Hello friends, here is my travelogue. Finally make it to victoria.
I started from Dallas, Texas, and planned to drive across country. For first few days the trip was exciting. I never knew US was such a diverse and beautiful place. Some places in wyoming, idaho, utah looked almost like some painted pictures. If it wasn't for those places, it would have taken me another 5 days to finish my journey. Packing our stuff was one big pain in the a$$. We sell most of our furnitures, donated most of the clothes and other stuff. Still we have our suv full of stuff. If mouse had managed to get inside it, it would have died of suffocation. We bought 'space bag' and put all our clothes inside it and vacuum the air out. Just like they show in T.V. It looked very good. Then tie it on the top of our vehicle. We started our journey around 8:00 am dallas time. Drive across Oklahoma, nothing interesting. Just a plain land. As soon as we enter Kansas, wind picked up around 30-40 mph. But the road was straight like somebody draw a straight line in the map and started building it. They grow oil in Kansas. Fields were full with small machine, that draws oil from under ground. I guess more profitable than corn.
Then after 600 miles we enter Colorado. Landscape starts changing from vast field to rocky mountains. But I was already too tired to enjoy anything. I just wanted to reach Denver where we booked our hotel. Tired and hungry we reached Denver around 9:00 pm. Fortunately the hotel was a nice one. Since we use hotwire to book our hotel, we didn't know where we gonna end up. Our total miles from Dallas to Denver was 900 miles (14 hrs).
Next day we wake up around 9 am and get ready for second part of our journey. This is the short drive to Salt Lake City, Utah. Should take more than 8 hours and 500 miles. We started heading north-west. Crossed into Wyoming. Beautiful landscapes. Lots and lots of mountains. Speed limit in those roads were 75 mph. But with 50 mph wind and lots of road warning (deer), our average speed was about 60-65 mph. Wind was heavy. After a while I started hearing sound coming out from the roof of our vehicle. I stopped at the next gas station to find out that our space bag was tearing apart. My wife was like, "it was supposed to be a space bag, thats what they said in the tv". Well she missed out the point that there is no 50 mph wind in space. We bought a tape and fixed it. Fortunately those tapes did the magic. We never had any problem after that. I am from Nepal and all these years I was craving to see those big mountains. As we approach Salt Lake City, we started seeing big mountains. Salt Lake city is the most beautiful city I had seen so far. Right on the lap of mountains. We reached there around 8:00 pm and luckily the time zone changed and we were actually there at 7:00 pm. Next day we planned to stay in Salt Lake City for another day, and look around the areas. My wife insist to go and see the winter olypmic stadium. For me it was so so, but she skis and it looked like she enjoyed every part of those guided tours. Then after that we went to planetarium and see black hole. It was quite an experience for me. Never been to "Dome theater", better than 3D.
After two nights in Salt Lake city, we headed towards our next destination. i.e. Seattle, Washtington. 900 miles, 14 hours. We crossed Utah, then Idaho. There were these signs "Chain your vehicle ahead, when the lights are flashing". I had no idea what in the world they were talking about. Luckily the weather was fabulous and there was no flashing lights. But I was wondering what those chains were for. And what kind of chains? We later find out how lucky we were. In this part of the earth, the snow fall is so frequent and in order to drive on those mountains without sliding you need to have a special chain. You wrapped those chains around the wheel and it stop you from Sliding. Well, in last ten years it snowed 3-4 times in Texas, and there is no way you can slide in Texas and reach somewhere. So this chain thing was new for me. We were just lucky with those weather.
As we crossed from Idaho to Oregon, I was wondering if we forget something. My wife was sleeping. When she wake up, I ask her about checking all the paper work. Than we find out that we forget to give 72 hrs notice to export vehicle to US border. It was already wednesday and if we fail to convince those people we were stuck in US until Monday. They do not export vehicle after 3 pm and Saturday and Sunday. I took the next turn and we find the internet and faxed them all the documents from Oregon. We were hungry so we went to eat something. It was small town, very small. We found "The Great Wall" Chinese. My wife was down with cold/flu, so we thought that hot soup might help her. So we go to Chinese and ordered "Hot and sour soup", "Lomein", "Chicken and Brocolli". For the love of god, she brought something that looked like those food for cows. Disgusting. I can't swallow one spoon. I never never never tasted something that horrible. They have no idea how the Chinese tastes like. We just paid and leave without eating. She felt bad about it, and didn't charge for the soup. And we felt really sorry for her. She was definitely in wrong business. Then we ended up in Wendy's with juicy chicken burgers.
We finally approached Seattle. It was dark and road started acting weird. Last 2-3 hrs of drive towards seattle was the most stressful then the whole journey combined. The road twisted and turned like crazy. In 75 mph we were going 40-45 mph. I mean it was very nice to see seattle after driving in that road. Finally we reached our hotel. I rewarded myself with a cold beer. Next day we went to visit seattle. If you are in that place, you should go to the tower and check the views. It was breath taking. Seattle has mountains on one side and water on the other side. Lots of ferries. Market center was amazing. It was a small bazzar. Downtown is also unique. I really enjoyed it a lot.
