ceilidh1

The hotel has a complimentary continental breakfast (no pictures this morning as it was quite busy and I didn’t want to look weird). They had individual pots of cereal and oatmeal, bagels, pancakes, yogurts, fruit cups, mini muffins, juice, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. We grabbed some plates and brought them back to the room and ate leisurely while getting ready for our day.

We were woken this morning by birds outside the window. I snapped some pics and then spotted Carnival right outside!

It’s like target/walmart on steroids! It’s primarily a gas station but the convenience store is huge, along with unique bathrooms (the pics I posted with all the art work were the bathrooms). They also sell everything and (to me, anyway) it’s incredibly well priced. I can’t imagine not stopping there!

I don’t want to “quote” your posts as the pictures take forever to load and wifi is not our friend right now…but wanted to check in and let you know I’m reading (and miss you). - Biscoff!!! Airplane cookies. I had some on air Canada today and was so happy. - Dad is the best. Please tell him how much I love his British-isms. We really need to bring him to brunch next time! - I got you treats at Buc-ee’s!

Thank you!!!

Dinner (courtesy of Bucc-ee’s) and hunkering down for the night!

Question for all you folks familiar with Buccees…what are the guys at the brisket station yelling and why? It sounded like “Brisket on the board” or something and reminded me of the market in Seattle where they yell before throwing the fish…

Harbor House seems very nice! Good sized room, clean, friendly front desk, nice view. There is continental breakfast in the morning, wifi, and use of the pool at the Hilton.

Made it safe and sound! Shugg (Erica) picked us up right on time and stopped at Buccees on the way in. Traffic wasn’t horrendous so we made decent time and it was great to see her and chat with her again. Buccees was as awesome as always and we came out $130 poorer! We got some brisket sandwiches, burritos, coolers (why is this stuff so inexpensive here-$3 for a huge can of Smirnoff), paddle tails, chocolates, and buccees souvenirs. Love this store so much. The highlight was meeting sir Buccee himself!

The eagle has landed..

And we are on! See ya in Houston!

Let’s goooo

Our ride is here!

Oh, I’m more concerned that when the zombie apocalypse happens they will drink my kahlua! Now they have a shiny, clean house to invade but nothing to eat or drink (they’ll have to go find some brains)…

Breakfast of champions at a quiet airport!

Travel Day: So far, so good… Left the house at 5am. On the Canada Line train at 5:17am. At the airport at 5:55am. No lines. Bags dropped by 6:05am. We had YVR Express so breezed through security (probably only saved us about 10 minutes) and Mobile passport control so breezed through US CBP (saved us another 10 minutes). Longest line so far has been at Tim’s.

It’s all good. I finished it.

To Do: Almost complete! The only things left on the list: - Remake beds (obviously I had to strip them and wash the bedding before I left) - Take trash, compost, and recycling out (our building has a garbage room in the bottom floor of the parking lot. It’s such a hassle taking out the trash.) - Showers (x3 - rather than get up even earlier, we will do the shower fight this evening) -Final dinner - We will finish everything else in the refrigerator. Eggs, cheese, wieners, naan bread, and Kahlua. -Pack chargers, iPads, and phones (no way will the teens give those up until the last possible second). - Early night. Alarm set for 5am.

Packed!

It’s pretty new - it used to be a restaurant called Bellagios, which was ok. I think it opened about a year or so ago. There is also another new steak house right across the street (too expensive for me) called Riley’s https://rileysrestaurant.ca

The waitress just pointed out that we got a “Lucky Duck” which makes one of the meals free!!!

This is how close the restaurant is to Canada place (the huge line is the Oak &. Fort warehouse sale). I took this through the window!

Part of my vacation routine is ensuring every single food item in the house has been eaten before we leave. I refuse to buy anything edible beginning a week out and we make meals that are a combo of whatever is left in the house. Last nights dinner was cheese, crackers, wieners and cucumber. I spent the morning cleaning and decided there was nothing wonderful to make lunch from, so we headed out to one of the hidden gems in Vancouver- Chop Steak House. This place is expensive but they have a great happy hour and a great “big kids meal” lunch special! It’s right next to the port so a great spot for anyone wanting a pre cruise meal!

Let’s do this!