Crossing Canada/ U.S. Border at Peace Arch Crossing in British Columbia

Driving into the U.S. from British Columbia, Canada

Canada and United States are good neighbours.

After the war of 1812 between the British and Americans along the Niagara Falls/ Kingston area, citizens from both countries have never fought again.

Scenery along the British Columbia, Canada/ U.S. border crossing

Both countries have been enjoying a cordial, cooperative and peaceful relationship with each other.


We take pride in the fact that we share the longest undefended border in the world.

Enjoying a driving holiday is a Canadian way of life

A driving holiday and crossing the U.S. customs is a part of Canadian life.

Canadians do it all the time without giving it much thought.

Cars lining up for the border crossing into US

When I was a teenager, it was absolutely hassle free for Canadians crossing the border to the U.S. side on a whim.

If we felt like it, we went over with some friends to the U.S.  side  to do some shopping and dining. After a few hours, we drove back to Canada. Easy as pie.

No special documents were required from Canadians at the border. We just needed to show our drivers' licenses to the U.S. Customs Officers.

Cars stopped at the US Customs for clearance

I still remember vividly a few times when our friends forgot their driving licenses. All they had to do was showing their wallet size birth certificates.

 I was amazed at the smoothness of the whole border crossing process.

Due to the recent political situations, Canadians crossing into the U.S. border do need to bring their valid passports.

Peace Arch at the Canada/ US border crossing near British Columbia, Canada

On our last recent entry into the U.S., stopping at the British Columbia Peace Arch Crossing,  I was deeply touched by what I saw. 

Standing majestically on the green lawn at the border,  an arch with both the U.S. and Canadian flags flying high in the sky has this phrase inscribed on its top. 

Inscription on the Peace Arch at the B.C. Canada/ U.S. border

" Children of a Common Mother" - an inscription referring to our two countries' common heritage being British and the closeness of our relationship. I was moved by this simple phrase.

How wonderful and peaceful this world would have been if we could all see ourselves as brothers and sisters descending from the same parents, belonging to the same family?

I pondered on this five words as our car crossed the border, again with ease, efficiency, and speed.

We are fortunate to be living in a country like Canada, in peace, harmony and respect with our dear neighbour.

R.T.
Border Crossing at Peace Arch
British Columbia
Canada

Furnishing Your First Home in Seattle with Style on a Shoestring Budget at the Family Store

Greyhound bus station, Seattle, USA

Waiting for our bus going back to Vancouver, Canada, at the Greyhound Bus Terminal in Seattle, we had two hours to kill. 

Instead of just waiting at the bus station, we went out for a walk to stretch our legs.

We saw the stadiums and came across the Salvation Army's Family Store located near the bus terminal.

The Family Store is a second hand store where people donate their used items which other people can buy at a much reduced cost.

We have many stores like these in Canada where they sell mostly second hand clothes.

However, this store is different.

The Red Section

This Family Store in Seattle has a large inventory of gently used furniture.

























The best thing about this store was that all the decorations and
nick necks were arranged by colour family and displayed on separate shelves.



It made shopping much easier!

The Green Section

If you have a certain colour in mind, you can simply go straight to the display shelf of your colour and check out all the items there.

A display of  furnishing with a blue and white theme in the Family Store

This store distinguishes itself from its counterparts by taking the time, setting up demo displays and showing customers how to put various items together to beautify a home.

All the displayed items belonging to the same colour grouping or the same theme are available from the store at the time.

The Blue Section

Thinking of our blue bathroom at home and without wasting any time, I went straight to the Blue Section.

Bingo!

I found a blue glass penguin in excellent condition, priced at U.S.$3.99!

What a steal!

The Washer and Dryer Section in the store

I have learned from our Seattle walking tours that every week there are  about 1000 people moving into this city.

The Small Appliance Section in the Family Store

These newcomers to the city will need to find a place to live.

