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Half-Canadian

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Everything posted by Half-Canadian

  1. For those of you in the Choice Hotels points program, the Comfort Inn in Victoria has all their rooms available for the bargain points redemption of only 6,000 points per night. I just reserved their top-priced suite ($269.00 per night) using my surplus points. And they accept dogs, too!
  2. Looking for something fun to do this summer without spending your whole month's gas budget? Head on up to Birch Bay on July 12 for some old-fashioned fun playing Beach Blanket Bingo Drive or bike around scenic Birch Bay, a town that never left the 60's, to find 11 temporary caches hidden in vintage cache containers. Collect a bingo chip from each cache, then head back to our headquarters at the beach for a potluck lunch and some fabulous prizes, including DVD copies of the original beach flick Beach Blanket Bingo, starring Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon. You also won't want to miss this opportunity to see your WSGA President, Half-Canadian, decked out in a blonde bouffant hairdo and cat-eye sunglasses ala' Annette --
  3. 1) Does this sound right based on traffic? Depending on your timing, this could vary from maybe if you're lucky... to no way in heck. 2) How long does the border crossing take? Is it a quick process or is it a 2-hour process? Again, timing and luck. Maybe you'll blow through, but be prepared for the two hour process or worse. Half-Canadian is a frequent border crosser and long distance driver. Hopefully she'll chime in on this topic. The best advice on the border crossing: the further east you cross the border, the easier it is. The Peace Arch crossing on I-5 is the worst and could run to hours, especially on the way south. Although it is not required, it is much easier if you have your passport. If not, be sure to have you birth certificate. Heed WeightMan's advice -- DO NOT use the I-5 Peace Arch border crossing, either north or southbound. There is a good bit of construction taking place there which has reduced the available lanes by 50% in the southbound direction and causes intermittent problems northbound as well. The one I use most often is called the Pacific Highway crossing, about 2 miles east of the Peace Arch. You'll take exit 275: N48 59.090 W122 44.004 then proceed north to the border crossing. From there, you can either continue north or head west to rejoin the main freeway (or hit some prime caching in White Rock...see below), which is renamed Hwy 99 instead of I-5 north of the border. Other options include the Aldergrove crossing, about 10 miles east (open 8 a.m. through midnight, seven days a week) N49 00.126 W122 29.102 and the Sumas crossing (open 24 hrs) N49 00.142 W122 15.908 Options for checking border crossing times: AM 1130: broadcasts border wait times "on the ones" i.e. 1:01, 1:11, 1:21, etc. Updated often and usually pretty accurate. Also available live STREAMING LINK Live webcams: Northbound and Southbound Avoid crossing the border at these times -- Northbound: Saturdays and Sundays after about 5 p.m. and Southbound: Friday afternoons and evenings, Saturdays and Sundays from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Weekdays are generally OK, usually no more than a 10-15 minute wait. Just checking the radio updates should alert you to any potential problems during those times. "Must haves" when crossing the border: US passport, or a US-issued birth certificate AND a government-issued photo ID (driver's licence). Don't attempt to cross without one of those -- you will possibly be able to enter Canada with just a DL, but your re-entry to the US would be hellish at best. Don't try to bring these with you into Canada: fresh fruits or veggies, guns, knives, pepper spray, or other weapons. If you have a a DWI/DUI on your record, you will not be allowed to enter Canada. Don't bring these back into the US with you: fresh fruits or veggies, meat, eggs, etc. Souvenir type items, liquor, duty-free, etc. are OK. Just across the border, in the White Rock/South Surrey area, are a lot of nice caches and scenic views, a beautiful waterfront, touristy spots, good places to eat, etc. I'd center your search from about these coords: N49 02.743 W122 49.546 That should keep you plenty busy! Let me know if you have specific questions. I cross the border several times a week, and I'm sure I've seen it all at least once!
  4. QVC.com has a wide selection of sets at good prices and reasonable shipping if you want to stock up on a few at a time.
  5. When I put together the Bellingham Cache Machine a couple of years ago, I found out that I could buy a fully-functioning 60-day trial copy of Map Point from Microsoft (or Ebay) for around $10.00. It's really easy to use if you're at all familiar with Streets and Trips, and allows you to do a lot more route editing and adding/changing stops and text information. I highly recommend spending the few dollars as it will make the route layout a lot easier for you and easier for the cachers to follow. It's worth looking into, just be sure that you activate it so that you'll be able to finish the planning before it expires!
  6. It's too early to get an event listing published for October, but it's never to early to start planning the annual 48 North Halloween get-together! This year will feature a new location for the event, a family-friendly potluck and night caching party called "Lights Out In Lynden". The date is Saturday, October 25, in Lynden of course! More details to follow!
  7. A couple of new events to add to the calendar -- Friday, June 13 in Bellingham: I Aint Afraid of No Cache! Saturday, July 12 in Birch Bay: Birch Bay Beach Blanket Bingo It's shaping up to be a great geo-summer!
