Vancouver

We had an easy ride today of only about 240kms from Seattle straight up the interstate to the Canadian border. We stopped at the Maryville Harley Davidson dealership and also at Burlington for a coffee, but in spite of taking our time we were still lining up in a queue of cars at border control around mid-day. We were asked a few questions by the customs agent, our passports were stamped and then we drove across the border into Canada! It was then only a short ride of about 30kms to our stop for the day - the Best Western Hotel in downtown Vancouver.

I was surprised how large Vancouver is. As we rode over the bridge into the main downtown area, the skyline was impressive with many tall buildings. There are about 2.3 million people in Vancouver and it has the most diverse population in Canada with around 52% of the population not having English as a first language.

We were fortunately able to check in early to our room on the 7th floor (I got some great photos of the skyline from the 11th floor outdoor viewing area). After changing we walked the few blocks to the central shopping district and spent a good part of the afternoon in the Granville Street Mall. This mall spans about 3 city blocks and has 3 different levels. Most of the shops were 'high end' fashion shops (not my cup of tea, but I 'sucked it up' and dutifully tagged along behind Tracee).

I was a little disappointed with Vancouver as a city. It seemed quite dirty in comparison to the positive energy we experienced in Seattle. There seemed to be a lot more homelessness and begging with people approaching you for money. We saw a few police vehicles gathered together & watched as the police finished bundling a group of young people into a van that we had earlier seen lying on blankets in front of shops begging.

We are looking forward to heading out of the city in the morning to experience the Canadian landscape!