Day Four: Night of Frustration

After the game we hopped on the express bus and made a quick get-a-way back to Issaquah to meet up with Lisa and Mom. (Since Mom didn’t go the game, Jim gave her his snazzy Mariners hat as a keepsake.) Andrew, Mom and I still had to make it to Vancouver BC that night, so under the cover of the Park-n-Ride structure; we said our heartfelt thanks and good-byes.

We had about a four hour drive ahead of us….or so we thought. We embarked on a section of I-5 that neither Mom nor I had ever traveled. It felt good to slowly transition from the big city to the green unfamiliar farmland and pastures of northern Washington, all the while following the curves and cuts of rivers and streams. It was a beautifully peaceful evening. That soon changed. As we rounded the corner to the Canadian border entrance, I saw one of the most amazing sunsets I had ever seen. Yet I was trapped in my car, with my hands stuck on the steering wheel…no place to park, stop or even stick my head out of the sunroof... I rubber-necked glances, prepared my camera in vein and watched in anguish the elusive picture-perfect sky; pinks, blues, purples and oranges, reflecting in the evening water drift into black. Between looks I was yammering at the injustice of the Canadians for not providing a lookout, a “view” marker…or a “last chance” sign… The looming peace arch was laughable, as I was in too much of a tizzy to appreciate it. To make the mood even better, I was being slyly prodded by my mother to break the law, “to heck with the hundreds of cars behind you and those armed men,…jump out of the car, run across three lanes of traffic, and get your picture…Jeeeez, you’ll never make as a photo journalist if you can’t break a few rules!!!” Getting arrested was not part of the plan and with my luck they would never believe my sunset obsession and confiscate my camera and send me off to some remote place for questioning. This picture is the best I could do: a sliver of the sunset streaming through, over and under cars. Heartbreaking.

Finally we make it to the customs agent. I hand her our appropriate information. She asks about plants, firearms and weapons. I said no but Andrew replied …”What about those fireworks we have in the back?” The Customs lady is probably thinking that we are loaded with explosives…I say, “Aaaaandrew, we have 10 sparklers…fireworks, sparklers are different that fireARMS.” No surprise, next thing she does is ask us to pull up to the “You’re in Trouble” checkpoint and go inside the building. But, before I can drive to our next spot, Mom decides to pull a youuuu – whoooo and chat a bit. Over me and through the open window, Mom made small talk with the border control lady, “Why are there so many people tonight? Is it always this busy? Is the gentleman driving in that car up there…is that a Studebaker…it says Studebaker but they haven’t made those in years. So, darling, how long have you been working here?” At this point I was practically in tears with frustration…finally we said good-bye to the nice customs lady at the window and pulled over to the appointed spot. The heavily armed man asked us to go inside the adjacent building and wait. (As far as Government wastefulness goes…there were 15 uniformed people in that building and I swear all of them were playing games on their computers.) We were the only people in the building…which made me even more nervous. We walked to the counter and I handed the lady our paperwork and passports…when she asked me my name, Mom thought she would add some credibility to our station by informing her, “I was Miss Oregon and 2nd Runner-up to Miss America.” So, if the explosives in the back of car and the Studebaker question didn’t put us on the loony list – me posing as a Miss Oregon with a 7 year-old son was going to get us cuffed for sure!

The lady politely asked us to take a seat while she ran our names through their system. I was relieved when only 15 minutes later she told us we were “all clear” and free to go. Thank God!

We set off very ready to find Vancouver and settle in for the night. This was one section of the trip that I did Map Quest and ….little good that did me. I won’t go into all the details, for fear I might redevelop my tick, but it was an insane evening of disorientation, driving all over “hell and tarnation” and mother and I both resolving, in a fit of anger, that we were not going to let each other navigate anymore! Andrew, bless his heart, slept through the whole thing.

When we finally found our Best Western it was far from best. It was in a crazy part of town and had two inebriated males playing with a bouncy ball in the parking lot. I was ready to leave and go find a place to park and sleep in the car. Mom went in and checked out the rooms. They were nice, although I thought ours smelled like cat litter. The guy at the desk had a thick Indian accent and large gold earring. He was so nice and offered Andrew water, milk or juice five different times while we waited for the elevator to arrive. He expressed to me how classy my mom was and he even told Andrew that I was a little hottie. Andrew just smiled and nodded, as I think he thought he said that I was a little “odd-y,” with which Andrew would agree.