Boxes, boxes...gotta get boxes!

Once I received notice from the United States Postal Service that The Electric Quilt Company had shipped my order (June 2nd), I knew it was time to head to Vancouver and pick up my shipping boxes. I used to purchase all my shipping boxes from Canada Post here in Sechelt and they were the perfect size for the EQ5 & 6 software; however, Canada Post stopped carrying those boxes and Office Depot became my new source. It does mean a trip into Vancouver but I usually combine the trip with other "must dos." So, this past Tuesday was the day to go and I thought you might like to see the route I take...

I leave Sechelt and head south down the Sunshine Coast Highway (Hwy 101) - not that I have any choice since the Sunshine Coast has only one highway! I pass through various communities whose beginnings were tied to fishing and logging (Selma Park, Wilson Creek, Davis Bay, Roberts Creek) and half way through Gibsons I take North Rd which bypasses lower Gibsons (think of the Beachcombers and Molly's Reach) and other neat little communities like Grantham's and Hopkins Landings. My destination is the BC Ferry terminal at Langdale (letter A in map above) and I was catching the 12:20 pm ferry.

As you can see, Tuesday was a beautiful day for travelling. Those mountains in the distant are Vancouver's north shore mountains and that little bit of snow you see on the right is the Cypress Bowl area where the snowboarding and freestyle skiing competitions were held during the winter Olympics in February. This is the view just as we are departing Langdale so it isn't a long trip to the ferry terminal at Horseshoe Bay (40 minutes). This picture was taken from the upper car deck (there are two vehicle decks) and my car is just behind me.

I took the picture above as we neared Horseshoe Bay and I am looking north up Howe Sound. You can see a line running across the base of the mountains just above the water and that is the "Sea to Sky" Highway (Hwy 99) which leads to Squamish and Whistler. This was the highway you had to travel to take in the Olympic Alpine events at Whistler. It went under a two year upgrade before the Olympics that turned it from a two lane highway (killer highway) to a four lane cruising highway; although, the threat of rockslides will always exist given the steep terrain above it.

As we approached Horseshoe Bay (yes, it is shaped like a Horseshoe!), the ferry to Nanaimo (Nah-nye-moe) on Vancouver Island left port. This is one of the new, larger class ferries that ply the waters between Vancouver and Vancouver Island; as you can see, it is still wearing its Olympic make-up. We Sunshine Coasters do not get to ride on a ferry that looks like this. In fact, our regular ferry broke down last week and the replacement is a real rust bucket - I guess BC Ferries blew its paint budget prettying up the big boats.

Once that floating billboard sailed by, our ferry moved into Horseshoe Bay harbour and towards its berth at the terminal. Now, I had no time to doddle; so, once I was off the ferry it was "zoom, zoom.".

On to Highway 1 (the Trans-Canada Highway) through West Vancouver, into North Vancouver then off the highway and take Taylor Way to get over the Lion's Gate Bridge, through Stanley Park, cut down Denman Street in the West End and then onto Beach Ave and south over the Burrard Street Bridge to West Broadway.

I have two stops on West Broadway - my favourite Japanese take-out for Dynamite Rolls and Sunomono Salad then continue west to Office Depot (red X on map), eat my lunch in the parking lot, get my boxes and back into the car and south to 12th Ave and then west to connect again to the Trans-Canada. I am heading to Surrey (other red X) to stay and visit with a friend but I have to get onto Trans-Canada and over the Iron Workers' Memorial Bridge before rush hour kicks in or else it will be bumper to bumper all the way to Surrey and beyond. Whew, made it! I stayed two nights in Surrey and then left at 11:30 am this morning and its was the Trans-Canada all the way back to Horseshoe Bay - in the rain - to catch the 1:20 pm ferry to Langdale.

Guess what! Once I pack my EQ7 orders, those shipping boxes will be repeating the journey back - south to Langdale, onto the ferry, through West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Vancouver and then south to the Canada Post sorting depot in Richmond near the Vancouver International Airport. Those will be some very well travelled shipping boxes by the time they reach their final destination!

(Here is an interesting BC Ferries' webpage - you can view all the ferries routes and see each ferry's progression as it sails its route by clicking on the thumbnail map.)