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Sunday, August 20, 2017

Storage Locker - Part 2

We were up very early the morning of July 29, 2017, in order to get to the airport in time to board our flight to Houston. We had not been out of Costa Rica for over six years and I wondered what the return to North America would be like. Here are some photos of the first leg of our journey.

Ready for takeoff: 


Leaving beautiful Costa Rica:


I believe this is the coastline of Quinta Roo, México:


I think this is the Belize coastline:


Approaching George Bush Airport, Houston:


So, what were my first impressions of North America from the air and on the land? Houston was hot and humid! So many freeways, so many cars, people going everywhere all the time. Flat land.

We overnighted in Houston and travelled Houston-Dallas-Vancouver, B.C., the following day. We were not seated together on this leg but I did okay. The Vancouver Whitecaps soccer team was on board. They had successfully played in Dallas the day before and were headed home. I was seated between one of the players and a doctor from Dallas who travels frequently to Vancouver because he and his wife own a house in Whistler, B.C.

Flying into Vancouver is always a visual treat if it is a clear day - the Gulf Islands, Vancouver Harbour, the Coast mountains and so on. It was a fairly clear day, so we saw a lot as we circled around. This would be about the last day during our visit that it would be clear, due to the raging wild fires in the interior sending smoke westward. Air quality was very poor and it was hot. We could hardly see the sun and it was often a red colour.

Vancouver International Airport has gorgeous west coast Native artwork beautifully displayed in the international arrivals section. Some photos:






The airport was crowded and chaotic with seemingly endless lines snaking back and forth for passage through customs and immigration. We were happy to get out of there and collect our rental car from Budget. Off we went to our hotel in Abbotsford which would be our home for the next six days. We chose to stay outside of the city areas because of the outrageously high cost of hotels. Abbotsford was about an hour's drive from our storage locker in Delta.

So there we were, driving familiar roads after six years away. I knew almost right away that I did not want to return and live here. British Columbia is a spectacularly beautiful province but just not our home any longer. Being there felt like taking a step backwards.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Good move! Yesterday, when I was driving from Vernon to Vancouver it was heavy traffic. But going the other way, starting at Langley, all the way to Chilliwack, it was bumper to bumper, stop and go. It was scary how crowded the lower mainland is now. I've never seen anything like it. It's down right scary.