Well, it's not a kind of trip report that you'd read at these lists, as I was the pilot and wife was the passenger. N43779 PA28-181 KBFI-CYVR No flight number, no take your shoes off :) We decided to take advantage of her two days of vacation before thanksgiving and a Piper Archer with a free schedule. It was my very first "international" flight where I had to deal with CanPass, flight planning, etc. We arrived at FlightCenter at around 4:00 pm. I had filed the flight plan, and advised Canadian Customs of our arrival. After a quick check on the weather and pre flight inspection we started the engine around 4:45 pm. Taxied to 31L/A9 intersection for a runup. It took us some time to get the take off clearance after two Citations, a Lear and a GIV. Guess we were caught up in the rush hour departure of bizjets. I didn't have any Preferred IFR route information for the flight so I filed: BFI-CVV-YVR thinking that this would be the most direct route. Of course we were going to get Needle Six departure and I was hoping to get a direct routing to CVV VOR. The clearance I got was completely different except Needle Six departure: Needle Six - PAE - V23 - HUH and radar vectors to YVR. Right after take off we were given radar vectors around the aircraft that was leaving behind us and some Sea-Tac departures. (That was the time when we were doing 65KTS on the ground as I was climbing out with 75KTS TAS). After PAE things got interesting as I was told to intercept the 140 radial off of YVR VOR and track it inbound. As we switched to Victoria Terminal we were given radar vectors to join the arrivals for 26L. There was a Air Canada 767 in position before us, taking its time to roll.. After a short landing I got out of taxiway B and taxied directly to Canadian Customs. After regular questions "Why you are in Canada? How long are you going to stay here? etc. etc." we taxied to Esso Avitat and got out of the plane. Esso people were kind enough to give us a ride to the Airporter bus that would take us to Hyatt for our two night stay.. I must say that my first experience using Priceline.com got us a very good hotel in the heart of Vancouver. Jose is right, when it works Priceline.com is great. N43779 PA28-181 CYVR-KBFI Planned dept. 10 am - Actual 12:40 Fog was playing games in Vancouver and in Seattle Area so we had to delay our departure. We decided to stroll around Robson St. for few more hours.. Arrived at ESSO around noon. At the time the visibility was 1 and half miles, mist, and ceiling was 14000 feet with few clouds at 100 feet.. As long as you stay in instruments not a big problem. Taxied from ESSO AVITAT to 26L via taxiway C. After an intersection departure had to execute the Richmond Eight departure that calls for a turn to heading 200 after 500 feet. There was a HMY Airways 757 after us... It is a new Canadian charter airline, that I never heard of with a cool callsign : "HowMany". The cloud layer was about 300 feet thick and we were over a nice layer of clouds with a great view of Mt. Baker, Grouse Mountain, San Juans and Victoria.. After getting the hand off from Victoria Terminal to Whidbey Approach we were told to fly heading 155 and intercept the localizer 13R for KBFI. The traffic was extremely light, so light that KBFI tower didn't bother changing the traffic flow from 13s even though the winds were 300/6. Circled to the West of the Airport at 800 feet and landed on runway 31R with a turn off to the US Customs. The Customs officer was very kind and she told us to get out of the plane with our documentation. Because I am a Turkish citizen, they had to call an immigration officer to meet us too.. After taking care of the paperwork we taxied to FlightCenter to conclude the trip. Impressions : - Flying across the border was a breeze. I guess I will have to take more flights into Canada. - Canada still impresses me. I was in love with Montreal and Quebec City when I was there in 2000, now Vancouver has proven the be another "Europe in North America". - Enjoyed a sunset at Grouse Mountain, very nice night life, food and drinks. I just love cities where people are on the sidewalks.. Vancouver is another good example.. - Flying kicks ass : We heard there was a 2 hr wait on the border on I-5. Just forget about it!! :) BAHA ACUNER - CFI,CFII,MEI www.bahadiracuner.com