After three years of planning and rescheduling our trip on the famed Rocky Mountaineer (RM) is upon us. For those of you unaware of our elaborate travel plans, I will quickly recap. My sister, Kathy’s husband, Eric, retired from Raytheon (think Missile systems) in March of 2020. Yeah, 2020, the one with mask mandates, closed everything, whispers of the black plague and Ebola…yeah, fun times for sure. Eric is a life long learner, and student of the world…fancy speak for love of traveling and new adventures. His dream retirement fantasy went up in a puff of Covid cooties. One of his bucket list items was a trip on the Rocky Mountaineer. Knowing that Ed is a train dork and they offer extensive powder puff service, we said “sure, we are all in”. Of course, if did not hurt that RM was desperately trying to stimulate business by offering really great deals on hopeful Fall 2020 travel. As the Covid quarantine continued, it was obvious to us that the train might roll but the experience would be somewhat tarnished or limited. Who wants to take a luxury train with poor service and limited things open…never mind the supply chain issues or lack of liquor…we punted our 14 day trip to 2021, then to 2022 and finally, to 2023. Remember the stuff about shrinkflation, well, our 2020 Covid reservation for 14 days has shrunk to a 8 day, same price, mind you…with a a couple few “included” evening meals in the hotels we are staying in take out of the equation. Between fires in Canada, government closure of hotels for tourists so fire victims would have a place to stay and the new threat of Covid (what version is this?), we were unsure if this train would even take the tracks. So, build in an major upcharge for travel insurance, yeah, this trip has lots to live up to.
Ed and I flew to Vancouver from Houston, other than the massive construction project around the airport, it was totally uneventful. Crossing into Canada and Custom and Border patrol has been 95% automated. The 5% was when your kiosk picture and passport picture where not the same. Winner, winner chicken dinner…Eddie’s special Bassett hound eyes triggers a quick, and I do mean quick, look at his passport by a guy marshaling people through the webbed maze lines. Seriously, not sure if I feel safe with the technique preventing unsavory characters coming into the country….but given what is happening on our southern borders…you know what they say, People is glass houses should not throw stones. With the government shutdown looming in our travel dates…first of October should be interesting coming back into Houston. We leave from Canada and arrive Houston…hope Terminal D has the same saissez faire attitude come October 3, or the electronic Global Entry works as advertised. Yikes! The Texas contingent of this trip arrived well before the Arizona/Oregon (they are in processes of buying a second home in Portland) contingent. Ed and I love a Vancouver (and Whistler) and have been here many times, Kathy and Eric have not. So, we have spent our alone time doing what Eddie likes best…drinking and eating. We are on the Ocean, waters are cold enough for West Coast oysters…found a Happy Hour deal or two on those…the boy can eat little tiny oysters.
Packing for this was challenging. RM issues lots of information about what to bring and not bring…heavy on pounds and dimensions of things. Given the weather forecast is 100% rain, with a chance of more rain, and really heavy rain…unless it is snow showers… Our luggage weight was maxed out with shoes, rain gear and the 10-12 pairs of underwear we needed to get through the next 10 days without a laundry. Yeah, sure, they will be happy to “do” your laundry. A mere $5.00 a pair for underwear…gee, I could throw it away and buy new along the way for that price. Eddie suggested that I pack my thongs to save space….I said I would if he would…granny panties for the win.
Today and tomorrow we are doing Vancouver with Eric and Kathy. Today, it is a Zodiac boat…50 mph, rubber suits and life jackets…3 hours in the rain in the face, and we are paying for the privilege. I plan on thinking positive and calling it an ice facial, and no fuss hair day. I can’t imagine what will be going through Eddie’s head. Glad I brought a couple extra pairs on underwear. Stay tuned.
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