Michey_b’s travelling around

After a short layover in Seattle – where it was also snowing and man these were HUGE snowflakes coming down – Pam and i were on our way to Portland, home to the wonderful Bootsnall, beer and micro breweries and the biggest bookstore ever!!

Just after 6pm we pulled into the station and it was raining heavily – welcome to the Pacific Northwest – where it rains more than in England!!  Jumped into a cab and headed to the HI hostel to meet up with the rest of the Boots members and get ready to party.  I have been wanting to come to the annual xmas party here in Portland ever since i joined boots over two years ago.  Thankfully the awesome London Xmas Parties helped somewhat in the waiting part.

The staff at the hostel had given us Booties the rooms downstairs and our own common room which was sweet. I have to admit i was a little nervous at the prospect of meeting a truckload of new people all in one evening – especially people that i kind of knew.  As it was i neednt have worried – everyone i met was super awesome and i had a great time.  After the party we went to the Silver Dollar bar where i could indulge in a jack and coke – and American freepour measures – woot!!

Slightly hungover on sunday morning the guys that hadnt taken insanely early flights met up with the local Portlanders and we headed out to breakfast.  The afternoon and evening were spent chilling out recovering.  Monday morning and its still raining – in fact it hasnt stopped since i got here.  We braved the rain to head out to Powells – the infamous bookstore that takes up a whole block and has several levels.  I could seriously live in here – in fact we wandered around perusing books.  They also sell second hand book from $2 which is a bargain especially couples with the fact that Oregon does not have sales tax. Needless to say i bought a few to keep me happy for a while.  Not really in the mood to do more sightseeing as its impossible in this weather so again we chilled out at the hostel. Monday evening the few of us that were left (Bill, Bill, Madhu and me) met up with Julie and Jillian and went out for something to eat and have a couple of drinks at Jillians bar.  You can still smoke in the bars in Portland which is weird to see – i have to say i now im used to being outside i dont like it in a bar anymore which i NEVER thought i would say. 

Madhu left on tuesday morning and we met up with Jessie for breakfast before she left.  Jessie and I went to the Boots HQ which is a lovely house in the suburbs – oops secrets out now.  I had the tour and chatted with the guys before leaving them to their very busy work in the bootsnall world!! Guys – thanks for showing me around and sparing the time to chat to me – it was awesome.  In the afternoon i headed down to Pioneer Square and its not raining woo hoo so managed to get in some walking around. 

Wedsnesday evening i met up with Roger and Tiff and went to the M bar – which is the tiniest bar i have ever seen.  We had a few beers and chatted about travel and i managed to shock Roger by telling him that i dont intend to ‘see’ LA when im there.  I plan to stay at the hotel and chill out before my flight to NZ and take full advantage of a fancy hotel’s facilities.

I had a slight panic attack on thursday when realised that beacuse of flooding and storms in the area – the trains and roads were closed (parts of the I5 were under 10foot of water.)  Managed to get a ticket for saturday afternoon and changed my reservations at both hostel here and in Seattle.  Kind of glad i ended up booking a flight from Seattle to Chicago as it gave me two extra days to play with.

I spent my last two days chilling out – went shopping with Tiff to buy some much needed trousers and managed to be good and not buy anything else – man that was a killer – there are some great shops here.  I also went to see a movie and saw Enchanted – which is a disney movie about a fairytale princess getting dropped into New York City by the wicked step mother.  Its a cheesy movie but actually a pretty good one.

And that rather boringly was the end of my trip to Portland and off to Seattle i go.

Met up with Pam at a very early hour in the morning of 1st dec and we headed over to the amtrak station for a bus to Seattle and then a train to Portland. As we pulled out of Vancouver the snow began to fall and we wondered how far it would follow us. It was cool having someone to talk to on the bus as i have been used to going alone so good to have conversation. We arrived at the border crossing into the US and headed inside with our bags to be checked and quizzed. Well the latter part was all just for me as rest of bus was full of North Americans and i was shock horror a ‘foreigner’ This was going to be interesting. I had to fill out the green waiver form which i get to pay $6 for the priviledge of coming overland. And then once filled out i the questioning began.

Where was i going, did i know anyone in the US, how did i know them, what was my job in the UK, how much did i earn, how long was i going to be in the US, how much money did i think 90 days in the US would cost, how much money did i have, did i have an itinerary sorted out, where had i been, where was i going after and did i have a flight out of the US booked. Having made up answers to these questions on the spot as they were fired rapidly at me – trying to get a reaction – i kept muttering to myself – no sarcasm Michelle – no sarcasm – in the end the ‘nice US man’ gave up trying to catch me out – especially when i showed him i would be leaving this wonderful country in 90 days. I put my bags through screening and paid my dollars and got my visa stapled in my passport and then i rejoined the bus. Have you ever been really late to the gate of your flight and everyone else is already seated and ready to go and you have held up the plane? If you have you know what i mean when i said that i had to get back on a bus loaded with people glaring at me!! Oops.

Anyhow drama over – my first border crossing and goodbye Canada and hello USA. Nothing appeared drastically different well except now there were stars and stripes flying everywhere.

A few sum ups on Canada before i completley leave my first country. I have absolutely loved the last 7 weeks. Canada is an awesome country with great people, fantastic scenery and great transport infrastructure. Some highs and some lows – although 99% highs i think.

Highlights. The people of Halifax – the friendliest city i have come across. The colours of autumn in Nova Scotia were beautiful and i definately picked the right time of year to go there. Niagara Falls – the wonderful staff at the HI Niagara and the people i met at the hostel – you guys made my week here the best time in Canada. The HI Niagara the best hostel i have stayed in without a doubt. Banff – for the scenery sharpened more by wintery ice and snow. This place was the wow factor of the trip. The 2 day train ride from Toronto to Edmonton was a great experience and Via Rail were fantastic on each trip i took no faults whatsoever with service and staff.

Lows. I dont think i have any serious lows – i was disappointed in Vancouver but that was due to a number of things and not the city as a whole because it has some great points for sure.

So goodbye Canada – thank you for your wonderful hospitality – in the words of Arnie – ‘I will be back’ For Sure!!