Vancouver - it really is the other coast

Hi All,

Just back from a week in Vancouver visiting friends and I knew, I just knew, that you would want to hear all about it.

Background - Vicki and I went to University together. She now lives in Vancouver (Burnaby) with her husband, her daughter who is eight and her son who is two and their dog Horton. She runs a daycare in her home. She and her kids are active, busy, and fun! I only get to see her every three years or so, and I miss her already.

The first thing I noticed on the ride in from the airport was the lack of billboards. Vicki says they are working on the highways and the ads should be back soon. Whew.

The next thing is the guest room, cause it's like 2 AM AST and I'm not as young as I used to be.

Running a daycare from your home means early starts, lots of activity and sometimes late evenings. There's no time to check things out on a desktop / laptop in the office upstairs. She relies a lot on her mobile phone. Everything from finding contact numbers, to directions, to Elmo's official last name :)

Snack hints, quick game solutions, and other kid related tidbits are accessed via her mobile.

At night, recipes for cookies and breads are on the laptop in the kitchen while we bake for the next day.

She facebooks while we're at the amusement park and uploads photos of my green face after the last ride.

(note - she's not obnoxious about it, mostly while we're in line)

When we go out for the day and leave her assistant in charge, they text every now and then to make sure everything is OK

She doesn't have a GPS device in the car

And another thing I notice is that the cars are like 99% BC license plates. Which makes me realize not a lot of people drive to Vancouver / Victoria. They fly in. And maybe rent cars, which would also have BC plates.

So there probably is more reliance on mobile directions then GPS devices

In the end, the big take away is that every corner of this country is different. The method visitors use to arrive, tour, and interact varies a lot with geography.

But I think, and this is just me thinking out loud, that Mobile is finally here, there and everywhere.

Fright nite at the PNE - goulish