Last Hurrah

When we stayed in Vancouver at the beginning of the trip the weather was mostly gloomy, so when the sun set grandly Monday evening and then rose again brightly Tuesday morning we wished that our departure for home could have been delayed for another day or to to let us see B.C.'s biggest city under brilliantly clear skies.  But since our flight to San Francisco wasn't scheduled to depart until nearly 4 pm and the airport was no farther than 30 minutes from our hotel, we had at least a few final hours to spend sightseeing.  During a late and leisurely breakfast in the hotel's Dockside restaurant we weighed the options for our last day of the trip.

It was a cool and damp day when we toured Granville Island two weeks earlier so we could have just left our car parked next to the hotel, strolled around the island in the sunshine for a couple of hours, had lunch in the Public Market, and then checked out of the hotel, tossed our bags into the rental car, and headed to YVR to catch our flight. Or we could have ridden a water taxi across False Creek and wandered around the shops in Yaletown before returning to the island to retrieve our bags and drive to the airport.  A walk along the bike and pedestrian path on the south shore across from the island was another close-by alternative.

If we had arisen much earlier that morning, driving through downtown Vancouver and out to the city's grandest green space, Stanley Park, would have been possible.  But not enough time remained for that outing.  In the end, Queen Elizabeth Park, south of Granville Island, and just east of the route we'd follow to get to the airport, was the most sensible final-day tourist stop.
 
The park originally was a basalt quarry owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway which sold it to the city and two other municipalities in 1928.  In 1940 the park was named after the consort of King George VI of Great Britain who, along with his queen, visited Vancouver in 1939.

What was once a rocky expanse is now hillside gardens and lawns, planted in and around the pits of the original quarry. At an overlook the fanciful bronze sculpture of a photographer directs three park visitors to pose for a "Wish You Were Here" shot with sweeping views of the city and mountains to the north in the background.

When we visited the park on our 2004 trip we toured the Bloedel Floral Conservatory housed in a geodesic dome at the top of the park.  Today it was closed to the public.  Film crews and catering and equipment trucks were lined up outside the building, but we never learned what event was being held or what film or commercial was being shot inside.

On our last visit we had a fine lunch at the restaurant near the conservatory, but since we had been stuffing our faces with food for two weeks and had breakfasted only a couple hours earlier and weren't very hungry, we decided to put off our mid-day meal until after arriving at the airport.

We filled up the Camry at an Esso station on Granville Street, leaving a large wad of our Canadian dollars behind.  About ten minutes later we turned the car in at the airport and headed to the terminal to check in for our flight.

Although there are several flights a day between Vancouver and San Francisco, there were only a few people in line at the United counter.   We passed through the security checkpoint and U.S. Customs and Immigration fairly quickly, and then set out looking for a sit-down restaurant.

YVR is bright and roomy.  The glass and tubal steel design in the gate area reminded me of similar architecture at the Montreal Airport.  (Maybe Canada pre-fabs its airports, like giant Lego pieces, and trucks them around the country for local installation).

Although the airport design is high-tech and pleasant, the dining options are fairly dismal.  We settled for grilled-cheese sandwiches from a cafeteria-style joint called "Pacific Grill."  Kids romped in a nearby "playground" area between the departure gates.

As on the flight up from San Francisco, we sat in seats 6B and 6C in the first row of the "Economy Plus" section right behind the First Class cabin, and had no "row mate" so once again the two of us had three seats to ourselves.  We left on time and arrived in San Francisco about 10-15 minutes earlier than scheduled.

During the flight south Cindy (sitting in the window seat on the left side of the plane) spotted several of the Cascade volcanic peaks:  Baker, Rainer, Adams, and Hood.  Skies over Oregon were a bit cloudy, but had cleared by the time we reached the Point Reyes peninsula.  The plane banked sharply left and we could see the town of Point Reyes Station below us and the hills around the Nicasio reservoir to the east.

United 887 flew over San Anselmo, crossed the Bay Bridge, swung south towards San Jose, did a 180 degree right turn onto its final approach into SFO, switched its choice of runway from 28 Right to 28 Left, and touched down two hours after we left Vancouver.

The plane pulled up to Gate 90 at the very far end of the SFO North Terminal, the longest possible distance from the baggage claim area.  Unlike the relatively quiet Vancouver Airport, SFO was bustling with arriving and departing passengers and the bars we passed were full of patrons watching big screen TVs while drinking away their fear of flying, their sorrows, or sheer boredom.

We had a relatively long wait to collect our bags and probably just missed catching the Marin Airporter bus about 6:30 pm.  An hour later we were on the Golden Gate Bridge headed Larkspur, and thanks to Ellanor's Taxi and Soup Delivery Service, by 8 o'clock the trip was over and we were home with both luggage and dinner in-hand.