Date: Thu, 3 Oct 1996 12:07:45 -0600 (MDT) Subject: Aloha from Canada (Message #3) Greetings once again, mea amices. Today finds me in Calgary, where there's a little snow on the ground. Yesterday was an interesting day, as I came across the Crowsnest Pass from B.C, where it was fairly hot. Arrival into Calgary was anything but routine, as a hostage situation was in progress as the bus depot as we arrived. But, you will recall I left off in Seattle in my last message. Had a nice stay with my birth grandparents; almost a vacation within a vacation. Despite what I prognosticated in my message, the sun did in fact come out, affording an excellent view of Mt. Rainier and the Olympic Mountains. Sadly (or not, depending on your perspective), there is no longer any playoff fever in Seattle. Seattle seems to be getting quite overcrowded. The traffic was incredibly thick throughout the region. I took a drive as far as Cle Elum and Skykomish and had to deal with traffic the whole way. On a happier note, I had the opportunity to visit the University of Washington campus (known locally as "U Dub") and discuss gerrymandering with a scholar whose work I've long followed. The latest news from Seattle: The school superintendent want to give nicotine patches to students to control smoking. It sounds like Joycelyn Elders has found a new home. Leaving Seattle, one gets a fabulous perspective on Mount Baker. Mount Baker is closer to Bellingham than anything else, but you really can't see it from Bellingham. You get a much better view of it from Everett, and better still from Vancouver Island. Anyway, "it was out" most of the time I was in the area, and I think I got some good pictures. My few days in Vancouver were quite pleasant. Vancouver is aggressively multi-cultural. It is a leading center for Asian activity in Canada. In fact, Vancouver is the leading destination in the world for capital leaving Hong Kong in anticipation of next year's transfer of the Kong to the Chinese. There is a massive amount of development in this once-quiet Pacific port. The housing density starts to creep up on you, like a shadow. If you've spent much time in L.A. or New York or San Francisco, you'll know what I mean: Everywhere you look, there is a large apartment complex. Not the landscaped ones that you see in the Midwest, but gigantic ones that stretch to the property line. As the city grows, development gets pushed farther and farther into the Fraser Valley. Housing prices are the highest in Canada and rival some of the pricier markets in the U.S. The city has just built a spectacular new public library. The reading room spans six levels, and attached to the library is an eclectic shopping arcade, containing eateries and a regular bookstore. This ought to be a model for urban libraries everywhere. Two somewhat negative notes: Vancouver is the homeless capital of Canada. As the country's only truly warm center, it naturally attracts homeless from all over the country. And on Granville Street, there are more porno shops than I've ever seen, and that includes Times Square. Perhaps the civic leaders have herded these shops into this district, like we did in Minneapolis, except in Minneapolis, with about the same population as Vancouver, we don't even have a handful. But the highlight of Vancouver was apt to be Lynn Canyon Park. This park is one of the best-preserved natural urban settings I've found. I have a link to the park on my home page, if anybody cares. I took the SkyTrain to the SeaBus to the North Shore and from there caught a bus to the park. In a rather short space, one gets to take in gorges and falls and 90 foot pools and trees so thick, the sun vanishes, and even a suspension bridge. Anywho, took the ferry from Tsawassen to Victoria for the weekend. Victoria is a fairly quiet tourist trap and provincial capital. I had the opportunity to take in a concert at the Netherlands Centennial Carillon on Sunday afternoon. It happens an earthquake occurred in Washington, just across the strait, just as the carillonneuse and I were descending the tower after a quick tour. I felt a little shaking, but thought it was just from the vibration of our descending the 90 foot spiral staircase. In Victoria, the fog comes and goes as it pleases, but I was able to get some views across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the Olympic Peninsula. I also drove up the island as far as Campbell River. I was in for some surprises. I'd always imagined Vancouver Island to be a rather bucolic place, but it's almost as urbanized as the mainland, complete with a new freeway coming through. It looked like a nice place to be, though. Made it out to the west coast, but fog was mostly there. I had the chance to talk politics with some people involved in B.C.'s. B.C. has fairly weird politics. To illustrate, the province elected members of the upstart right-wing Reform Party to 26 of 32 House of Commons seats in the 1993 election, but sends a socialist government to run the province, while the Reform Party is barely alive in provincial politics. An official with the Opposition told me that few in B.C. would care if Quebec seceded. People in B.C. don't deal with Quebeckers in their daily lives, he said. (By the way, the socialists won the Yukon election on Monday. It wasn't even close. I know a lot of you have been holding your breath about that since my last e-mail. :) ) Before leaving the Island, I went nuts at a local bookstore, but mailed the booty to myself in Winnipeg to avoid having to carry them with me the rest of the trip. Here's a story I omitted from my last message: When I was in Alaska, they discovered the body of a tourist who got lost in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. The story of how they did it is interesting. The foreigner had not filed a hike plan with the rangers. After he had been missing long enough to be noticed, the police tried to track him down. They checked with his family and determined when he had last written. Next, they followed his credit card purchases, going so far as to inquire with bookstore workers about what books he had bought. From this, they gathered that he had gone to Wrangell-St. Elias. They found a tour operator who remembered dropping him off at a trailhead. From there, they conducted an extensive search of the trail areas (no small task considering the size of the park) and after a few days, found his body in a crevasse. I think this illustrates the futility of trying to tame much of the Alaska wilderness. Well, that brings me to a close here. Today I leave for Banff. Perhaps I'll have some mountain stories of my own when next we meet. I'm just sorry I'm not as able to follow the amusing U.S. presidential race as closely as I'd like. I nearly laughed myself silly the day Dole praised the Brooklyn Dodgers and then took a tumble onto the pavement. Wasn't that the same day Clinton pushed a car out of the mud? I'll be home in time to vote. Or should I vote absentee from here? D.J. Leary say to eat your dessert first and vote absentee and you'll never get cheated. See you on the 'net! Tony ----- Experience Lynn Canyon Park and other places in the "fun and interesting links" section of my home page! http://www.nyx.net/~thill