Day 1: Out of Vancouver, Into Washington

Wahoo! Internet access in the hotel room.

I wrote the following at about 4 PM in the car while I was the passenger.

We’re on the road at last!

Despite the Fast of Tammuz we’ve been working hard all day to make this happen. We cleaned up the apartment, said a few goodbyes, hit the road and are now driving through Washington. My cat became really frightened once the last piece of furniture disappeared and there was no longer anywhere to hide. So I went ahead and gave here a dose of anti-anxiety meds for cats that my vet had prescribed to her. She’s taking to it fine and is just sort of resting in her carrier in the back of the car as I write this. She has wandered out a few times to check out the car, but prefers to lay low.

When we approached the Peace Arch we were warned by the sign of a 90 minute wait. Unbelievable. Usually the cars start as far back as the arch itself, but now they stretched all the way back to the duty free shop. It only took us an hour to get up to the window. (Only!) But then another hour to get them to let us bring our car back into the country. Mostly uneventful. Just long.

Nothing else to tell so far. Leaving Vancouver felt strangely normal. Nothing I have seen today is new. I have not yet traveled on any new roads or been to any new towns. At some point I will know that Vancouver and my friends are behind me. But I’m not there yet.