We'll be getting into Vancouver tomorrow.
Withdraw a bunch of cash and turn it into Canadian money at the border? Or just pay with card and eat fees?
Where to stay on a budget without getting roaches in bodily crevices?
What do I need to see, what do I need to eat?
I have Monday and Tuesday, would like to see Victoria, can stretch than into Wednesday if I need to.
I didn't know you were going that far north.
Do they have poutine there?
Turn it into funny money South of the border.
Also, get ready for a E36 M3 show, they've got a long weekend going right meow.
Luckily, most of the people you'd hate will be busy pillaging my workplace for milk and gasoline, leaving you with the nicer 'stay at home' Canucks.
Got it!
Anything I need to see?
EvanB wrote: I didn't know you were going that far north. Do they have poutine there?
I've had poutine in Canadia many times, not hugely concerned about that food item. 
I'm in Boise right now, left Grand Junction late this morning. Boise sucks.
Go test drive something right hand drive.
Going south, I generally pick up US cash here, but seldom concern myself with it. Visa, Interac and banks all pretty much take the same percentage off the top. If you land here Sunday, the odds of finding a bank open are pretty much zero, and Monday is Canada day, so you are pretty much stuck using a titless teller, or your credit card. Remember that Canada is the original home of debit cards. They work like cash around here as long as yours is on the Interac network.
Hah! Ima go drive a Skyline and/or an st205.
You won't find any "budget" places to stay in Vancouver that won't make you want to sleep in your shoes.
Get to one of the suburbs, Richmond, Burnaby, New Westminster or Coquitlam.
Executive Inn usually has reasonable rates and there are a few of them around.
I'll be gone on the bike all day Sunday but I'm around for the rest of the week if you want to grab a beer somewhere..
Where to eat:
The Eatery in Kitsalaino: http://www.theeatery.ca/ Incredible, amazing and weird sushi.
Japadog: http://www.japadog.com/ Japanese style hotdogs.
If you like traditional steakhouses with Dutch Masters paintings on the walls, try this: http://hyssteakhouse.com/
I -might-, maybe, possibly, slim chance be able to get you a tour at work. The boss is a really private guy but I've shown him the world of GRM and he is entertained by our antics. If you want to see a Duesenberg and a bunch of other cool cars under construction, I'll try to get you in.
PM me if you like.
Shawn
My debit card is a Mastercard. Has NYCE, Plus, and Intercept logos on the back if that means anything. My customer service line is closed for the weekend so I can't find out what they charge for international stuffs.
I'm looking for around $75/night, not gonna happen in Vancouver?
Thanks for the tips! I'll shoot you a pm tomorrow night.
You might find a motel 6 or executive inn for that price, the googles are probably your friend.
FWIW stay the hell away from The Ivanhoe, The Waldorf, The Cobalt, etc. They're not really hotels unless you want to stick a needle in your arm.
There's a Howard Johnson in Richmond, near the airport that might not be a bad price. There's quite a few hotels near Vancouver International that might be around $75.00 a night.
Shawn
Ended up just getting a HoJo right in downtown Vancouver tomorrow night for 2 nights, checking out the 2nd. Then a HoJo in downtown Victoria that night, checking out on the 3rd.
If you can make your way to kelowna (4 hours away) I can hook you up with driving my Legnum vr4, a skyline gts, and an st185. You could also stay at my parents b&b. plus he weather will be significantly nicer.
Get Canadian cash out of an ATM after you get there. Using a local-currency ATM is the simplest and most cost-effective approach.
Thanks guys. Catatafish, gonna have to pass on that, we're already a bit stretched doing 7k miles of driving, trying to not add on top of that. Appreciate the offer, though!
Vancouver is a berkeleying clusterberkeley right now. Staying downtown was a poor choice.
Other things:
Washington: I love the way you smell, and the way you look.
Your roads suck huge amounts of dong (seriously.... are they "paved" with boulders and then hit with concrete as a sort of "grout"?), and berkeley I90W in particular. The first 40 miles of it ruined 4 hours of my day.
On the plus side, there's some excitement on the street in front of my hotel. Seems someone has gotten so drunk that the police and an ambulance has been called to collect him out of the middle of the street.
And i just saw an Evo3 and an R32 Skyline GTR drive by. The Skyline was really loud. Me gusta. Caught a glimpse of a Cosmo earlier.
I lived in the Vancouver area for seven years. I would rather slit both my wrists with the bunt end of a spoon than venture into "downtown" Vancouver again.
If I had to be stuck in the Lower Mainland for the rest of my life, Ladner is nice - kind of redneck bedroom community, I did my student teaching there. Port Moody is nice - I lived there for a year. I quit an awesome job just to get the hell out of Vancouver (I taught at a highschool that had a 20' Viking head in the front yard (In Burnaby onn Kensington, just off Hastings) . But I am not a city boy at heart.
The highway up to Whistler is gorgeous to drive.
The old Highway #1 (Fraser Canyon) is fun and twisty. When you get to the sharp corner under the traintracks, where all the skid marks sail into the concrete retaining wall - slow down. It gets really boring around Merritt.
I never did the Capilano Suspension Bridge. Supposed to be neat.
Vancouver Aquarium was kinda cool.
Science World is neat.
The Art Gallery is neat (but means going downtown). Pop's truck got broken into when we were there last.
The Pink Floyd laser light show is fantastic if they're playing it while you're there. It's at the Planetarium.
If you or your significant other like shopping, MetroTown in Burnaby has more stores than you can shake a stick at.
There is an Autocross at Pitt Meadows airport this Saturday.
The Canadian Nationals are there as well, August 9-10-11.
If you're willing to travel inland at all, there are far, far more things to see than just what Vancouver has to offer. Vancouver is not representative of the rest of the Province, despite what all the Vancouver folk want to believe (for example, I do not even ~own~ an umbrella up here in the Okanagan Valley).
Thanks man. 
I think we're going to take a break from driving for today for the most part. We're 2500 miles deep right now, and the drive yesterday was pretty awful. (Where the hell do all you Seattle-dwellers go every weekend that a 2 hour delay on I90W is "normal?")
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