Next day we moved towards the border. Our crossing border was Blaine, Washington. Little nervous, little excited we get there in 90 miles about 2 hours. We needed approval from US border patrol to export our vehicle. Rude-expressionless officer tell us that we send them same documents 1000 times. Actually we just send it 2 times, first time we couldn't confirm that they actually received them. I am sorry but he is the meanest man, I have seen in a long time. Job was 2 minutes, but he makes us wait for about 30 minutes. I was bit sad because when one human being treat another human being like that it always hurts. But again excitement overcame me. We get into our car, and moved towards Canadian side. We were asked by a officer the purpose of our visit, any firmarms in vehicle, and if we have more than $10,000 in cash. Then he asked us to park our car and go inside the office. There they did some paper work. Normal and nice officers. They gave us canadian flags and pins. Within 1 hour we complete our fomalities and enter Canada. Canada baby.
We took ferry from border to Victoria. Amazing to see how many cars, 18 wheelers and people it can transfer. We stopped in the first sushi place for lunch. We order same sushi we used to order in Dallas, but for the same money, this lady come up with 3 plates full of sushi. I mean for the same money you get a lot and lot and lot of sushi in Canada. So it was not like everybody been telling me that stuff are expensive in Canada. It took me a while to find it out. We went to the bar to celebrate our first day in Canada. After that I went to buy a can of Copenhagen in a gas station, she told me it cost $19.91 for one can. I got so dizzy that I almost slip, hit my head and fainted. Almost. $19.91 for one can, are you serious. HOLLY MOLLY, SON OF A GUN. In dallas its $5.00 per can. In short, somethings are cheap and some of them are ridiculously high.
We already have a place to stay in Victoria. It was a good deal. For $1000 per month without lease, we have nice bachelor suit. Much like a motel. Nice patio outside with barbecue grill. Beautiful place to be. I am seeing good things so far. As for the job, I am taking off after many years of hard work. I am not working for atleast 7-8 months. As soon as I get my permanent resident card, I am going back to my country for a while. They let my wife work from Canada (online). Good news for us.
Today we are going to visit Victoria. Lets see how its gonna work.
I always loved to read others experience and had this idea on the back of my head that, once I reach Canada, I am sharing my journey with you all. It might help others.
Thank You.
I started from Dallas, Texas, and planned to drive across country. For first few days the trip was exciting. I never knew US was such a diverse and beautiful place. Some places in wyoming, idaho, utah looked almost like some painted pictures. If it wasn't for those places, it would have taken me another 5 days to finish my journey. Packing our stuff was one big pain in the a$$. We sell most of our furnitures, donated most of the clothes and other stuff. Still we have our suv full of stuff. If mouse had managed to get inside it, it would have died of suffocation. We bought 'space bag' and put all our clothes inside it and vacuum the air out. Just like they show in T.V. It looked very good. Then tie it on the top of our vehicle. We started our journey around 8:00 am dallas time. Drive across Oklahoma, nothing interesting. Just a plain land. As soon as we enter Kansas, wind picked up around 30-40 mph. But the road was straight like somebody draw a straight line in the map and started building it. They grow oil in Kansas. Fields were full with small machine, that draws oil from under ground. I guess more profitable than corn.
Then after 600 miles we enter Colorado. Landscape starts changing from vast field to rocky mountains. But I was already too tired to enjoy anything. I just wanted to reach Denver where we booked our hotel. Tired and hungry we reached Denver around 9:00 pm. Fortunately the hotel was a nice one. Since we use hotwire to book our hotel, we didn't know where we gonna end up. Our total miles from Dallas to Denver was 900 miles (14 hrs).
Next day we wake up around 9 am and get ready for second part of our journey. This is the short drive to Salt Lake City, Utah. Should take more than 8 hours and 500 miles. We started heading north-west. Crossed into Wyoming. Beautiful landscapes. Lots and lots of mountains. Speed limit in those roads were 75 mph. But with 50 mph wind and lots of road warning (deer), our average speed was about 60-65 mph. Wind was heavy. After a while I started hearing sound coming out from the roof of our vehicle. I stopped at the next gas station to find out that our space bag was tearing apart. My wife was like, "it was supposed to be a space bag, thats what they said in the tv". Well she missed out the point that there is no 50 mph wind in space. We bought a tape and fixed it. Fortunately those tapes did the magic. We never had any problem after that. I am from Nepal and all these years I was craving to see those big mountains. As we approach Salt Lake City, we started seeing big mountains. Salt Lake city is the most beautiful city I had seen so far. Right on the lap of mountains. We reached there around 8:00 pm and luckily the time zone changed and we were actually there at 7:00 pm. Next day we planned to stay in Salt Lake City for another day, and look around the areas. My wife insist to go and see the winter olypmic stadium. For me it was so so, but she skis and it looked like she enjoyed every part of those guided tours. Then after that we went to planetarium and see black hole. It was quite an experience for me. Never been to "Dome theater", better than 3D.
