![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Slow Boat to Vancouver
Mar. 30th, 2025 10:23 pmThis afternoon we got value from our transit passes. (Single ride C$2.50, Two or more rides $5.00) The other days of this trip, we have never taken more than two trips; today it was three. That's because besides the bus to UVic, we left the conference and took a but to a place were we transferred to the Route 70 semi-express (much better than the stops-ever-two-blocks Route 72 on which we traveled south on Thursday) up to Swartz Bay ferry terminal.
The route 70 bus was not that busy, which was nice because it made carrying the heavy luggage easier. I had used the Maps app on my phone to route us back to the hotel in Vancouver. However, this proved to be a slight mistake.
( The Case of the Missing Ferry )
Thanks to the ferry delays, the scheduled 620 express bus to Vancouver (Richmond/Bridgeport transit centre) had left, and the queue for the next one was so long that I didn't think we would be able to get onto it. so instead, we sprung for a C$75 (including tip) taxi ride to the hotel. I think it is possible that we got to the Holiday Inn Express Bridgeport Rd/Richmond before the next 620 bus arrived at Tsawwassen. In any event it was after 8 PM, not the 6:30 PM that the Maps transit planner had projected we'd be there when I first looked up the trip.
We almost had a travel disaster. When I tried to check in, they had nothing. I handed them the printout. It turns out that I'd made the reservation for March 31, not today! Fortunately, they had availability, and they honored the original reservation at the booked rate. No suite upgrade (they apparently only have that one suite that we got the other direction anyway), but I was grateful that we got a room at all and did not end up with a wasted reservation.
I know my airline reservation for tomorrow is correct, because Alaska Airlines was pinging me about while we were at Swartz Bay, and they only do that around 24 hours before departure. While waiting there, I was able to provide my passport information and pay for my checked bag, so that should be okay tomorrow.
Instead of going out to dinner, we ordered in pizza. Besides some soda ordered with the pizza, when I went downstairs to get some paper plates and napkins, I found that they had Sparkling Ice, which is my currently favorite carbonated beverage. Paying C$4.99/bottle versus the US$0.79 for which I buy it at Grocery Outlet was painful, but I was very thirsty.
The pizza came very quickly and was at least twice the diameter we expected, so we had a lot left over. But at least we finally got fed.
I unpacked and repacked my luggage (having been rather sloppy about it this morning) and I hope everything should be okay. Despite having bought and been given around six books this weekend, my luggage still weighs less than 23 kg, so we should be ready to go tomorrow morning on the 9:50 AM hotel shuttle to Vancouver Airport.
The route 70 bus was not that busy, which was nice because it made carrying the heavy luggage easier. I had used the Maps app on my phone to route us back to the hotel in Vancouver. However, this proved to be a slight mistake.
( The Case of the Missing Ferry )
Thanks to the ferry delays, the scheduled 620 express bus to Vancouver (Richmond/Bridgeport transit centre) had left, and the queue for the next one was so long that I didn't think we would be able to get onto it. so instead, we sprung for a C$75 (including tip) taxi ride to the hotel. I think it is possible that we got to the Holiday Inn Express Bridgeport Rd/Richmond before the next 620 bus arrived at Tsawwassen. In any event it was after 8 PM, not the 6:30 PM that the Maps transit planner had projected we'd be there when I first looked up the trip.
We almost had a travel disaster. When I tried to check in, they had nothing. I handed them the printout. It turns out that I'd made the reservation for March 31, not today! Fortunately, they had availability, and they honored the original reservation at the booked rate. No suite upgrade (they apparently only have that one suite that we got the other direction anyway), but I was grateful that we got a room at all and did not end up with a wasted reservation.
I know my airline reservation for tomorrow is correct, because Alaska Airlines was pinging me about while we were at Swartz Bay, and they only do that around 24 hours before departure. While waiting there, I was able to provide my passport information and pay for my checked bag, so that should be okay tomorrow.
Instead of going out to dinner, we ordered in pizza. Besides some soda ordered with the pizza, when I went downstairs to get some paper plates and napkins, I found that they had Sparkling Ice, which is my currently favorite carbonated beverage. Paying C$4.99/bottle versus the US$0.79 for which I buy it at Grocery Outlet was painful, but I was very thirsty.
The pizza came very quickly and was at least twice the diameter we expected, so we had a lot left over. But at least we finally got fed.
I unpacked and repacked my luggage (having been rather sloppy about it this morning) and I hope everything should be okay. Despite having bought and been given around six books this weekend, my luggage still weighs less than 23 kg, so we should be ready to go tomorrow morning on the 9:50 AM hotel shuttle to Vancouver Airport.
