Day 8: Kamloops to Vancouver

Quote of the Day: "Don't cry, you are just 18. Be real. Go with the flow. Be smart"

                After a restful (an uneventful) night in Kamloops, and Estrella’s hour long conversation with the Canadians staying at our hotel, we began our journey towards Vancouver.  A few minutes into the trip we realized that we had missed the exit for Highway 1 and were instead on Highway 5. It was definitely a little shocking, and somewhat scary, but the GPS saved us (again) and we were able to have a quick drive over to the city of Hope.

                On our walk in Kamloops, we bumped into a couple from Riverside who recommended the Othello tunnels to us. Trusting the advice of complete strangers (so smart) we drove to the tunnels today. They were incredibly beautiful and as Katherine put it “MY FAVORITE PLACE ON EARTH.” These tunnels, which were pitch black, dripping water, and just a little bit sketchy, cut through the thick mountain side of the Rocky Mountains and their forests. After a few jokes about the name (“They are called the Othello tunnels because so many people were stabbed here, just like Othello”) we walked around and posed for quite a few photos. I know, so touristy but whatever. When we got back to the car I had a freak-out because there was this ticket on our windshield, but it ended up being a “car-safety evaluation” provided by the good people of Hope. Apparently, they are quite concerned about vehicle security there. However, the good news is that we passed with flying colors!  Yayyyy safety!

                We sat in Vancouver traffic for about an hour, drove through the shady Chinatown area (seriously freaking out about whether or not our hotel would be over a homeless shelter), and finally settled into our hotel. We have seriously become the biggest sneaks ever: carefully planning how we can hide two extra people in a tiny room (note: it’s all about the tote bags). Katherine and Estrella explored the neighborhood and quickly returned. Katherine, Estrella, and I then went out to dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant. We sat there for FOUR hours. I want you to stop and imagine this—a McDonald’s type of restaurant, fast food, take-out, and three girls crying. We got so deeply involved in conversation that we all broke down and began to loudly sob in the middle of this random restaurant. The guy who served us food apparently thought that it was funny/awkward (he came by once and dropped a pile of napkins on our table) so he called his friend who later approached us and asked why we were crying (thick Persian accent—“you ladies so young! No worries! What problems you could have?!”). I think that he was under the impression that we were older and easy to pick-up. However, that clearly was not the case and we sucked him into a deep conversation instead. I would call it the quintessential road trip experience: exactly the type of inspiration/advice we were looking for. We talked about life, his best advice, what types of people there are, our fears, our thoughts—everything. It was a perfect encounter and very enlightening (probably disappointing on his part once he realized that he was preaching to us about the beauty of life instead of picking up ladies). Haha he also bought us baklava which was very kind.

                We left the restaurant soon after because it had been trying to close a long time before. We walked through a random art gallery and then sat in another hotel’s lobby and continued to discuss life. We were randomly approached by this drunken man who first wanted money, then asked us all out to dinner, then pondered why he had to leave the hotel bar. I guess it was never too scary because the manager rapidly escorted him out. We returned to the hotel to plan the next day. Vancouver will be so much fun!

Best:

·         Mediterranean restaurant

·         Othello Tunnels

·         Passing car safety test

·         Nice guy with good exchange rates

Worst:

·         Parking

·         Drunk guy

·         Getting ripped off after buying green tea ice cream