Roadspill

Saturday was a kick.

It began with hopping in Randy's Miata (roof down) and heading south to America.

We decided to avoid the I-5/Peace Arch crossing from hell because it is the crossing from hell! Massive line-ups are the norm. And the road reports on the radio assured us that massive line-ups waited for anyone foolish enough to take that route.

Luckily, there are 4 different crossings one can use. We chose the "truck crossing" which is only a few km east of the Peace Arch. There was a line-up, but it only took about 30 minutes before we were flashing our passports and explaining our business to the nice Customs officer.

And then, Welcome to America.

There is a sign that says exactly that, and has pictures of iconic American things: Mount Rushmore, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Statue of Liberty (how ironic that it was a gift from France). I joked that the floods of terrorists that stream south into the US will look at that sign and say: "Got it, need it, need it, got it."

Yes, poor taste reins when travelling with Randy!

We headed south along I-5 to the booming town of Bellingham, Washington.

[60 miles south of Vancouver lies Bellingham]

Our goal: to visit the American Museum of Radio.

[Even cooler in reality]

We'd been here before, but it was always closed. This time, however, we checked to make sure it would be open for our visit.

American towns are certainly different. The architecture is very distinct - sort of mid-western railway town motif which seems to be common throughout the west. It looks much older than Vancouver. Lots of squat brick buildings at severe angles to each other. Broad boulevards, mostly going one way. Lots of trees and shoppes. And, surprisingly, few people.

I have never understood this. Where do all the people go? The suburbs? The big mall? Downtown Bellingham on a Saturday afternoon is as quiet as a church on a Friday night.

Bellingham isn't small, it's nearly 70,000 folks. It is also very white. However, there are sizable Russian and Korean communities, but they apparently keep a low profile.

We parked the car and walked into the museum. There weren't a lot of people there. The staff was super friendly and we met one of the two curators - both named John. The John that we didn't meet made a fortune with Microsoft and is bankrolling the museum.

It is an amazing place. They have a huge collection of not only radio stuff dating back to the turn of the century, but also all sorts of Edison, Volta, and Tesla stuff too. The rich John has a big interest in electricity - and he combined his private collection of that stuff with the other John's radio collection. If you like old radios, this is the place for you.

The other cool thing about the place is that everything is touchable. This won't last forever, I fear. But you can actually play with anything on display.

John told us that they just received approval for a low power FM radio station: WAMR which will play old newscasts, plays, and music and also produce some old-style content.

[The John (Winters) we met]

After a couple of hours of drooling, it was time to head off. On our way out, we chatted with the woman at the front entrance. She welcomes visitors and takes their $4 entrance fees.

It turns out she was from White Rock, BC. I asked her why she worked at the museum and she explained that several months previous she had been caught for speeding. One of the options to paying the huge fine was doing community service. She chose that option and was told to spend a couple of half-days at the Radio Museum. She liked it so much, she stayed on as a volunteer.

You never know where life will lead...

We were getting a powerful hunger on by this time, so we walked around looking for a place to eat. There were all sorts of small coffee joints and taco places - but nothing fitting our needs. Again, there were few people out.

One of the things we wanted to do was visit either the Democratic Party office or the Republican office. The Dem office simple to get some Kerry stuff. And the Republican office to get a Bush t-shirt, with which to cause arguments back in Canada. Heh heh,

And, suddenly, we stumbled across a small Democratic office. We popped in, chatted with a very nice Democrat... and laughed because there was a sign for a US Senator with the same name as my mom!

[Vote for Mom!]

We bought some Kerry bumperstickers (Dump Cheney! Flush Bush!) and a nice Kerry for President window sign. The woman told us that there was a bigger office nearby, so we decided to head over there, but after getting some grub.

One thing about Bellingham, is that the people you DO see tend to be young hippie types. Odd.

We finally stumbled upon the Boundary Brewery and Bistro!

[Beer! Food!!]

They had a great tap and the perfect menu. We ordered some Bitters, plus a burrito for me and a yam-enchalada for Randy.

And then we waited. And waited. And waited.

The service was brutal. And just as we were getting ready to be grumpy about it, the make-us-waiter bought us a round. And then discounted the meal by 50%. Wow.

We paid and then headed off in search of the Democratic office. While crossing one particularly broad avenue, Randy was tagged by the side mirror of a bad (and high) driver. The hippies that witnessed this got quite agitated at the driver... who apologized profusely and drove off in a cloud of dope.

One other amazing thing about downtown Bellingham: no McDonald's, Wendy's, Taco Bells or Jack in the Boxes. In fact, very little in the way of overt commercialism. Just a cool downtown core with tons of great shops. And no people.

We never did find the bigger Democratic office, and we decided to go to the big mall to investigate satellite radio.

We found a Circuit City and test drove the two satellite systems. One had a better channel selection and the other had better hardware. Both versions were in the $150 US range.

I hummed and hawed and for whatever reason decided to get the XM system. The main reason was so I could get radio signals that are unavailable in Canada. And yes, it's yet another toy.

We also noticed that DV video cameras are incredibly cheap. There were at least 10 that were in the $350 US range. Sheesh!

After buying the radio, we headed to the car where we ripped it out of the package. And then we realized that it needed to be authorized. You have to sign up - at a cost of about $10 a month.

We went to a nearby Radio Shack and I used their computer to authorize the receiver online.

Back in the car, we plugged in it and left the mall, heading north on I-5.

Several minutes later, the radio came to life, and we were listening to incredible quality music and spoken word (Fox News!) channels.

It worked well, except when passing under trees. In open areas, it is amazing.

My plan is to use it at home, so I can listen to channels that I can't get at home.

We decided to take another route home. When we came down there was a huge line-up on the US side of people trying to get into Canada.

As we headed to the Sumas-Huntingdon crossing, we were pulled over by the law in Lynden, WA.

The officer had tagged us going 40 in a 25. He decided to make a game of it.

"I have two options," he said. "What do you think they are?"

"Uhhh," we both replied. "Give us a ticket?" Randy asked.

"Ok, and the other option?"

"Give us a warning?"

"Yes. You're quick learners. So now the question is - what option should I use?"

"A warning!! A warning!!!"

Then officer friendly paused. Smiled. And gave us a warning.

When we mentioned that we were looking for the border, he drew us a map and wished us a nice day. And off we drove.

At the border, it was obvious that we had left all the nice people behind in America, because the Canadian's were going to be dicks.

The customs guy at the crossing was nice enough, after I declared the radio, he said I'd have to go pay duty. Fair enough.

Inside a bunch of customs people were sitting around joking and one guy was at the desk. There were no other people around.

When I walked up with my paperwork, he barked at me to wait. OK, Mr. Tiny Penis... how long do I have to wait until you feel like an important and manly man?

Long enough that another agent came over to deal with me. He asked dumb questions like "what kind of radio is this."

A broadcast radio.

"$26, please."

I fail to see why when I buy something outside of Canada I have to pay GST. What a crock.

Anyway, I paid up... and away we went.

We drove home via Zero Ave. as Randy had never seen it before. And then, once we hit the Peace Arch, blasted back to North Van, tunes cranked.

Once home, I discovered two things:

1. I had a very red face. Convertibles are BAD!

2. I face the wrong way for the Satellite Radio to work.

Luckily the burn will fade and the radio I can take back within 30 days. It's too bad, because its a great little item. But I face north, live in a concrete building, and there is no way to see the satellite. And I don't drive enough to make it worth while.

Damn! Another dumb purchase.

But at least I have a Kerry/Edwards sign proudly displayed in my window. Take that George Bush!


Cheers!