Vancouver: Sunset Beach

I’m on my first out-of-province trip since COVID-19 shut things down. I arrived this evening in Vancouver, British Columbia. British Columbia, where the seven-day average daily per capita COVID case count was more than twice that of Ontario when I checked yesterday. Yes, I checked. Doesn’t everyone?

On top of that, there’s a heatwave predicted for Vancouver over the next few days. Thursday is expected to reach 33 ℃. My mazel.

Well, at least I’m fully vaccinated. True, that won’t protect me from the heat (why the heck not?!), but it means I probably won’t end up hospitalized or dead from COVID during my trip. (Pfizer, don’t fail me now! Although, it won’t protect me from being hospitalized or dying from anything else. Say, for example, heat stroke (why the heck not?!). What, me worry?)

It would be horrid if I die while I’m here. Air Canada probably wouldn’t refund my return ticket. And who knows if the hotel would charge me for the days after I die. What a waste.

OK. That decided it. I’m going to stay masked. That way, nothing can get to me. Except maybe a car or truck when I’m out walking. Or a meteor crashing on my forehead. Or … It’s not easy being me.

The Flight

In this time of COVID, masks are required throughout flights. I approve. The vaccines are great, but not 100 percent effective. It’s better to have multiple layers of protection.

Air Canada generously honoured my request for a free eUpgrade. Yay! The plane I was on had an overseas-style business-class cabin. So I had a pod that kept me fairly well isolated from other humans. Viruses, on the other hand, were allowed to roam freely throughout the cabin, even when the seatbelt sign was lit.

Business class. Fabulous, you say. Yes. It was. The massager built into the fully reclining seat is great. The problem is there’s an exemption to the “always wear your mask” rule. You can take it off while eating or drinking. In business class, they serve drinks, snacks, and/or meals for probably at least half of the time the seatbelt sign is off. So, basically, almost no one in business class wears a mask for half of the flight.

I know what you’re thinking. “You could have refused the food and drink and kept your mask on.” What? Are you insane? 

There’s a galactic law that forbids the refusal of free food and booze. I think it’s a capital offence. I could be wrong.

Sunset in Vancouver

I arrived in Vancouver just in time to briskly walk to Sunset Beach to take in the, well, you know. The sunset. As sunsets go, it was a moderately impressive one. Some nice orange and red hues tinted the few clouds.

Viewed from Vancouver’s Sunset Beach, the sun doesn’t go down on a flat ocean horizon. Instead, it drops behind some low mountains. So, you don’t get the long reflection of the sun off the sea that you do in some other coastal cities. But it was still very pretty.

And I’m pretty tired. So that’s all for today.