My Mid-Week Weekend Update – Part 1
So this past weekend I was out having so much bloggable fun that I never got around to blogging it. Until now. Which is Wednesday.
Saturday involved Kalev and I going on an epic road trip to the Albion Ferry. For anyone not from the Lower Mainland, I shall explain what the Albion Ferry is (which should give those of your who are from the Lower Mainland enough time to recover from laughing at the thought of the Albion Ferry being thought of as a tourist destination). The Albion Ferry is essentially a commuter ferry that brings people across the Fraser River from Maple Ridge to Fort Langley.
The thing is, someone who lives in Vancouver would never really have occasion to take the Albion Ferry. If you want to go to Langley, you would just drive over the Port Mann Bridge:
To get to Maple Ridge, you take the Pitt River Bridge:
The ferry ride itself is just a few minutes, but you often hear of 3, 4 or more sailing waits (and with each sailing being 15 minutes apart, that can be a substantial amount of time sitting in your car waiting for a few minutes on a boat). So they are building a bridge – The Golden Ears Bridge – which has been under construction since June 2006 and which will be ready in about two weeks, so that people in that area can just drive over the river whenever they feel like it. And thus the Ferry is being retired next month. Hence the road trip. Kalev and I felt it was our civic duty to have taken the Albion Ferry at least once before it is shut down forever.
I’m pretty sure Kalev and I were the first ever tourists on the Albion Ferry.
But I’m ahead of myself. First, here’s a picture of me picking up Kalev in Zaphod Beeblebrox the Car:
Did I ever mention that I frickin’ love my car?
From Kalev’s, we headed out on Highway 1 and were chatting so much we totally forgot that we were supposed to get off the highway at the United exit. Which super duper sucked because it meant we had to go over the Port Mann bridge, then turn around and come back. And the Port Mann bridge coming back was at a standstill. So we sat ont he Port Mann for about 30 minutes when we really didn’t need to, seeing as we never meant to go over it in the first place! Good thing we weren’t in a hurry!
Once we got back to where we actually meant to be, things were good and after much driving, we eventually got to the ferry. And then we had to wait three sailing waits! But it was totally worth it, as it was a nice (albeit very, very short) little boat trip across the river:
Loading onto the ferry.
Proof that Kalev and I did, in fact, get on the Albion Ferry!
After the brief trip across the water, we checked out the quaintness that is Fort Langley. I have a theory that all quaint towns are legally required to sell fudge. Ft. L. did not disappoint.
Kalev assured me that food in Langley does not contain calories on his birthday weekend and henceforth the fudge was dubbed “Fudge Zero”:
And then it was on to The Olive Garden for dinner. The choice of restaurant was on Kalev’s insistence, as I maintain that the O.G. is white trash fine dining, but I do concede that the salad and breadsticks are tasty. Also, the eggplant parmigiana was far more deep fried than I had anticipated.
And check out how big the “small car” parking spots in Langley are:
I mean, I know my smart car is little, but you could easily have fit two of them in that spot – three if you’d parked them sideways!
After stuffing ourselves at the O.G., we decided to head home and on the way discovered a real, honest-to-goodness Baskin-Robbins store so, of course, we couldn’t resist the temptress that is Chocolate Mousse Royale ice cream.
And that, my friends, is how I spent my Saturday!
I want to take the Albion Ferry! 🙁
haha! after living in langley for 10 years this seems silly but like so much fun at the same time! you know there is the Barnston island ferry too. If my memory serves me correct you can only walk on that one. Its by 176 st.
Oh my god, another ferry! Sweet! I just googled it and it seems there’s all sorts of ferries around BC: http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/marine/ferry_schedules.htm
It was definitely an epic roadtrip, what with the detour into (hated) Surrey!
However, you forgot to blog the Shell FAIL room temperature cooler pop. See how busy you are having fun?
I’m going to go eat the rest of the Fudge Zero you left in my fridge now. 🙂
Oh yes, Leslie was thrilled to hear about the Baskin Robbins we found–good thing she has a car, too!
Bzzzt! My daughters and I made a tourist trip on the Albion ferry last November, so you were far from the first. We did it for the same reason you did — the kids had been on the ferry with their grandparents (who live in Maple Ridge), but in my entire almost 40 years as a born Vancouverite, I’d never set foot on the deck.
Not only was it fun, with a minimal wait mid-day in November, but we also got some yummy snacks in Fort Langley, and I managed to snap one of my favourite photographs (of Mount Baker at sunset) on the brief crossing. A big print now hangs it our hall.
I didn’t even know we had any Olive Gardens in B.C. There wasn’t a Red Lobster nearby, was there?
@Kalev – OMG, how could I forget about the room temperature pop at Shell? I also forgot to begrudge the fact that Baskin Robbins no longer seems to have marshmallow topping to go on my beloved Chocolate Mousse Royale!! So much fun!
@Derek – That’s a gorgeous photo! As for Red Lobster – I didn’t see one. Do they have them in Canada? I remember there being Olive Gardens back east, but I don’t recall ever seeing a Canadian Red Lobster.
You totally need to do a follow-up blog posting to correct this egregious omission. :p
And… we can take the marshmallow topping we have that’s still in my fridge the next time we go to BR. And trust me, there WILL be a next time. Perhaps several! 😀
There are some Red Lobsters in Alberta, and I know my parents used to go there when they lived in Ontario. They advertise on a few Canadian TV stations. But the actual closest one is in Lynnwood, Washington, just north of Seattle. We were there a few weeks ago.
I was just hoping there might be a hidden one in Langley or something.
The next time I’m Langley (or any of the other ‘burbs, which my new job has me driving all around), I will keep my eyes open for RL!