This 4 piece bistro set was for sale at a good price in the Family Store

Along with their new homes in Seattle, the newcomers will also need to buy furniture and household items to furnish their first homes.

Gently used furniture at a much reduced price in the Family Store

People can always find some decent gently used furniture for sale in these types of second hand stores.


For instance, this 5 piece blue dining set cost US$ 179.00 only.  A very affordable price for a young person furnishing his/ her first home !

The Family Store sell sports equipment such as skis as well!

Wall decorations and artwork were on display in the store

The Family Store will be a good place to buy furnishing for:

- a newcomer to the city,  not sure how long or where he/ she would live for the next little while but needs some furniture for now

- someone on a shoestring budget to furnish his/her place











Strolling around the vicinity of the Greyhound Station in Seattle, I was delighted at discovering the Salvation Army Family Store by accident. Without spending a lot of money, we had fun browsing around in the store. I bought a couple of nice items as souvenirs to take back to Canada.

People are happy when they can get a good deal. I am no exception to that!

R.T.
Family Store, Salvation Army
Near the Greyhound Bus Station
Seattle, USA

Taking the Bus from Seattle's Greyhound Bus Station to Vancouver, Canada

The Greyhound Bus Station - steps away from Seattle's Stadiums 

Greyhound Bus Station, Seattle, USA 

Feeling  a little sad as we were leaving Seattle and ending our holiday. We had a great time here and enjoyed ourselves.

The hotel front desk called a taxi for us and it took us to the Greyhound Bus Station. The fare was reasonable at US $ 15.00.

Seattle Greyhound Bus Station waiting area

We purchased our bus tickets to Vancouver, Canada and were surprised that it cost much more than if we had done it on line.





















We did check the ticket price online a couple of days ago but were hesitant to buy them.

Greyhound Station Ticket Counter 

Using public wi fi, we were concerned with the security of our visa card information.

The Greyhound staff told us we could have reserved the tickets and pay for them on the day we travel.

This way, the discounted fare would still apply.  We will remember for next time that we would save almost 50% on long distance bus fare if we book our tickets online two days before our trip.

We can pay for them at the terminal on the day of our travel.

The bus station was clean and modern.

The bus terminal was clean and tidy.

Vending machines providing snacks and drinks to passengers

It did not have a refreshment stall but there were three vending machines from which passengers could purchase snacks and beverages.

An ATM machine was available for passengers at the station.

There was an ATM machine for passengers at the bus station.

It even provided free wi fi to waiting passengers! I liked that!

For those ticketed passengers desiring to visit Seattle before boarding, the bus station would provide storage for their luggage for US$8.00 per piece of luggage. How convenient! 

Our bus was delayed half an hour departing Seattle at 3:15pm.

Finding out that I could plug in my computer on the cross border bus, I was happy.

 Looking forward to getting a lot of writing done on our bus trip back to Vancouver, Canada!


R.T.
Greyhound Terminal
Seattle, USA

The Homeless of Seattle – Being Left Behind by the City’s Latest Boom

 Seattle is a pretty city with lots of interesting things to see.

Seattle is a beautiful vibrant city with an interesting history.

During our recent visit to Seattle, I have learned that it is the fastest growing city in the US.

Our tour guide helping us to learn more about Seattle

From our two historian and professional tour guides in Seattle, we learned that Seattle has gone through two big economic booms.

Learning to read the map from the manhole cover on the ground in Seattle

The first one was the lumber boom in the 1850's.

People harvested the trees, built timber mills/ saw mills to process the lumber. This boom started the arrival and settlement of people into Seattle.

Iron Pergola, Pioneer Square, Seattle

The second economic boom Seattle experienced happened in the 1890's fueled by the Klondike Gold Rush.

Tens of thousands of gold seekers came through the city buying supplies for their journeys to the Yukon.  Outfitting these fortune seekers helped the  merchants' businesses in Seattle flourish and bringing much economic growth in the area.

Seattle is experiencing its third boom - the High Tech Boom.

