Going through old files, I found my notes of expenses from a weekend round-trip from Portland to Vancouver, BC. This was back in the day when college students did not have credit cards, so like the old-time radio insurance investigator Johnny Dollar, I can reconstruct the events from the expense sheet that I made up afterward. I'm missing a few things because my date covered some of her own expenses and I rounded meal prices. The cost for the two of us was a little more than twice what is shown here.
Friday
RCTCo weekly pass = rode from Palatine Hill campus to Union Station.
$ 7.20 round-trip coach on NP407 to Seattle.
$ ?.?? dinner in diner.
$ 0.90 rides on Seattle Transit @ 30¢. Went to Fauntleroy to stay at date's uncle's home.
Saturday
$0.30 ride downtown on Seattle Transit.
$2.00 breakfast in Seattle.
$4.30 one-way coach fare to Vancouver, BC on morning International.
$1.15 parlor-car seat charge. (In winter, a First Class ticket was not required.) It turned out that the extra touch of riding in an observation lounge car was unnecessary because the consist included an unadvertised dome car and my date had never been in a dome before. The GN international line is scenic even in the rain. It also included a second, full-length parlor car for a Weyerhauser company outing. An apparently intoxicated HR executive offered me a job as we walked through to the dome.
$2.00 lunch in Vancouver.
$0.40 BC Hydro transit bus to Grouse Mountain gondola.
$?.?? Rode to top of Grouse Mountain. Enjoyed views. Watched first aid evacuation of injured skier.
$0.40 BC Hydro transit bus to waterfront.
$6.00 dinner. Slow service.
$?.?? taxi to Dunsmuir Street bus station, due to time getting tight.
$4.30 one-way Greyhound fare to Seattle on express.
$0.30 Seattle Transit owl bus to Fauntleroy. A drunk boarded in downtown Seattle and demanded that the operator let him off at West Seattle Junction. Driver promised. When we got to West Seattle Junction, he called it and some of others alighted. He called it again. No results. He got out of the seat and told the guy that this was his stop. Passenger wanted to sleep. Operator proceeded to our stop near the Vashon ferry landing. Passenger woke up and was outraged that we were past his stop. When we got to our stop, he got off with us. WE walked briskly away into the cold fog, as there was no way for us to explain that it would be over an hour before the owl returned.
Sunday
$-.-- Had coffee with uncle.
$0.30 Seattle Transit bus to downtown.
$2.00 Breakfast in downtown Seattle.
$-.-- Return to Portland on NP408.
$2.00 lunch in dining car.
$0.25 walked through downtown on 6th Avenue to Central Bus Depot and caught Dunthorpe Motor Transit's last trip of the Sunday schedule to Palatine Hill.
It wasn't a very flashy excursion, but my date had never been north of Seattle before, so we enjoyed just looking around. Unlike many trip reports, everything except that restaurant in Vancouver ran on time.
Northbound on Pool 407.
Seattle to Vancouver, BC on GN 358. Canadian border officials boarded at Mount Vernon, checked passengers underway, and alighted at White Rock.
That isn't a photo of us, but this was the schedule in effect.
We rode run 1161, a San Francisco Express. Inspection at Blaine. Passengers remained on bus.
Friday
RCTCo weekly pass = rode from Palatine Hill campus to Union Station.
$ 7.20 round-trip coach on NP407 to Seattle.
$ ?.?? dinner in diner.
$ 0.90 rides on Seattle Transit @ 30¢. Went to Fauntleroy to stay at date's uncle's home.
Saturday
$0.30 ride downtown on Seattle Transit.
$2.00 breakfast in Seattle.
$4.30 one-way coach fare to Vancouver, BC on morning International.
$1.15 parlor-car seat charge. (In winter, a First Class ticket was not required.) It turned out that the extra touch of riding in an observation lounge car was unnecessary because the consist included an unadvertised dome car and my date had never been in a dome before. The GN international line is scenic even in the rain. It also included a second, full-length parlor car for a Weyerhauser company outing. An apparently intoxicated HR executive offered me a job as we walked through to the dome.
$2.00 lunch in Vancouver.
$0.40 BC Hydro transit bus to Grouse Mountain gondola.
$?.?? Rode to top of Grouse Mountain. Enjoyed views. Watched first aid evacuation of injured skier.
$0.40 BC Hydro transit bus to waterfront.
$6.00 dinner. Slow service.
$?.?? taxi to Dunsmuir Street bus station, due to time getting tight.
$4.30 one-way Greyhound fare to Seattle on express.
$0.30 Seattle Transit owl bus to Fauntleroy. A drunk boarded in downtown Seattle and demanded that the operator let him off at West Seattle Junction. Driver promised. When we got to West Seattle Junction, he called it and some of others alighted. He called it again. No results. He got out of the seat and told the guy that this was his stop. Passenger wanted to sleep. Operator proceeded to our stop near the Vashon ferry landing. Passenger woke up and was outraged that we were past his stop. When we got to our stop, he got off with us. WE walked briskly away into the cold fog, as there was no way for us to explain that it would be over an hour before the owl returned.
Sunday
$-.-- Had coffee with uncle.
$0.30 Seattle Transit bus to downtown.
$2.00 Breakfast in downtown Seattle.
$-.-- Return to Portland on NP408.
$2.00 lunch in dining car.
$0.25 walked through downtown on 6th Avenue to Central Bus Depot and caught Dunthorpe Motor Transit's last trip of the Sunday schedule to Palatine Hill.
It wasn't a very flashy excursion, but my date had never been north of Seattle before, so we enjoyed just looking around. Unlike many trip reports, everything except that restaurant in Vancouver ran on time.
Northbound on Pool 407.
Seattle to Vancouver, BC on GN 358. Canadian border officials boarded at Mount Vernon, checked passengers underway, and alighted at White Rock.
That isn't a photo of us, but this was the schedule in effect.
We rode run 1161, a San Francisco Express. Inspection at Blaine. Passengers remained on bus.
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