ALL ABOARD THE AMTRAK CASCADES

Seattle to VANCOUVER BC

Yesterday we had arranged for a town car to take us to King Street Station at 0600, yes, a bit early but I am glad we did.  My research indicated one gets their seat assignment at the station, thus our early arrival. We arrived and checked our bags and they do adhere to the 50 pound weight limit.  Then we made our way to the line for seat assignments and waited for that station to open. We are traveling Business Class and were assigned Car 2 seats 5A&B facing forward. We boarded about 30 minutes before our scheduled departure and settled into our seats after storing our carry-on bags. There is WIFI onboard. So ALL A BOARD!!!!! The AMTRAK CASCADES Northbound to Vancouver BC.  

Sorry, no kewl Woody Guthrie song about this train.  This journey will take about 4 hours and should be rather scenic.  Bring your own food as the Bistro car is ok but better quality if you bring your own. 

While on board the train you will fill out a Canadian Customs Declaration form, and it is one form for all people living at the same address. Customs clearing starts in Bellingham. Also as a FYI the WIFI on the train ceases when it crosses into Canada.  

We did observe a bit of bird life while traveling north, as we saw  Eagles, Osprey,  various gulls, herons, ducks, and geese.  There is an area North of White Rock BC where there is a very large concentration of Bald Eagles along the shore line. We observed maybe 30 or more Bald Eagles. 

We arrived at the station and quickly cleared customs and then found a cab to take us to our hotel. We are at the Days Inn just a couple blocks from the pier. 

We checked in and unloaded our bags and struck out for the Gastown are. We enjoyed a nice pulled pork sandwich at a local brew pub/restaurant. From there we made our way to the Steam Clock.  Underneath Vancouver, there runs a series of steam pipes connected to a generating plant at Georgia and Beatty Streets. The system provides heat to most of the downtown core, and provides the steam for the whistles of the Gastown steam clock. I think it is a pretty unique feature of Vancouver. 

Next we continued to make our way to the statue of Gassy Jack Deighton for whom the Gastown area is named. Gassy Jack was a bar owner from England in 1867. Deighton was known as Gassy Jack because of his talkative nature and his penchant for storytelling. The name stuck and the area around his bar is now known as Gastown.

Back at the Hotel we met up with fellow travelers and went for a short walkabout along the waterfront. We are in need of doing a good bit of laundry so we headed back and are getting things together. 

Camera Battery Charger has died one on hold at Best Buy, Yes I brought two and both died for the DSLR batteries. KEWL thing is we get to take the Sky Train Best Buy. 

NICE STATION 

STEAM CLOCK

Gassy Jack