Around the World with K & M: Goodbye Canada! *sniff*

Leaving: Surrey, British Columbia.
Saturday, July 22, 2006. 12:47pm PST. Mileage: 5943.5km

Arriving: Kenmore, Washington.
Saturday, July 22, 2006. 5:18pm PST. Mileage: 6234.0km

We had to go back to Vancouver to run an errand before heading to the USA, and being Kris & Marion, managed to take an accidental detour through the worst area of Vancouver - East Hastings. Kris made me feel much better by telling me a story of a friend's friend who was stabbed and killed because he looked at someone on this street a little too long.

We crossed the border at 264th street instead of at the Peace Arch on the advice of Kerby, and it turned out to be a great idea! The wait was short, and we got to drive through Lynden and surrounding areas, which were full of farmlands with mountainous backgrounds.

Farmlands around Lynden, WA with a beautiful mountain backdrop (looks fake, doesn't it?)

However, we managed again to take another detour through what was apparently a "still-to-be-developed" area in the Seattle region :). I hadn't seen Braden since December 2000, and I hadn't seen Maria since we worked at ORTV in the summer of 1999, but it seemed like no time had passed at all, except maybe we are all slightly more mature?! It was so much fun to see them, and Kris & Braden clicked immediatelywhen they found out each other's geeky tendencies ("Did you know Braden owns all of the Star Trek episodes? AND the Firefly ones too!").

They treated us for supper at "Claim Jumpers" which was an awesome restaurant with a ridiculous amount of food for pretty good prices. (See the photo of my "Country Fried Steak" meal for an example.) We also had Green Tea & Ginger Creme Brulee, which is to die for.We arrived in Kenmore to meet Braden & Maria.

Maria, Braden, Kris & Marion at Claim Jumpers

The "half-portion" of Country-Fried Steak for $12.95

Marion went into culture shock at the mall - it was crazy to see all the different stores - Express, Victoria Secret, Bath & Body Works - why aren't they in Canada?! We ended the evening off by Braden showing Kris his "characters" in the World of Warcraft game, and making plans to go to "Fry's", apparently THE electronic store so that Kris could get his own copy.

Geeks' heaven - "Fry's"

Leaving: Kenmore, Washington.
Saturday, July 22, 2006. 10:45pm PST. Mileage: 6234.0km

Arriving: Shoreline, Washington.
Saturday, July 22, 2006. 11:00pm PST. Mileage: 6250.2km

Having dragged Kris out of the "geek's heaven" (aka. Braden & Maria's house of electronic games and gadgets), we went to Phebe's house (whom we haven't seen since Shanghai in March 2003), and chatted till 1am. We woke up the next morning and she took us all around Seattle. If anyone wants to visit Seattle, I would definitely recommend having Phebe as your tour guide. We went to Pike Place Market, watched them throw some fish around, drank coffee at the first Starbuck's, drove over some floating bridges, and of course, went to Fry's to buy Kris' game. Thanks, Phebe, for your patience and willingness to go there! :)

Pike's Place - see the fish in the air?

Our excitement over the floating bridges...

We then went to eat at Red Mill Burgers, where Phebe was way too generous and bought us a round of burgers and milkshakes - they were excellent. After a stroll around Green Lake Park, we headed home, hung out a little more, and left to go up north again.