We almost didnt make it. Our flight as at 2:30PM from Bellingham and my dad and I set off at 11AM in Vancouver. Having checked the border wait times before we left we should have only waited there for an hour maximum. By the time we got there, there was a line as far as the eye could see. We ended up patiently waiting in line for around two hours. Even though it was a Friday, we had no idea that this many people would leave for the states at this kind of hour. We also found out from listening to the radio while we were in line that it was a pro-d day for all the high schools and elementary schools; which I'm sure ended up being a pretty significant factor.
Finally it was our turn to cross. By the time we go up to the border guard it was 1:45 and we were cutting it super close. We were questioned as usual, I've flown from Bellingham before and know the drill. I thought I had everything we needed, however when they asked us to produce proof that we were going to return back, I didnt have the itinerary printed. I also couldnt pull it up on my phone for some reason. I've didnt think it was that big of a deal, but apparently it was to this particular border guard. So off we went into "the room" to be questioned. All hopes of making this flight on time were pretty much crushed by the time we step foot inside. There was a line up of about 25 people, and at the time, only one officers working. It was a frustrating experience to say the least, but I couldnt get angry, there was nothing I could do about it.
We waited in there for about 45min, by the time we left, it was 2:30, the time our flight was supposed to have departed. My dad wanted to go home, but I still had a bit of optimism in me and convinced him to go to the airport anyways since it was much closer than getting home. When we arrived, my dad didnt even park the car, and I just walked inside with our boarding passes. I went up to the clerk telling her that we had missed our flight and wanted to know what our options were. She had a look in her system and announced to us that our flight had actually be delayed till 5PM. We were delighted by the news and casually checked into our flight.
The flight was good, can't complain about anything really after the days earlier events. We arrived to be picked up by my cousin and his son. Within about 10-15min time the feeling of being in America quickly settled in. It was 8PM and there was 5 lanes (in one direction) of stop and go traffic. What normally is about a 30min trip took us at least twice that, but we finally arrived at my aunt and uncles place. We were greeted by family and pho, both of which I was happy to see. After downing two bowls of goodness I decided to settle in and call it a night.
Pretty much every waking minute at home was spent with my niece and nephew constantly asking me for piggy back rides and things of the like. I gave them so many piggy back rides that when I went to sleep at night I felt like they were still on me.
After a morning of piggy back rides I set off with one of my cousins and her family to Presidio Park, or somewhere around there anyways. I didnt know it then, but I had actually been there before, however the last time I was there, there was so much fog, it looked completely different! This day started off as quite the opposite though with some gorgeous sun; it was t shirt weather once again.
My cousins kid's and I decided to have a quick hike down to the waters edge. As we were going down we could already see the fog rolling in from afar. We made a pretty good hustle in getting back up and never really looked back. As soon as we reached the top we realized we just missed the fog as it had already engulfed the trail we were just on.
By the time we left the fog had made it up to the Golden Gate Bridge. Strangely however it never went past it.
We spent the next hour walking around Crissy Field. Great place for a walk or run. I was actually surprised to see how many runners and cyclists that were out that day. Dinner was at home that night with lots of family as we celebrated one of my nieces birthday.
The next day was spent shopping. There seems to always be ridiculous deals going on in the bay area so I had to stock up. Dinner was spent with lots of family at an in law's japanese restaurant. The next day I went around down town with my dad and one of my cousins checking out some pawn shops in the Mission neighbourhood of San Francisco. We went home for lunch and then headed off to the airport to wrap up my sixth visit to SF. I dont know exactly when I'll be back, but I'm sure it'll be soon.
-w