Killing time in Vancouver

[John Conroy]

My wife and I are in Vancouver, stuck here due to road closures. Don't want to take the long route home through the States as she has her broken leg in a brace (long story) and can't sit in the car for long periods. The plan is for us both to fly home to Edmonton on Sunday and leave the car here in long term parking at the airport. I will have to fly back here when the highway re-opens and drive the car back home. It will be good to get home to frozen Alberta, B.C. is in a bad state right now. The good news is we got to visit our newborn grandson who came into the world on Nov 17th and our daughter and her husband live in an area that is not affected by the flooding g.

 

[140mower]

Congratulations on your new grandson..... Yes, it has been a bit of a year in this part of the country. First the fires that raged all summer, most of those victims are still homeless for the most part, sure, they have motel rooms etc., but nothing to call their own. And now the entire transportation infrastructure in the southern part of the province is gone, and much of it will be for months...... 70% of Canada's shipping container traffic passes through Vancouver...... Hopefully you aren't waiting for anything....

 

[YotaBota]

+1, have you got your maids outfit ready to look after mom? lol
If you were on the island and had time I'd invite you for coffee and a chat.
Last I heard was hwy 3 is supposed to be open on Saturday (ish), you may be able to fly mom home and drive if that would work, could save you the extra flights. I don't envy you climbing into a cigar tube with 50+ of your newest closest friends, we even cancelled a cruise that is supposed to be "safe".

Safe trip home.

 

[PeterT]

Well I'm glad you weren't returning home when the nasty stuff happened. Congratulations to all & stay safe!

 

[John Conroy]

I already scheduled the flights using airmiles so we are committed to fly home Sunday. I have also booked a flight for Dec 6 to return for the vechicle. That hopefully is enough time to get a couple of different roads open and reduce the traffic congestion. It will be a quick turn around, I'll get off the plane and jump in the car and head east. That's the plan anyway.

 

[whydontu]

Been a rough year. Hard to believe we can have town-destroying fires and farm-destroying floods five months apart.

I live less than a city block away from the mouth of the Fraser River. My shop floor is 1m above nominal high tide. The photo is the pier (right) and floating dock (left) at the end of my block. The white lattice walkway is normally at about a 15* to 30* angle. The other photo is a pier about 1km upstream. The underside of the pier is usually about 4 to 6 ft above the river level.

 

[6.5 Fan]

Congrats on the grandson. Have fun with all the travel, it might be cold here on the prairies but it's a DRY cold.

 

[YYCHM]

John, did you manage to retrieve your vehicle?

 

[John Conroy]

Yes I did. I flew to Vancouver on Moday the 6th and picked up the car from long term parking at noon. I had been exchanging PM's and texts with 140mower (Don) regarding the condition of highway 99 north since he lives in Lillooet. As it turned out the weather cooperated and 99 was on good shape so I headed that way. It was fairly slow going and I had to go through an RCMP where they verified that my travel was essential and that I had winter tires. I took it easy and made it to Cache Creek by 6pm. Then I headed for Kamloops then to highway 5 north and arrived in Jasper at midnight. The roads were in perfect condition and I was still feeling fairly fresh so drove the rest of the way home to St. Albert and arrived home at 0400. Many thanks to Don, I was very glad to be able to use 99 and avoid the wash outs on 1, 5 and 3.
I'm happy to have everything and everyone home safe.