vancouver

I arrived in Vancouver, BC early this morning - having gotten up a little after the sun (longest days of the year at a north latitude and that's early...) The decision to leave Seattle early was not a bad one - Whidby Island and Deception Pass state park were pretty beautiful. Did a little hiking, a little wandering and then enjoyed an evening by the campfire... .even if it was raining.

I crossed the border into BC easily - I didn't even have to wait for a single car. Quite nice after having heard that the lines have gotten horrible and that the waits can be tremendous. I arrived at the hostel before they had my room free, so I locked up my bags and set out to explore the city. I did LOTS of walking - but ended up in the Gastown district - and found out that I just happened to be in town the opening weekend of Vancouver's Jazz festival! The streets were closed off and multiple stages set up. Saw lots of great bands. The only real downside was the rain that has been going on and off all day. Tomorrow is supposed to be a little better, though. It's rained every night I've camped, and there's a chance from here on out for the rest of my canadian adventure.

The town actually does manage to feel a little foreign, though. A very high asian population and a fair amount of french-speakers (something I wasn't aware of - I knew that the french canadian influence was strong in the Eastern part of the country, but not western. There's even french radio stations!)

Tomorrow I've reserved activities through the hostel including a highly recommended walking tour (hopefully not too reminiscent of what I did today) and a pub crawl in the evening (yippie!)