After two nights in Salt Lake city, we headed towards our next destination. i.e. Seattle, Washtington. 900 miles, 14 hours. We crossed Utah, then Idaho. There were these signs "Chain your vehicle ahead, when the lights are flashing". I had no idea what in the world they were talking about. Luckily the weather was fabulous and there was no flashing lights. But I was wondering what those chains were for. And what kind of chains? We later find out how lucky we were. In this part of the earth, the snow fall is so frequent and in order to drive on those mountains without sliding you need to have a special chain. You wrapped those chains around the wheel and it stop you from Sliding. Well, in last ten years it snowed 3-4 times in Texas, and there is no way you can slide in Texas and reach somewhere. So this chain thing was new for me. We were just lucky with those weather.
As we crossed from Idaho to Oregon, I was wondering if we forget something. My wife was sleeping. When she wake up, I ask her about checking all the paper work. Than we find out that we forget to give 72 hrs notice to export vehicle to US border. It was already wednesday and if we fail to convince those people we were stuck in US until Monday. They do not export vehicle after 3 pm and Saturday and Sunday. I took the next turn and we find the internet and faxed them all the documents from Oregon. We were hungry so we went to eat something. It was small town, very small. We found "The Great Wall" Chinese. My wife was down with cold/flu, so we thought that hot soup might help her. So we go to Chinese and ordered "Hot and sour soup", "Lomein", "Chicken and Brocolli". For the love of god, she brought something that looked like those food for cows. Disgusting. I can't swallow one spoon. I never never never tasted something that horrible. They have no idea how the Chinese tastes like. We just paid and leave without eating. She felt bad about it, and didn't charge for the soup. And we felt really sorry for her. She was definitely in wrong business. Then we ended up in Wendy's with juicy chicken burgers.
We finally approached Seattle. It was dark and road started acting weird. Last 2-3 hrs of drive towards seattle was the most stressful then the whole journey combined. The road twisted and turned like crazy. In 75 mph we were going 40-45 mph. I mean it was very nice to see seattle after driving in that road. Finally we reached our hotel. I rewarded myself with a cold beer. Next day we went to visit seattle. If you are in that place, you should go to the tower and check the views. It was breath taking. Seattle has mountains on one side and water on the other side. Lots of ferries. Market center was amazing. It was a small bazzar. Downtown is also unique. I really enjoyed it a lot.
Next day we moved towards the border. Our crossing border was Blaine, Washington. Little nervous, little excited we get there in 90 miles about 2 hours. We needed approval from US border patrol to export our vehicle. Rude-expressionless officer tell us that we send them same documents 1000 times. Actually we just send it 2 times, first time we couldn't confirm that they actually received them. I am sorry but he is the meanest man, I have seen in a long time. Job was 2 minutes, but he makes us wait for about 30 minutes. I was bit sad because when one human being treat another human being like that it always hurts. But again excitement overcame me. We get into our car, and moved towards Canadian side. We were asked by a officer the purpose of our visit, any firmarms in vehicle, and if we have more than $10,000 in cash. Then he asked us to park our car and go inside the office. There they did some paper work. Normal and nice officers. They gave us canadian flags and pins. Within 1 hour we complete our fomalities and enter Canada. Canada baby.
We took ferry from border to Victoria. Amazing to see how many cars, 18 wheelers and people it can transfer. We stopped in the first sushi place for lunch. We order same sushi we used to order in Dallas, but for the same money, this lady come up with 3 plates full of sushi. I mean for the same money you get a lot and lot and lot of sushi in Canada. So it was not like everybody been telling me that stuff are expensive in Canada. It took me a while to find it out. We went to the bar to celebrate our first day in Canada. After that I went to buy a can of Copenhagen in a gas station, she told me it cost $19.91 for one can. I got so dizzy that I almost slip, hit my head and fainted. Almost. $19.91 for one can, are you serious. HOLLY MOLLY, SON OF A GUN. In dallas its $5.00 per can. In short, somethings are cheap and some of them are ridiculously high.
We already have a place to stay in Victoria. It was a good deal. For $1000 per month without lease, we have nice bachelor suit. Much like a motel. Nice patio outside with barbecue grill. Beautiful place to be. I am seeing good things so far. As for the job, I am taking off after many years of hard work. I am not working for atleast 7-8 months. As soon as I get my permanent resident card, I am going back to my country for a while. They let my wife work from Canada (online). Good news for us.
Today we are going to visit Victoria. Lets see how its gonna work.
I always loved to read others experience and had this idea on the back of my head that, once I reach Canada, I am sharing my journey with you all. It might help others.
Thank You.