Many high tech companies located in Seattle and its suburbs such as Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing which hire thousands of tech and skilful people to work for them.

The week we were visiting Seattle, Amazon opened its first
 (and  America's first) cashier free grocery store in the city.

Using technology on their cell phones, customers can shop in the store and pay for their shopping without going through any cashiers

It is evident that there is an economic boom in the city with many building and construction projects happening all over the place.

Building cranes are lit up in downtown Seattle at night  

Everywhere we turned, we saw cranes and heavy machinery in use building new high rises, office buildings or doing road construction work.

One of many new condo buildings, Seattle

 There are about 1000 people are moving into the city of Seattle every week.

Therefore, the demand for housing is pretty high. Unfortunately, economic progress also brings with it the  rapid increase in rent, shortage of affordable housing for many and and consequently, homelessness.

Donwtown Seattle

There are homeless problems in many big cities in North America. Toronto, our home town is no exception to this problem.


However, we were surprised to see how many homeless people scattered throughout the city of Seattle.

Lots of construction projects going on in the city currently

We were approached directly by panhandlers no less than three times during our 5 day visit to the city.  Harmless and polite, the homeless can be seen everywhere in Seattle especially in the downtown area.


Respecting the dignity of those less fortunate folks, I did not wish to take any pictures of those seeking shelter on the streets.

Many beautiful and manificnet buildings abound in Seattle

New buildings near the Seattle Waterfront

Seattle is a city of contrast.

We saw wealth; we saw poverty on this visit to the city.




















As Seattle is experiencing its third economic boom in the city's history, many of its residents are getting wealthier.

I sincerely hope that its less fortunate people would not be left behind or be forgotten to sleep in the cold at night.

R.T.

A Recent Visitor to Seattle

Toronto, Ontario

Canada

A 4 Star Complimentary Nutritious Breakfast at Seattle's Loyal Inn

Loyal Inn - where we stayed  in Seattle

Prior to our visit to the States, we went online and booked our hotel.

Not sure exactly what we were getting but knew that we wanted to be close to downtown Seattle, we booked the Loyal Inn for our week long stay in that city.

Lobby of Loyal Inn, Seattle, USA 

We were glad we did.  During our visit, we were able to walk to everywhere that we wanted to visit without taking any transit rides at all.

We were able to shop and walk to a lot of attractions from our hotel

It saved us time and money on transportation and gave us the opportunity to exercise and walk to many attractions in the downtown area.

Breakfast was self serve in the spacious serving area

Besides its excellent location, Loyal Inn’s complimentary breakfast was excellent!




We were provided with an excellent selection of  different kinds of juices and fresh fruits each morning.

- hot and cold cereals from which to choose with raisins, cranberries and nuts as toppings
- DIY waffle machine to make fresh waffles
- white/brown bread for toasts with peanut butter and jams, bagels, muffins and pastries
- healthy choices such as cottage cheese, three different kinds of yogurts etc.

Breakfast Room, Loyal Inn, Seattle

A corner in the lobby - Loyal Inn 

Breakfast was served in a proper and spacious breakfast room with lots of seating.

No matter what time we went down for breakfast, there was always a seat for us.

Free newspaper came with breakfast. We could take our time, enjoying breakfast and newspaper at the same time.

The place was clean and the staff was friendly and helpful.


Free cookies were also provided and kept in a see through cabinet at the reception area.

Guests could help themselves any time of the day




.








The hotel has a small fitness centre and a whirl pool. We were too busy to enjoy these amenities as we walked all day during the day.


The only downside of Loyal Inn was that the double bed in the room was meant for one person only.

If you are a couple and you would like to share a bed, make sure you specify for a queen size bed.

Overall, Loyal Inn was a great choice for us. I would give it a  4 out of 5. We would definitely come back to this hotel because of its excellent location, sumptuous continental breakfast and the affordable hotel rate!

R.T.
Loyal Inn
Seattle
USA