"I wanna fly away"
Summer '99: My trip to Vancouver
I graduated from highschool in 1999. That summer I took a trip to see my aunt in North Vancouver. I was feeling restless in my neighbourhood and I wanted to go somewhere different. I was without a job and I really had nothing to do. I told my mom I wanted to go away. She arranged a trip for me knowing how restless I felt. I was to fly on my dad airmile points. (No I didn't hog them all. My dad had plenty to spare at the time). My mom bought me a couple books to read on he plane ride: Star Wars: Phantom Menace, and Red Dwarf Omnibus. I rode first class and let me tell you, it is pretty sweet. I've flown since and I can tell the difference (loath as I am to admit I agree with Jerry Seinfeld).
The first part of the trip was flying from London to Toronto, which was over in about as much time as it took to serve a snack and a couple of drinks. What was scary for me was not the flight but getting to Pearson Airport and trying to find my way to my flight. Luckily I had my wits about me and I figured it out and I got aboard the plane to Vancouver. I sat next to some kind of doctor on his way to a conference. When it came time to show the in-flight movie, they wanted us to close the blinds. He told me to keep ours open so he could do his work. Naturally, I obliged.
We got to Vancouver airport and met up with my aunt and my baby cousin, Jamie, who was only a few months old. It is embarrassing but I forgot what my luggage looked like, so we spent a good deal longer at that airport than I would have liked as IO tried to identify my luggage. I found them at last and grabbed them and went to my aunt's place. I immediately felll asleep when I got settled in.
Let me tell you, they showed me a good time. My cousin, Brett, was there for a couple of days before he went off to work in a camp. We hung out, drank slushies, watched movies. We went down to Lonsdale key and had some fun at the market. He showed me the way to the seabus, which was a kind of ferry that took you across the water to Vancouver proper. I used this ferry to make trips to downtown Vancouver where I visited Virgin records and bought a couple of cds, and I went for a walk getting a feel for the town.
Another thing I did was was I walked around the Seawall. The seawall surrounds Stanley Park and you can get quite the view of the Pacific Ocean. This was in the days when I used to walk a lot. I was in the best shape of my life. So I walked down to Lonsdale Key, caught the seabus, walked to the appropriate bus and went to Stanley Park. I walked around tthe Seawall snapping pictures as I went. I walked and walked until I realized I was going the wrong way. I had gone three quarters of the way around the seawall alright but I started following the shore instead of the wall. Instead of making the final curve, I went straight. I started walking along a beach. So I got out the map and figured out what I did wrong and how to rectify the situation. I ralized I i was more south then I wanted to be. So I traced my way to the nearest main road and huffed it north to the point where I could catch the seabus. I walked up Lonsdale road which was a steep uphill incline. I got to my aunt's place and my uncle welcomed me and snapped me a cold beer. I could have kissed him.
My aunt and uncle took me to Grousse Mountain. We went up a cable car and the sceneray was to goood to resist taking pictures. My uncle encouged me to go up the ski lift to see the view from there. Now I am afraid of heights but for the whole trip I was in an adventurous spirit. So I got on and the only thing keeping me from freaking out was taking pictures of the view!!
Speaking of adventurous, my uncle took me up in his plane, and we flew up near the mountains. This was around the time that JFK jr. died in a plane crash. As we were flying, my uncle shut off the engine and said "This must have been what JFK jr felt like as he went down" as he goes into a nose dive. I silently freaked out and my uncle laughed as he resumed flying like he was still in full possession of his sanity.
All in all it is one of the best trips I've ever been on. The first and only solo trip. I hope to make many more in the future.
I graduated from highschool in 1999. That summer I took a trip to see my aunt in North Vancouver. I was feeling restless in my neighbourhood and I wanted to go somewhere different. I was without a job and I really had nothing to do. I told my mom I wanted to go away. She arranged a trip for me knowing how restless I felt. I was to fly on my dad airmile points. (No I didn't hog them all. My dad had plenty to spare at the time). My mom bought me a couple books to read on he plane ride: Star Wars: Phantom Menace, and Red Dwarf Omnibus. I rode first class and let me tell you, it is pretty sweet. I've flown since and I can tell the difference (loath as I am to admit I agree with Jerry Seinfeld).
The first part of the trip was flying from London to Toronto, which was over in about as much time as it took to serve a snack and a couple of drinks. What was scary for me was not the flight but getting to Pearson Airport and trying to find my way to my flight. Luckily I had my wits about me and I figured it out and I got aboard the plane to Vancouver. I sat next to some kind of doctor on his way to a conference. When it came time to show the in-flight movie, they wanted us to close the blinds. He told me to keep ours open so he could do his work. Naturally, I obliged.
We got to Vancouver airport and met up with my aunt and my baby cousin, Jamie, who was only a few months old. It is embarrassing but I forgot what my luggage looked like, so we spent a good deal longer at that airport than I would have liked as IO tried to identify my luggage. I found them at last and grabbed them and went to my aunt's place. I immediately felll asleep when I got settled in.
Let me tell you, they showed me a good time. My cousin, Brett, was there for a couple of days before he went off to work in a camp. We hung out, drank slushies, watched movies. We went down to Lonsdale key and had some fun at the market. He showed me the way to the seabus, which was a kind of ferry that took you across the water to Vancouver proper. I used this ferry to make trips to downtown Vancouver where I visited Virgin records and bought a couple of cds, and I went for a walk getting a feel for the town.
Another thing I did was was I walked around the Seawall. The seawall surrounds Stanley Park and you can get quite the view of the Pacific Ocean. This was in the days when I used to walk a lot. I was in the best shape of my life. So I walked down to Lonsdale Key, caught the seabus, walked to the appropriate bus and went to Stanley Park. I walked around tthe Seawall snapping pictures as I went. I walked and walked until I realized I was going the wrong way. I had gone three quarters of the way around the seawall alright but I started following the shore instead of the wall. Instead of making the final curve, I went straight. I started walking along a beach. So I got out the map and figured out what I did wrong and how to rectify the situation. I ralized I i was more south then I wanted to be. So I traced my way to the nearest main road and huffed it north to the point where I could catch the seabus. I walked up Lonsdale road which was a steep uphill incline. I got to my aunt's place and my uncle welcomed me and snapped me a cold beer. I could have kissed him.
My aunt and uncle took me to Grousse Mountain. We went up a cable car and the sceneray was to goood to resist taking pictures. My uncle encouged me to go up the ski lift to see the view from there. Now I am afraid of heights but for the whole trip I was in an adventurous spirit. So I got on and the only thing keeping me from freaking out was taking pictures of the view!!
Speaking of adventurous, my uncle took me up in his plane, and we flew up near the mountains. This was around the time that JFK jr. died in a plane crash. As we were flying, my uncle shut off the engine and said "This must have been what JFK jr felt like as he went down" as he goes into a nose dive. I silently freaked out and my uncle laughed as he resumed flying like he was still in full possession of his sanity.
All in all it is one of the best trips I've ever been on. The first and only solo trip. I hope to make many more in the future.
posted by The Doctor at 7:09 PM
1 Comments:
Hi Todd!
Enjoyed reading your stories ... I'm going to Vancouver this summer so was cool to hear about your experience!
Lata :)
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