back to reality
we’re back!
a few random thoughts:
clean. vancouver is so incredibly clean.
it also has a shocking number of homeless people.
we went to vancouver island for the day. we explored fraser valley. we found our prospective neighbourhood. we considered going to seattle for the day. we bought ridiculously cheap ski stuff on sale. we spent 3 days snowboarding at whistler mountain.
it’s been a long time since *J* was the one who stood out with the weird accent, and not me.
i *miss* being able to go for a simple tasty meal out every once in a while! here I always feel like i’m getting ripped off, shitty food and even worse service.
i forgot how everything in n. america comes with fries. i love fries.
i may have put on about 5 pounds in fries.
i finally feel like a proper snowboarder – shussing down the slopes at speed, riding in that almost casual leaning way, even managing a few baby bumps. it felt fantastic. i no longer look like the newbie falling down the mountain ass over teakettle.
the entire trip was incredibly… smooth. everything went like clockwork, without a hitch. it was smooth, smooth, smooth. no hangups or annoyances or delays. we got upgraded on the gatwick express (for whatever *that’s* worth), got good seats on the flight, had nice service (actually really super nice – go zoom! no frills, but perfectly fine and really nice staff!), got through immigration in about 3 minutes flat. all the reservations went smoothly, we didn’t get lost once, the weather cut us a few nice breaks, we had a brilliantly smooth journey home, landed on time at 9:45, made it home at noon.
lots and lots of photos to come – this weekend probably.
oh yeah – happy valentine’s day! we’re not really ones for celebrating, so we kind of forgot – but it’s a nice sentiment to have a day where you celebrate the ones you love 
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Comment by Thomas Foolery
14.02.2008 @ 16:12 pm
Canada’s homeless tend to flock to Vancouver. Why? Nice warm weather and bigger welfare cheques. In fact the old premier of Alberta cooked up a scheme to reduce the province’s welfare rolls — he offered welfare recipients free one-way bus tickets to b.c. Fiendish!
Comment by Jen
14.02.2008 @ 16:29 pm
really?? j and i kept saying, “my *goodness* there are a lot of homeless people here!!” but that would explain it…
Comment by Abigail
14.02.2008 @ 16:48 pm
Glad you had such a successful trip!! You didn’t miss much down here in Seattle, the weather’s not been very nice and there’s nothing exciting going on
Comment by noble savage
14.02.2008 @ 18:57 pm
Welcome back! Sounds like you had a fantastic trip. Can’t wait to see pics!
Comment by Charlotte
14.02.2008 @ 19:15 pm
Glad to hear you had a great holiday. I would LOVE to visit Canada, Vancouver especially. I’ve just come back from some winter sports. Mine were unfortunately not as successful as yours.
Comment by Sarah
15.02.2008 @ 01:06 am
“i finally feel like a proper snowboarder….”
Sooo jealous. I have a pic from Whistler of a couple riding a tandem bike holding on to skis. I love it because it’s the two things my husband and I love to do best (only we’d have snowboards), and I imagine it’s us! I want some west coast powder!
Remember to bend your knees. It will give you flexibility over changing terrain, and you can get a bit of air over some of the bumps.