  8. I have an Eddyline Sandpiper 12-footer: that I've owned for a few years. I believe I paid around $1,100.00 for it, and they are now $1,395.00 new. I'm in the middle of moving so I wouldn't be able to attend the event, but if anyone would like to borrow it for the event they can get in touch with me. The yak is in storage in Ferndale until I get relocated. It would fit in a pickup or on any vehicle's roof rack -- it only weighs about 35 pounds.
  9. Young friend and newbie cacher, Please heed the wise words of William Shakespeare ... "The better part of valor is discretion..." Playing hide and seek with security officers, whether they be rent-a-cops, the police department, or Homeland Security, is not a wise idea, particularly when hunting for geocaches at night within a stone's throw of the border. Geocaching can, by its very nature, be a very suspicious looking activity, and it is a cacher's responsibility not to act in such a way as to cause fear or concern for public safety or property. In addition, careless or cavalier behaviour on the part of a cacher can easily compromise a geocache and cause it to be muggled or otherwise removed from play. One of my caches in Blaine that has brought a lot of challenging fun to many people was one of the ones you boasted about being chased off and then tailed by a security officer last night. While geocaching is a fun activity that can have added challenges after dark, you must use common sense in when and where you choose your searches -- "dogging (sic) privet (sic) security" at midnight in full view of the US Border Patrol cameras is not using common sense nor is it respecting someone's geocache placement. Please think carefully before you go out caching again -- ask yourself "how will my actions reflect on myself and on how others perceive geocaching". I hope you'll consider attending an upcoming geocaching event, where you'll be able to meet some other local geocachers and perhaps learn a bit from their experiences about how to be a good ambassador for geocaching. Half-Canadian and Scooter the Wonder Dog WSGA President
  10. They are pretty cool, and I take them off sweet jumps too I got like 3 feet of air that time Well.... my dad plays poker with a bunch of his friends. My dad doesn't like to take his friends money all the time. So he winds up getting stuff they have collected in their garages for 30 years instead. And my dad always passes it along to me. This time I got bikes, but in the past i have got an organ (the kind that plays music), car repairs, movies, stuff for my hubby's guitar, playground equipment for my herd and all sorts of random stuff. I guess it pays off for me that he plays cards with pack rats! (BTW I am hoping that he wins laundry service for me pretty soon, I could use a break!) I'm glad that part was specified... Dang, I almost thought we might have another candidate for my "body parts as cache containers" series! Cool bikes, Harriet!
  11. I have stayed at the Motel 6 in Yakima a couple of times, and found it to be better than their average -- reasonably clean, quiet, and wasn't worried about my car in the parking lot. There are also a couple of nearby hotels with open WIFI connections that you can pick up. Pet friendly, and no extra charge for pets. Looks like the price is around $50 per night.
  12. How come you don't show Point Roberts on your map of WA Last time I checked, it was still part of Whatcom County
  13. No problems here over the weekend. Did you forget your tinfoil hat??
  14. Great to have you join the awesome crew of NW reviewers! Thanks for your willingness to put up with us all here
  15. Rickie will share something warm with anyone who is nice to him. Rickie. ...and I happen to know he bought a new thermal hose at REI just today.
  16. Just sitting here, watching KIRO's 6:00 news, and up comes a segment on the worsening situation of air travel in the new year. Who do I spy as the footage rolls, but our own Blue J Wenatchee with his trademark big grin, just a flash on the screen, but unmistakeable. Your 1.5 seconds of fame, Jon!
  17. Aha -- I see it now...almost needed a magnifying glass to spot it, though
  18. Ambrosia, I sent a link to the event page to a few of the local cachers, some of whom are fairly new and may not know about the forums. I see that you didn't include anything on the cache page about a suggested donation, and it might be awkward if these folks arrived for the trip without being aware of this. You might want to add something to the cache page mentioning a donation, if it fits Groundspeak's guidelines for events.
  19. Deception Pass is an easy-reading crime/mystery novel set in and around Whidbey Island -- the tenth in a series of award winning mysteries by local author Earl Emerson, who lives in North Bend.
  20. Hey Charles, Great to see you back. There should be an event upcoming in the Whatcom/Skagit area early in the new year -- hope to see you there.
  21. Sounds like you'd do best staying with Stanley Park and environs for caching. Pacific Science Centre is a neat spot to explore. If you want to get out of town a little, check out Steveston (a seaside fishing village near the Vancouver airport). A fun method of public transit is the Sea Bus -- take a ride over to North Vancouver and explore the shops and restaurants. I believe the December issue of Sunset magazine has an article on Christmassy things to see around Vancouver. Have fun!
  22. Will you have a car, or just relying on public transportation? Are you willing to travel out of downtown -- 30 minutes or so -- to see interesting things? And lastly, when are you planning the trip -- now, next summer, or ??
  23. Here's the link to a CITO that I held in January that was quite well received, despite the fact that it was raining lightly and near freezing. A lot of the success, at least in this case, was the "marketing" of the event Are You On The Winning Team?
  24. Wow, that's very cool, coming from the city's own website! Nice to get a little good local PR!!
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