Not From Around Here

Prince Rupert: scenic little town in British Columbia.

We arrived at 2:30PM. Canada Customs took all of 3 minutes. I gave them our passports. They asked if I had weapons, anything I was leaving in Canada or tobacco or liquor. Then they waved us through. The town is perched on the side of a hill with quite a bit of waterfront. It is pretty. Today the sun was shinning.

Our first stop was the information center. The girl was nice enough but couldn't answer any of my questions No there aren't any places to see wildlife within 1000 km. No there aren't any pharmacies. She doesn't know the relative conditions of the roads to Vancouver. I am welcome to look at the kiosk but she will not help with anything.

Next door was a shop. Went in there with Boo who wanted to get a charm for her bracelet. I got the feeling that we were bothering them. I also found that every time that I stopped to look at an item, the shop girl chose that exact time to come and fiddle with the drawers in front of me. I was pushed out of the way 5 times.

Then we went to the market. Again, I was pushed aside, this time by customers. Everyone seemed irritable. The checker was annoyed that the woman in front of me paid cash.

Then we went to the BC museum (quite good) and found a clerk who had managed to perfect the art of ignoring the customer. Boo and Beeray bought some trinkets for their friends.

2 more shops with the same sort of results more or less. In the pharmacy, last stop, we found a helpful lady who called and had them hold a pair of crutches for Boo that we will pick up tomorrow.

Then we got to the campground which is privately owned and is 8 miles outside of town. The man who owns the campground was very friendly and nice. I mentioned that I had found the people in the town pretty irritable but that he was nice. He smiled and said, that he was originally from Whitehorse. Of course!