Mandy Pau

This was our first time disembark at the Port of Seattle. Because we wanted to catch the first Amtrak train from Seattle to Vancouver, we had to take our own luggage and walk off the ship ourselves.

According to the arrangement, we could walk off the boat at 7:15am and we needed to be at the train station by 7:45am to catch our 8:30am train. We already bought our train ticket, but it was refundable before the train departure.

We got up at 5am, dressed up ourselves and did the final packing. We said, “Goodbye” to our steward, Ardi and Shelma at 7am (they never ever see us that early in the past 16 days). We arrived the gangway at 7:05am and the line was not short. Paul went to the end of the line to lineup while Symeon and I found a seat to sit down.

Until 7:30am the door was not open, people started complaining and yelling at each other. The crew members explained that it was the custom not releasing us while the crew members were ready.

The doorway finally opened at 7:45am. It took us a long time to exit because we have 6 large luggage.

We finally made it to the taxi line by 8:05am. At the taxi line, there is a private limousine driver waving at us. I asked Paul to talk to him. Then he directed us to get on his car (he was not supposed to pick us up because he was at the drop off area; cars around kept honking at him and the port traffic guides kept asking him to go). He quickly put our baggage into his car and Paul told him that we were in a hurry to catch the 8:30am train at 8:07am.

We did not expect to catch the train, but we planned to go to the King Street Station anyway. On Google map, it said it takes 17mins to go from the port to the train station. However, the driver was very smart. He took all the short cut and drove really fast. We arrived in only 10 minutes and he knew exactly where we should go for check-in at the train station. He was our hero!

Twelve minutes before the train departure, Symeon and I took some luggage to the check-in counter while Paul was settling the bill with the driver. We did not only managed to get onto the train and we were able to check-in our luggage too. We found seats in different cart and settled down at 8:29am and the train departed on time.

Amtrak, Seattle to Vancouver, was famous for its beautiful scenery along the way, but I was too tired and rested for the whole 4 hours while Symeon went to the cafe on the train and got some food.

Before crossing the border, some passengers got off the train and we were able to sit in the same cart.

After arrived the Pacific Central Station in Vancouver, we passed through the custom and immigration. We bought some lunch from A&W and then Uber home.

I was exhausted after getting home. I took a bath then I slept immediately. After a 2-3 hours nap, I woke up and we had Mother’s Day dinner at an Italian restaurant with my parents and Ringo. Exhausted but fun to talk about our trip during dinner!Baca selengkapnya