Renting a minivan is not cheap. It's cheaper to rent two small (even two mid size) cars. This is why we have a reservation for 2 cars for pick up at the Seattle Airport. Factoring in cost and time I decide that taking a cab would only be about $25 more than taking public transportation to pick the cars up. (I was off a little, but it was so worth it.) After leaving the kids at the hotel (watching TV) Brian and I find ourselves at the very crowded Thrifty Rental Counter. They pull up our reservation and the very nice Thrifty agent (NOT the one helping me, but the one next to her who overhears our situation) gets us a minivan for the same price as the two cars we were about to rent. That's $53/day vs. the $190/day online price. Plus the benefit of only one car to have to deal with. Score!
We find our Chrysler Grand Caravan (uh-oh...) and proceed to the check-out at the exit. I mention to the lot attendant who is inspecting the car that the A/C doesn't seem to be working correctly. She replies, "It's been in the sun all day - it takes a little while to get going." with a you idiot smirk on her face. It's now 11:40 a.m. We are in Seattle where I'd be surprised if temps ever get over 80. I drive a minivan for a living and come from the effing desert for God's sake. I know how long it's supposed to take A/C to kick in. Really? Who's the idiot here? Unfortunately for our comfort level later in the trip, we are in a bit of a time crunch and I don't push the issue. We leave the lot to make our way back across Seattle.
Remember all of those Lions? Yeah, they're having that parade. Biggest one in Seattle's history. Right now. As we try to get back to the hotel. We get a panicked phone call from Julia - the maids are at the rooms wanting to start the check-out process. "Go ahead and take all the stuff out of the rooms and we'll meet you outside," I instruct from the passenger seat. We make some wrong turns. We get on some express lanes that take us farther out of town than we wanted. We get back into the city to find epic traffic due to construction. (Did I mention that Seattle is full of one-way streets? yeah, not so easy to navigate...) At one point, traffic isn't moving at all and we decide to pull through the coolest coffee drive-thru ever. We finally make it back to the hotel. It's 1:00 p.m. The ride should have taken 25 minutes. The kids are antsy, as is the hotel staff. We hurry up and load the car - and get on the road towards Canada.
The ride to Canada is relatively smooth - most of the congested traffic is headed the opposite direction, so we sail through Seattle and the rest of Washington State. It's about 45 minutes into our ride that we discover (well, I already knew) that the A/C does not, in fact, work. At all. It's a warm day in the sun, on the road. Too warm. Uncomfortably warm. Edwin threatens car-sickness (but it never materializes, thank goodness) and after a quick pit stop at McDonalds for bathrooms and food, we're off again. We arrive at the border and the wait is about 30 minutes - I guess not too bad as border waits go. We are serenaded on the radio by the Bare Naked Ladies and their wishes of a million dollars as we creep towards Canada - and I take this as a great sign. That and the cooler breeze coming from the now open windows.
We cross into Canada on some back road that takes us through God only knows where. When we hit civilization - in the form of a Tim Horton's - we must stop for more bathrooms and some donut goodness. In the parking lot, a nice young man drives by us, says something in Hawaiian and makes the hang loose sign. A bit confused, I look at our car and see that it has Hawaii license plates. I just smile and wave to him and let him think we are from Hawaii - Aloha!
We think that we are now close to Vancouver, and that we'll be at the hotel soon. We are wrong. We've hit the outskirts of the city at rush hour. A city full of BRIDGES and summer CONSTRUCTION. We creep along (in traffic so bad, I haven't seen the likes of it since we tried to drive into Paris 3 years ago) and finally reach our hotel in North Vancouver at 6:00. Brian is stick-a-fork-in-me done and I do what I can to keep the kids away from him while he rests in sub-zero A/C hotel room bliss. Luckily? the pool is right outside our room (suite with 2 bedrooms, mini kitchen and living room) and Ed and Julia happily play for an hour.
It's my turn to drive when it's time for dinner. It's now when I discover that the brakes in the car are shot. Squeaking, squealing, grinding shot. UGH. We make it to the restaurant - which is not good- but the waitress is very friendly. The *only* friendly Canadian we will encounter for some time, actually. We squeak our way home via a grocery store to stock up on some supplies for the next few days. The US dollar? Not quite as strong as the Canadian. Not too bad, but still. Canadian prices for food? Seriously crazy. Super expensive- even with the "club card price." We find a few things - particularly the yummy potato chip flavors you can't get at home - but don't find any beer or wine. I didn't think that we could buy alcohol at the grocery store, but I kind of hoped maybe I'd be wrong this one time. You *can* buy beer and wine making "kits" - just not the finished product.
Back to the hotel - and a little TV watching - and we all decide to call it a day. It's taken us all day to get to a place that should have taken 3 hours. Welcome to Canada.
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