To Vancouver

WOooo I'm in Canada!! I'm staying overnight at Gina's house, who lives in Aldergrove, which is southeast of the city close to the American border. I spent most of the day packing in Boulder. I decided that rolling around a big suitcase would be a pain with having the bass, so I packed all my stuff into my small backpack and my new big camping backpack. Everything just fits - I won't be able to bring much stuff back with me!

Selena gave me a ride to the airport. I don't really know very many people now with big vehicles for bass transport, so Jeremiah let us borrow his pickup truck while he is in Belgium doing research for a couple weeks. She came and got me from my apartment and we headed to school so I could pack my bass and load it up. My parents shipped me my flight case from Buffalo last week and I had it sent to school since I couldn't have it delivered to my apartment. It also can't fit in my car, so I just left it in my practice room at the engineering center. The case is actually really cool - it has airbags and a bungee suspension system inside. The bass ALMOST fit in the truck - we had to lean the very top on the tailgate. Of course, as soon as we finally got it all loaded it started to rain! Fortunately, it only rained for a few minutes on the way to the airport - this is Boulder, after all. My bass was so uberprotected that I wasn't really concerned.

We got to the airport with plenty of time for my 5:22pm flight direct to Vancouver. I could barely carry all my crap! I could sorta rest my small backpack and bow case on the bass while I wheeled it around. Part of the fun of walking around the airport with the bass is being stopped my people every three seconds with snappy comments about how I should have played the piccolo or asking if I have a cello in there. Sometimes people will have discussions amongst themselves about what could be in the case without actually asking me - that is always fun. So I wheeled it all the way down to the oversize luggage check-in, and actually wasn't hassled that much by the attendant. There was, of course, a $125 oversize/overweight fee. And I almost couldn't check it at all - they don't allow things that are more than 100 lbs. When I put it up on the scale, I was still holding onto the neck, so I could cheat it down to 99lbs ;). Suckers. They gave me a tag saying how much it weighs, so maybe they won't make me weigh it on the way back, which would be good since I don't think I could pull that little trick again.

When I got to the gate, I found out that the flight was delayed an hour, so I gave Gina a call to let her know. She decided to go home from work to let her dogs out instead of coming right to the airport to get me from work. Then I sat around for awhile and got bored - here is a picture of me with the sign in the background about the delay. The flight was actually great - there was some fun turbulence (I like it - like a rollercoaster but you can't see when the drops are coming) and there was an empty seat next to me, giving me some much-needed extra leg room.

When I got to Vancouver, there was a HUGE line at customs - it was more than an hour wait! Gina was already at the airport - she had to park at a gas station until I was finally ready - sorry Gina! I'm really glad that she went home earlier to let out her dogs. Fortunately I didn't have any problems with the customs agent one I finally got up to him, and my bass and backpack arrived safely.

I met Gina and loaded my stuff into her minivan. Gina works at EA on their March Madness basketball game - she helps to make sure that things in the games are authentic (courts at different schools, fight songs, cheers, etc.). Very cool! Her husband Dan was out of town on tour in Germany with the band Billy Talent - he is their lighting director. Also cool! On the way back to her house Gina stopped at Wendy's since we were starving. I hadn't had a chance yet to exchange my dirty American money for eco-friendly clean-burning Canadian money yet, so Gina got my dinner for me - thanks!! We got back to the house, I met her awesome dogs. I'll take some pics tomorrow since it's dark out now.

Ok, I'll probably have a whole bunch more to post tomorrow since that is my trip to Powell River!



Whale Watch ((c) 2006, All Rights Reserved), Day 1:

• Since so many people come up to the BC coast to try and see whales, I figured I would keep everyone up to date on my own whale sightings. Not much luck today. That could be partly due to the fact that I spent most of the day in Boulder, which is in the middle of the country more than a mile above sea level, and flying. It could happen though, I've seen Fantasia 2000. Maybe more luck tomorrow.
  

Things I forgot to pack (so far):

• security lock for my laptop (it should be ok though at the festival)
• wireless network card
• network cable (this may be a problem!!)
• a belt (all my pants have mysteriously gotten bigger the lately - I bought an emergency belt at the airport :) )
• harpoon
  

Shout-out to:

• Mom and Dad, for shipping me my flight case and some extra $$ for the trip
• Selena, for the ride to the airport
• Jeremiah, for letting us use his truck
• Bob, for fixing my bass and letting me borrow a soft case
• Gina, for picking me up from the airport, letting me crash at her place, and for the Wendy's!!!!