We’re getting ready to board the ferry into Canada to see how they celebrate the Fourth of July. With holiday traffic and a tanker spill it took about 6 hours to get to Port Angeles, Washington. Our old lady schnauzer Tinker and her sister Tally will soon be International travelers. It’s about a 90 minute boat ride to Victoria, British Columbia and our Marriott Inner-Harbor home for the night. I like the fact that they’ll be doing the driving and my car gets a rest. I just hope it floats.

It’s like the beginning of the Indy 500 with cars on all sides of us, waiting for the “Gentlemen and Ladies start your engines” signal and the flag to finally drop. We’re in the 7th row of the grid, with a Kia Optima just in front of us. The skies are cloudy and the harbor a bit choppy, as our pups wait patiently in their back seat beds. It required a lot of planning and patience to organize this adventure that will include a second ferry tomorrow night into Vancouver – The Big Couve. Passports and rabies paperwork are in order for the four of us to pass through customs. Tomorrow we’ll visit Butchart Gardens, a bucket-list destination for my wife after doing a picture puzzle of the popular attraction at the impressionable age of 10. She’s wanted to go there ever since.

After 24 hours in Canada we haven’t heard one firecracker and rarely even a horn. In Portland horns are a bad habit, so I’m glad for the quiet, more polite, surroundings. It’s no wonder other countries view Americans as ugly and obnoxious. I ran only the minimum mile this morning knowing that we would spend four or five hours on our feet exploring the garden paths. Tinker was a spectacle riding in her Air Buggy. I had arranged for a later ferry in case my wife wanted to stay long longer, instead we caught a mid-afternoon ride into Vancouver and got settled at the downtown Residence Inn before dinner. It was a blue-sky day on the water. The only draw-back is that we had to sit below deck in the car with the dogs. This was not the case on last night’s ferry. The dogs were too tired to care.

I’m proud to say that with the dogs along, our daily spending levels have been pleasantly reduced. Meals are primarily limited to fast food, take-out, snack bars, pizza, and hot dog stands. We will, however, do the pricy Outstanding In The Field dinner that we purchased four months ago, but there will be no pet sitting costs, airfare, or luxury hotels. I’ll use Marriott Rewards points for three of our four nights lodging that will include free breakfast. Gift shopping will be limited to knick-knacks. Gas will be under $125, Ferries $125, Hotel $500, Food $1000, and Gifts $500. In total, an average spend of about $500/day, half of our typical $1000/day travel outlay.

The Marriott Vacation Club costs us about $85/day whether we use it or not, with maintenance and mortgage financing. After ten years when the debt is paid off, it will drop to approximately $22/day for upkeep. It gives us about 50 paid nights a year at the finest resorts anywhere in the world to use ourselves or share with family members. Our MVC investment also provides at least an additional 10 free nights annually at Marriott and partner hotels like the ones we’re staying at in Canada this week. We’ll use it for San Francisco overnights during the next few months, as my wife helps her youngest daughter plan an upcoming wedding & honeymoon. Her other daughter is marrying the following month, so their Maui honeymoon will also be on us thanks to Marriott – my home away from home. 

We’re half-way through our Canadian visit. My wife was thrilled to find the exact spot where her picture puzzle was photographed, even despite the 50+ years that have passed since she put it together as a child. Tomorrow is a free day in Vancouver with nothing as yet planned. Tinker is snoring away as I write this and Tally is quietly zonked out in “good bed.” I hope to join them soon – the stress of travel tires an old man like me out. Happy Fourth!