Vancouver Part one

We followed CArmen leap frog style north to the US-Canadian border.

We stopped first at a mall. Carmen wanted to buy cheese which is much much cheaper in the US than Canada. I didn't know this until now. Cole thought he wanted a souvenir so we also walked the mall. He didn't find anything, but the younger two walked out with mini k'nex figurines. So on to the border.

Crossing from the US to Canada is much faster than the other way. It took us about 20 minutes total to pass through. Where are you going, why are you going there, how long are you going in for, what are you bringing in. Do you have any guns or mace? NO? Ok go on. And they actually smile!

Our first stop in Vancouver was to see Dave's sister who was at work. The original plan was to call Ann as we came closer and to meet in Stanley Park. Traffic was horrendous though and many of us needed bathroom breaks so we opted to simply go to her office, use the washrooms and have a snack at the asian restaurant on the first floor of her building. We ordered a bunch of appetizers and shared. Ann is an insurance adjuster. We had a nice visit with her and her friend John who also works for the same company.

Next we stopped at Dave's niece's house (and where Dave lived when I first met him; the house is owned by Cara's mother. Oh and yes, Cara is short for Carolyn). Cara had a baby boy, Ian, in May. We brought a baby gift and visited for just a short while. Ian was sleeping and the boys were a little stir crazy. Next we went on to meet Dave's other sister Lyn (Cara's mom). She was at work as well. We picked her up as she was finishing for the day and went to White Spot for dinnder.

White Spot is one of Dave's "must dos" when visiting BC. White Spot is famous for it's hamburgers with Triple O sauce. I still don't get the Triple O but it was something to do with what's on your burger? Whatever, it's a big deal to Dave and the burgers are good. We had a great visit with Lyn as well and then headed for Kamploops.

Ok I just asked Dave to explain Triple O. Here is the deal: Originally White Spot carhops used a shorthad to describe how people wanted their burger. Regular sauce was one O, more was two O, extra sauce was three O's. A cheeseburger was double O C, three x's meant nothing, so anybody who ordered a hamburger there got to know that triple O meant extra sauce. The new corporate owners lost sight of that history so they started calling the sauce triple O..but it never was triple O sauce. Carmen laughs because her dad explains this to the waiter every time they go there.

Ok Im going to bed now. Suffice it to say we arrived in Kamploops a little before 11 that night. I'll resume the trip there with my next post.