{"id":23762,"date":"2020-07-07T17:03:42","date_gmt":"2020-07-07T22:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/?p=23762"},"modified":"2024-10-04T10:50:32","modified_gmt":"2024-10-04T15:50:32","slug":"as-far-as-vancouver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/as-far-as-vancouver\/","title":{"rendered":"As Far as Vancouver"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bellingham, Washington to Vancouver, British Columbia to Everett, Washington (May 15, 1998)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bellingham offered an easy shot into British Columbia, Canada. It also provided an opportunity to visit one of the strangest geographical anomalies in the United States — Point Roberts! In this vicinity the two countries set their border along the 49th parallel to the sea, leaving a tiny chunk of the United States totally separated from the rest of the country (map<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Point<\/a>
Isolated Point Roberts, Washington<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To visit, we left the United States at Blaine, WA, curved around Boundary Bay to Tsawwassen, BC Canada, and re-entered the United States at Pt. Roberts. Other than serving as a geographic oddity, Pt. Roberts really does not offer anything that cannot be found elsewhere but I still had to visit. It was a sleepy, almost desolate place that seemed almost a hybrid of the two countries. As an example, I noticed gasoline stations that listed their prices in liters. The border was even less of a formality than the many other crossings I’ve taken between the two countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might also be interested in seeing my Point Roberts “Strange Geography” page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Into British Columbia<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Granville<\/a>
Granville Island Brewing Co.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We drove back into Canada and fought traffic into Vancouver. This didn’t leave much time for touring so we headed towards Granville Island (map<\/a>), the home of many artisan shops, and of course a brewery and a brewpub. We poked around the shops and marveled at the magnificent houseboats superimposed on the skyscrapers on the horizon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And Back to Washington<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Everett,
Sunset at Everett, Washington<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We needed to return early in the afternoon to avoid the border traffic for Canada’s three-day Victoria Day weekend. We agreed that half a day in Vancouver was way too short as we crossed into the United States and rolled along I-5 south. With the rains of the previous days far behind, we witnessed a joyous sunset in Everett (map<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Creek<\/figure>\n\n\n\n