Yesterday was busy, busy, busy. I was at the UPS Store with an Amazon return when it opened at 8:30am and squeezed in nine stops before I returned home about 2pm. We are experiencing the heat wave affecting so much of the country, and yesterday’s high was 99°. On the west facing deck it was 115° last night around 6pm as we were manhandling the deck furniture into the family room, but we didn’t dare leave it outside while we’re gone. We’ve proved over the years that it can withstand winds up to 75mph, but our tornado has left us gun shy. Everything except the large dining table had to come in, and even that was flipped upside upside down to be less of a sail.
I need a vacation!!
Part of the reason for the sleepless night was the rough few days my mom has had. Yesterday was a text-filled day with my brothers, and at 4pm we were debating whether we should be flying east rather than west today. But as a friend most helpfully pointed out, this may be the way things are for awhile and life has already been on hold too long. Onward! (And Must. Stay. Well. on the Sapphire so I can fly back there after our cruise!)
Our flight to Vancouver this morning was so easy that we momentarily wondered why we had flown in a day early…and then by the time we went through immigration and caught the SkyTrain from the airport to Waterfront Station at Canada Place and pushed our luggage over the rough sidewalks to our hotel, we recalled why we did so. SkyTrain is cheap (less than Cdn $20 for both of us, exit the Arrivals Hall, cross the street and take an elevator up to Level 4, use a credit card with no exchange fee to buy tickets from a kiosk). It’s also easy and kind of fun, but the varied surfaces between Waterfront Station and Canada Place are all difficult. Four wheeled suitcases that glide as if on ice on hard surfaces in the airport drag, tip, and, like a tired dog on a walk, simply refuse to budge at times. When we finally arrived at Canada Place, one of the greeters directing people on where to go to board the Crown Princess, starting its cruise today, told us we were very wise to arrive a day early because the embarkation lines were so long. Yeah, that’s nearly always the case here and is exactly why we flew in today.
It didn’t hurt that we had a pretty nice reward credit from Hotels.com that we booked just days before they changed (and downgraded) their loyalty program. We’ve gotten a lot of free hotel stays over the years with their “Stay 10 nights, get a night free” program, but it’s now been replaced with a 2% back reward. We’ll be shopping around next time. But for our last hurrah, we booked the Pan Pacific hotel right at Canada Place, where we’ll board the Sapphire tomorrow. Easy peasy.
We had picked up a Subway sandwich at Waterfront Station and carried it to the Pan Pacific, intending to check our bags and sit out by the waterfront to enjoy our first food of the day. Imagine our delight (really…it was delightful!) when we were told a 20th floor room was already available at 11am. Luggage got dumped, hands were washed, the sandwich was eaten right there in our room and we were full and napping by noon. We were ten hours into our day and needed to recharge.
The weather had been a little misty this morning, but the sun was peeking out by mid afternoon. We used the pool and hot tub and G went walking along the waterfront (of course) but my knee was finished for the day so I adjourned to the Coal Harbour Bar in the hotel lobby to get started on that “drinking thing”. He returned in time to watch the Crown Princess sail away (watching ships arrive and sail while on land is quite exciting) and we ended up staying right there for dinner to get started on that “eating thing”. We loved watching the sea planes taking off and landing.
The lavender was so fragrant.
Crown Princess at sail away
Lions Gate Bridge
Note the Chevron refueling boat in the foreground.
Dinner with a view at the Coal Harbour Bar
We returned to our room to find an anniversary dessert had been delivered. That was a very nice touch, and the staff at the Pan Pacific has been really wonderful, but the property itself is certainly showing its age. Still, for the location alone, it’s hard to beat.
At 8pm, it’s time for blog and bed. We’d like to get up tomorrow in time to watch the Sapphire sail in, so, once again, an alarm is set. But at least we’re behind our time zone at home, so it won’t be quite as harsh. I have to improve that sleep score!
