Rob's Travel Page

Michigan/Ontario - Motor City to Essex County

Sat Nov 8 2008

Saturday 8 November 2008: Detroit, Saginaw, Toronto, Windsor Planes, Trains, & Automobiles... When most people go on vacation, Detroit isn't always the first thing that comes to mind. So why was I visiting Motor City? My friend Bruce lives in suburban Detroit and my relatives are only a couple hours away in Saginaw. At the same time, the annual bus show was being held on the Canadian side in Windsor. Inner city Detroit can be scary at times, but I was quite impressed to find some nice areas in both the inner city and the suburbs. The city of Dearborn is home to one of the largest Muslim populations in the United States. I had a chance to try out one of the local restaurants called Al-Ajami. Not far from this restaurant is the Henry Ford Museum. It can take more than half a day to explore the museum, but it's well worth it. to add on a tour of the Ford Rouge Assembly Plant. That's where Ford F-150 pick up trucks are built for the US, Canadian, and Mexican markets. I was very fortunate to have my own "private tour". They run on a 20 minute intervals and apparently 37 people went ahead of me on an earlier tour. So when my turn came up, it was just me, myself, & I. It felt very strange being the only person sitting in a large theatre watching a presentation and having three hosts catering to me. Anyhow, for the remainder of my stay I checked out Bruce's model railroad club, did a brief walk around Downtown Detroit and it's RiverFront. We even rode the Detroit People Mover, similar to Vancouver's SkyTrain except it's a much smaller system. The People Mover is also affectionately known by some of the locals as the Mugger Mover or People Mugger. Buses & Casinos too! After crossing over the Ambassador Bridge to Windsor, I headed to the Trans-Expo bus show at Caesars Casino. I didn't expect to run into anyone at the show, but to my surprise there was Scott from TTC, Alan from Vancouver, and Adam from Toronto. Before flying home to Vancouver, I stopped in Toronto to have dinner with my friend Masayo. It's been 2 years since I last saw her. As you're browsing through the photos, you may end up humming along to Aretha Franklin's song "Freeway of Love".

Published in Rob's Travel Page

British Columbia - Harbour Air Day Trip

Sun Oct 5 2008

Sunday 5 October 2008: Nanaimo Nazia, Charmaine, & I ventured out on a day trip by seaplane to the City of Nanaimo, over on Vancouver Island. We dined on pasta & seafood salad at the Lighthouse Bistro. Then did a stroll along the waterfront & included some shopping at Port Place. Before you know it, we had to make our way back to the seaplane terminal to catch the last flight to Richmond.

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British Columbia - Sunshine Coast Adventure

Sat Sep 13 2008

Saturday 13 September 2008: Gibsons, Sechelt I sometimes take it for granted that we can ride a ferry for only 40 minutes, but it feels like we're so far away from the big city. People have been recently complaining about the rising cost of fuel and the high prices to bring a vehicle on board a ferry. My friend Mike & I had been brainstorming about this trip for the last little while and decided to use public transit to get around. Yep, I have to admit it's not as flexible as having a car, but it only cost us $18 to get us there and back with the ferry & bus. Besides, with the money saved we got ourselves a decent dinner at Molly's Reach in Gibsons.

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British Columbia - Doon Valley Garden Railway

Sun Jun 1 2008

Sunday 1 June 2008: Kamloops The high cost of fuel didn't stop me from doing a road trip to Kamloops on my weekend. For the distance I drove, it only cost me $60 to fill up the gas tank. Besides, I needed to take the car out for a spin on the freeway. Most of my time was spent at Bob & Lynn's place. Fortunately, Bob had some spare time to take me around the city. It was a weekend of garden & model railways, transportation memorabilia, and bus preservation.

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British Columbia - Island Escape

Mon May 26 2008

Monday 26 May 2008: Galiano Island If it wasn't for Wally, I probably wouldn't have set foot on Galiano Island this past weekend. Over a week ago we briefly talked about the Queen of Tsawwassen, one of the original BC Ferries vessels that is due to retire later this year. It was recommended that I do a day trip before this ferry sails off into history. Nicolas had yet to visit one of the Gulf Islands. So this made for the perfect trip. After a 1 hour ferry ride, Nicolas & I arrived at Sturdies Bay. We stopped off at the Grand Central Emporium for lunch, where we tried out the halibut & salmon burger. Highly recommended place to eat! And don't forget to visit the island's only bookstore. For the remainder of the day, we explored the southern tip of Galiano Island. There were bald eagles in Bellhouse Provincial Park & around Whaler Bay. The hike along Sturdies Bay Trail was quite interesting. Never knew it existed until we saw the signs. Before hopping on the ferry for the return trip home, we made a pit stop at a few local shops & galleries. Our ride home, on board the Queen of Tsawwassen, was quite full. But I am happy to say that I had the opportunity to be a part of history and at the same time had a chance to visit a Gulf Island that I haven't set foot on before.

