Back into Washington.

Getting out of Canada is nowhere near as easy as getting in.  We queued for the better part of an hour for the honour of being questioned by a border guard who ridiculed our accents and described our roadtrip as 'sweet.'

It rained the entire drive out of Vancouver, the whole way to the border, and the entire way through Washington.

Apparently needing a passport to get out of Canada is relatively new.

It went on raining when we reached Seattle.  This was the first American city we have visited with hills, and they came as a bit of a surprise.

Stereotype confirmed.

Luckily we won the hostel lottery, staying in a place which was big, clean, well designed with good facilities.  Each of the rooms had been decorated by a different local artist, and artist information was displayed on all of the doors.  On top of that, the fellow on the desk was able to send us towards the local brew pub, so we grabbed another sample board and got acquainted with Seattle beers.

They call him Mr Farenheit

Vancouver turned out the sunshine the next day, and we had no choice but to frolic in it.  Put in your own mental image.

The big silver thing is a science center.

The Skeptic just chilling with the Freddies.

That was Saturday.  The next day was Halloween, so everything went to hell that night, and we were staying right in the heart of it.  We met many colourful characters, but wound up in the same spot we did every night in Vancouver.

The next morning I could feel the whiskey in my face.

Vancouver

The Skeptic and I wandered into Yaletown for some coffee.  While the coffee was good, Yaletown was a bit of a letdown.  Someone would later describe it as 'affluent thirty-somethings who don't know what to do with their money or themselves.'

This made my morning though...

That someone was Chris, who the Liar and the Skeptic had met the previous night. He took us to a fantastic Lebanese restaurant.  Afterwards we went for a walk through Gastown and had a look at the harbour.

Bay.

That night we headed up to a pub with a fantastic range of beers.  We knew it had to be good, because it took us thirty minutes to get in through the door.  Worth the wait.  With sample selections of local beers and tasty sandwiches, we were in hog heaven.

Frat bats.  Oh, what fun.

The Liar and the rest of our group went home, while the Skeptic and I headed on to another brew pub and tried another couple of beers.  Good night.

Oh, Canada.

We drove into Canada and met the nicest border guard the Liar and I have encountered so far.

Oh, that sunny Canada coast.

It rained all afternoon.  I'll need one of the others to tell you about that night, because I had been drinking for three straight months, and I went to bed early.