I didn’t quite have your typical childhood. It seems to me looking back now that whatever everyone else did we seemed to do something quite opposite.
Most kids went on summer camping vacations or to the cottage. They would come back to school in the fall talking about their time at the cottage, stories of boating, fishing, barbecues and occasional campouts. Or it would be 2 weeks at a summer camp with a big group of kids.
How did I spend my summers? Well I road the rails across Canada with my mom. Yep, a couple of years after we moved to Canada my mom married a CNR Railroad man who became my step dad. One of the perks of being a CNR employee was free rail passage across Canada. You still had to pay for your sleeping birth and food but it was a great incentive to get travelling. Given our British/European background mom thought that was just grand.
The standard European method of transport for “Summer Hol’s ” as they were called was the train and still is to this day. Road trips are secondary and planes fall a much further third to be used when going way off the continent.
So by the time I got to grade 11 in High School I had seen Canada from sea to sea. From Vancouver Island to Gander Newfoundland. My chatter was about getting off the train to look at cities and towns along the way or the scenic views. The ride through the Rockies and seeing big bears on the side of a mountain from the viewing car or up close views of wild critters in National Parks such as in Banff . I had stories of Vancouver and Jasper Alberta, riding the tractor with my cousin Paul while farming Potatoes in Prince Edward Island and making lobster dinners with fresh lobster right out of the traps that my uncle Cliff used on his lobster boat.
I knew Halifax had seen the tides reverse at the Bay of Fundy, explored Peggy’s Cove and walked the poverty stricken areas of St. John’s called the ” The Battery” with it’s steep slopes and colourful homes built on stilts sitting on the side of Signal Hill looking like they would tumble into the ocean at any moment. Today they are trying to ward off slides there. A site not to be missed.
No wonder the other kids used to look at me as if I had grown horns on my head. I had never camped out and didn’t have a clue what that was like. The only boats I road were ocean Ferries or the liner that we came to this country in. I couldn’t fish but knew all about lobster. I t was just fine by me.
What an education to give a kid. I was a rarity.
Well the years went by and life changed. I got married raised a small family and forgot all about riding the rails. Then the last few years I started to remember and the urge just somehow rose up inside of me. I found myself on the Via Rail site looking to see what was available. Last year 2010 I spent an hour or two poking around in the fall but it didn’t happen. This Sept. there I was again, the urge suddenly rising up in me. Within a couple of weeks I found myself at Union Station at 10 p.m. at night boarding a train to Vancouver excited just like a little kid. Funny thing air travel has never done that for me not even when I afforded myself a First Class ticket. The only thing that had changed was the train used to leave at midnight and now it leaves at 11 p.m. The Trip to Vancouver is still called “The Canadian” and the conductor still calls out ” All Aboard” just as you are about to pull out. A little chill ran down my spine when I heard the call.
However, being an adult, I now qualified to join in the “Champagne Send Off” in the Games car. It was four wonderful nights in my own private cabin. My bed was very cozy. I hadn’t bothered to look for someone to join me, my decision was a snap one made in seconds. This is fine with Via Rail as berths and cabins come in singles and doubles. There is no single supplement and there were many singles on the train just like me. If you have a family you can book an adjacent cabin and have it turned into one during the daytime for the four of you. If your feeling really lazy you can just leave your bed up during the day watch the wheat fields fly by, read a good book and snooze.
The plan covers your fare, berth or cabin and your food in the dining car which is white table cloth and fine dining style. It is amazing the quality that comes out of that little dining car kitchen as the fed 240 of us over 3 sittings each day.
There were plenty of opportunities to get off the train and stretch. I did a city tour in Winnipeg. Yes Winnipeg which some people think is a boring place. More to be said about that in a future newsletter. Plenty of time to go shopping and have lunch in Jasper Alberta.
Arriving in Vancouver I had made arrangements to immediately meet up with Eric and Dana Neighbour and their little girl. Eric and Dana and I first met up in Toronto 19 years ago. I sold them their very first home in the Queen West Village district. About 13 years ago they moved to Vancouver leaving their Toronto home rented. We stayed in touch all those years. In 2010 they contacted me to say that they had finally concluded they would never move back to Toronto and it was time to sell.
We put 31 Whitaker on the market and within a few days we sold the home with 4 offers for about $50,000 over the asking price. I told Eric I was coming out to take them out for lunch or dinner as a celebration. Eric laughed at me I am sure thinking it was a nice gesture but wouldn’t really happen. So he was surprised when I e-mailed him 9-10 months later to say, can we meet for brunch on Saturday morning. I’m on my way. We had a really nice visit, brunch and did a little shopping around China town and visited DR. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, on Carrall Street in East Vancouver together.
It was so nice to finally see them again now a real family after all those years and thriving in B.C.
After that I drove up the coast and took the ferry to Bowen island. I had booked a small self contained cottage at Bowen for a further few days of R & R. which was grand. After that it was off home on a Westjet flight. The trip for me was really about taking the train across the Country again
Notes
You can find Eric and Dana’s testimonial with regards to their home sale on my blog in the testimonials section www.torontoshome.com/testimonials
How to ride the rails. A number of people mentioned to me how expensive it is to take the train. Well that is just the surface of the matter. Via Rail has regular sales at different times of the year. So it is best to start watching their website well in advance of when you plan to travel.
Also they have a section under Fares at Via Rail called Express Deals. If you are flexible and can travel on a couple of weeks notice you can get an exceptional buy. If you can’t get a trip from Toronto to Vancouver you may be able to book from Vancouver to T.O. fly out via West jet and come back by train.
With a full fare you can stop off for several days along the way at Winnipeg, or Jasper or one of the many other stops and get back on at the next rain that comes along. With an Express Deal you do have to stay on the train right across the country. However I noticed this week that there were cabins with food available for as little as $514.25 across to Vancouver. Probably rates drop at this time of year.
Who you will meet on the train. The bulk of folk are Europeans as the train is what they are used to. Many Americans and a few Canadians. IT is said that train travel is for people with money and or who have lots of time on their hands. So yes, you will see lots of seniors. There were also a number of professional singles who just need R & R and wanted to be cut off from computers and Crackberries which only worked when we pulled into major cities. You will not be lonely if you travel by self as every meal is taken in foursomes in the dining car. So there is plenty of time to chat and get to know people and lots of relaxing alone time.
Give it a try you may become one of the converted. Next summer I am off to the east coast.. More riding the rails for me. Want to come?