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Washington State - Cross Border Shopping

Sun Mar 23 2008

Sunday 23 March 2008: Point Roberts Vincent & I spent Easter Sunday south of the border in Point Roberts, Washington. For those of you who aren't familiar with this area, it's a bit of an oddity. It's a 30 minute drive from downtown Vancouver. The population is just over a 1300. And the only way residents can reach the US mainland is to travel through Canada. We spent part of our afternoon filling up on cheap gas & grocery shopping. We then took a walk along the beach at Lighthouse Park while watching BC Ferries dock on the Canadian side. After the stroll, we stopped off at the Dockside Cafe for lunch. Vincent had the mushroom burger & hand-cut fries, while I had the lobster quesadilla & green salad. Both are highly recommended! A quick reminder... ice tea in the US is unsweetened. I ordered one and forgot that I wasn't in Canada anymore.

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Alberta - Edmonton Transit

Mon Mar 10 2008

Monday 10 March 2008: Edmonton It amazes me how there's always something new at the Vancouver Airport (YVR). This time it's the Link Building connecting the International & Domestic Terminals. I couldn't resist capturing a shot of the totem pole that's placed in the new building. Anyhow, the trip to Edmonton was a short one. Some transit enthusiasts & I visited some friends and rode trolley buses. There was a trolley bus dubbed "Vanna" that's been on loan from Vancouver. In June of this year, the city of Edmonton will hold a vote on whether or not to keep the trolley bus system. Hopefully the city will take into consideration the rising cost of oil & the preservation of the environment. Who knows what will happen in the end? At least we had a chance to ride the trolleys. Not sure how many times we rode #5 Westmount/Coliseum, but I'm pretty sure I've memorized the route by now.

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British Columbia - Eagle Watching

Sat Jan 20 2007

Saturday 20 January 2007: Brackendale & Squamish Ah... eagle watching. It's one of those 1000 things you should do before you die. A group of us from work spent a day up in the village of Brackendale, taking part in what some people call "Eaglemania". Got on a raft, floated down the Squamish River, and admired the eagles that are out there. I was really surprised to see so many of them perched on trees and hunting for chum salmon. This is a definite must for anyone visiting the west coast of BC during the early winter.

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Washington State - Emerald City

Tue Jan 29 2008

Tuesday 29 January 2008: Seattle The Emerald City... land of Microsoft, coffee, & grunge music. Nazia had always wanted to visit Seattle. So she, her friend Rob, and I made a weekend getaway to the city. Our hotel was comfy & we were within walking distance to places like the Space Needle and downtown. We did a few touristy things, indulged in some seafood, and immersed ourselves in a shopping frenzy.

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Manitoba/Ontario/Quebec

Thu Nov 8 2007

Thursday 8 November 2007: Churchill, Cornwall, Ottawa, Quebec City, Winnipeg Yours to Discover My 2 week journey began in Ottawa where I spent some time familiarizing myself with the downtown area. My last visit to Bytown was in the Summer of '99 and not a lot has changed other than new high-rise condos going up. I wandered around Parliament Hill and the Byward Market before renting a car for the day and visiting my friend Norm in Cornwall. Next day, I met up with another friend Mark. We spent the following day exploring the War Museum along with Vintage Wings of Canada, a historic aviation museum across the river in Gatineau. Je Me Souviens I'm amazed how these Trans-Expo shows have brought us across the country to places that we don't often travel to. Quebec City is one of them. While attending the Trans-Expo show, we ran into Scott who was with us at last year's show in Toronto. We had several days to spare, so Kevin & I explored the old part of the city which reminded me of Europe. Lots of history dating back to the 1600s. We enjoyed the view from the Plains of Abraham and in the end we checked out the Tintin exhibit at the Museum of Civilization. Friendly Manitoba Kevin & I went our separate ways in Montreal, and I continued on my journey to Winnipeg. Sandy was flying in direct from Vancouver, so I had an entire day to do a walking tour of the city before we boarded our train for Churchill. The 2 day ride was so relaxing that I spent most of my time sleeping and watching the scenery go by. In the town of Churchill itself, we went on a polar bear watching trip where we spotted 25 - 30 bears. Amazing! Our dog sledding trip was just as interesting. The Canadian Tourism Commission was there that day and wanted to do some filming for their promotional videos. Looks like we're going to be famous! But then again who's going to know who we are when we were bundled up in all that clothing.

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