

As for the first part of our road trip to Canadia:

Day 1:
Our vacation started with an awesome firetruck birthday for my friend Owen. I know I haven't been on many vacations, but I'm sure I'll keep enjoying them if they all start with fire station tours, pizza, and cake.

After the party, we headed up to Seattle to spend the night with Grandma C and Grandpa G. It was so fun we didn't have time to take out the camera!

Day 2:
The next morning we headed up to Canadia! I was super excited for my first international trip, and we stopped at the border park, where I did my best Daddy swagger on the way to Peace Arch:



I half-immigrated (a.k.a. "immiɛ...") to Canadia :



Then I "...3rated" the rest of the way to Canadia, and Mom fully emigrated from the US, while Daddy took pictures from the other side of the great border fence, keeping the super-clean Canadian immigrants from taking our jobs.



Due to a lack of proper papers (more on that later), I roamed the desolate scablands of Southern Canadia for some time, hoping to find a coyote who could take me back to the safety of the good ol' U.S. of A., whilest avoiding the Minutemen.



Here's Dad E. Coyote, helping immigrate me back to the safety of the USA, maintaining extreme caution around the purportedly electrified fence:



Finally after getting back into our car, we went the official (boring) route, which I quickly learned was a HUGE mistake. Mom did the impossible: she made a Canadian angry! Silly Mom, she brought a COPY of my birth certificate and then insulted the sovereignty of Canadia by saying she read that a copy was enough in a AAA book. According to the CBSA officer, AAA is not the official guide of the Canadian government, but the lady let us in the country anyway. NOTE TO PARENTS: When traveling to Canadia, no passport is required for children under 16. An original copy of a birth certificate will suffice. American government websites state a simple copy will allow you back into the USA. The Canadian government websites are still stuck in the 1990's with Robin Sparkles, so they don't actually mention anything in their FAQ about copies vs. original but they helpfully addressed the Czech- and Mexican-visa policies.

Despite our Adam Jones-like border experience, we made it to Vancouver in time to ride on the miniature train in Stanley Park:



Daddy was the best narrator ever, but I wouldn't recommend riding in the front row; right in front of us was the exhaust for the diesel engine:



Then we visited my Auntie Amy and Uncle Steve. They have a really cool apartment in downtown Vancouver that had an excellent view of Rogers Arena, where the Stanley Cup Finals was midway through (we were actually in town between games but we saw the stadium). The Canucks were up 2-0 over the Bruins, so I was certain Amy and Steve, along with the rest of Vancouver, would soon be celebrating their first Stanley Cup since 1915 (Portland was America's first finalist a year later, and Seattle won it all in 1917 clinching their title as the best hockey town on the West coast for the next 90 years, until the Ducks' brought the title to Anaheim):



Canadians sure are polite, eh!

Before leaving Vancouver we headed to Cypress Provincial Park and I saw a couple bald eagles flying overhead. Canadia bald eagles look just like the iconic American bald eagles, except for the mullet (a.k.a. "bullet" or "skullet," depending on whether the eagle is naturally balding or shaves his head)!



Finally, I'm proud to announce that as of my last post, this blog is 100% solar powered (previously it was 100% green powered, but now we're getting our power from our own roof)!

To those of you still competing in the animal-naming contest: read back through previous posts for hints.

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P.S. I actually found this page from the American government's website, but couldn't find it within Canadia's un-searchable gopher-style interwebs.

1 Miles, 2 Provinces, 4 States, 2000+ Miles

During our trip, I crossed 2 international borders, 4 state borders, and the border between British Columbia and Alberta 3 times!

Want proof?

















Can you tell which border was crossed at 1 am?

The animal-naming contest is still open! Here's a hint: there are 2 separate pairs of pictures that are the same species.

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Miles' Seven Columbia Crossings

In my last post, I showed you some of the animals from our trip, and it seems like some of you need help identifying them. So I'm going to give you a clue. All of them live along our route mapped below:



We covered over 2100 miles (but we all know who the best Miles is), and crossed the Columbia River seven times!

Help me to count the crossings:

1. Between Portland and Vancouver, we got a great view of Mt. Hood behind the above-flood-stage Columbia, before stopping at Fort Vancouver to visit Maya Lin's "Land Bridge" (not pictured), one of three Confluence Project sites we visited:



2: In Revelstoke Salmon Arm, BC, it was cold and overcast on the Trans-Canada Highway, under which the river flows North to South:



3: It was still overcast in Golden, BC, where the river oddly flows South to North (the Columbia is in the background; the Kicking Horse River is in the foreground):



4: Next, we took a trip to the headwaters of the Columbia River, coincidentally named "Columbia Lake," the Southern marshes of which are only a couple kilometers (since they're Canadian, I guess they should be called "kilometres") across the town of Canal Flats away from the Kootenay River, which finally flows into the Columbia 300 miles later (in Canada, but mostly through the US, so I can measure in miles -- the best unit I know)!





5: We crossed the river again on the way back to Banff:



6: It was a couple days later when we visited Maya Lin's "Story Circles" at Sacagewea State Park at the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers. The Columbia is pictured oddly flowing West to East (right to left), and the Snake is on the left of the photo:



7: Finally, we crossed the Columbia a final time and headed back to Portland on the Oregon side of the river, stopping at Celilo (née Falls, and soon to be the site of another Maya Lin project) for the sunset:



More posts about the trip coming soon (do you like how I'm breaking them up so it doesn't take me forever to post something new?). I'll even share some photos of my polite Canadian smile.

☺

The Animals of Canada

You'll have to wait a bit longer for my full post on our big June trip to Canada. In the meantime, enjoy these pictures we took of some of the animals we saw on the drive:



The first person to comment with the names of all the animals wins a big hug from me next time we see each other.

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P.S. Happy Birthday Grandpa! Thanks for taking me to the Mariners' game today! It seems like every time I go to Safeco, the M's win. They must be really good!

My Last AAA 4th

To celebrate our independence from the English, we headed as far away from them as possible* by taking our annual trip to Rockaway Beach:







We stayed on the beach for a bonfire, and it was colder than I'd expected, so I had to borrow Daddy's sweatshirt:



I hung out with Mom:



And I told her some ghost stories:



She kept saying "E.T. phone home," and my dad just rolled his eyes. I'm not sure what that was about:







Finally, I practiced the Shuffle for my SYTYCD audition:



The next day I realized I hadn't seen a tractor in awhile, so I headed down to the parade with my two favorite Grandmas:



Books are cool:



Daddy thinks his shades make him look cool:



And I'm the coolest of them all:



My favorite float was the train:



Jackpot!



Later we hung out at the beachhouse and Uncle Jack taught me how to use the telescope:



It sure made him look small!

Then we bundled up for the fireworks:



It was lots of fun and a little loud:



The next day we went out on the Garibaldi Pier to look at boats, crabs, and fish (or at least boaters, crabbers, and fishermen):





And we visited the short lighthouse at Cape Meares:



After seeing the train in the parade, I had to give the real one a try:



Choo, choo!













We chugged past the Three Graces:





The train was so much fun that I pretended to be one**:



Of course, no 4th of July weekend is complete without waving a flag around...:





...and a trip to the petting farm:







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* Someday I'll use this logic to get a trip to Hawaii out of Mom and Daddy!
** And then I sat my parents down and talked to them about train track safety.