This is the bus schedule for the return trip from Blaine to Seattle, WA. I'm going to make a table for this. Here's the trip there, reversed:

Taking the Skagit 90X makes us sit around all day. No other schedule works. Not cool. What happens when we go through Whidbey Island?

Again, there's only one trip possible, though it's far more pleasant.

So, oddly enough, we would get back a full three hours earlier by taking a longer detour! That's why we're going to return via Whidbey Island. It takes longer going Seattle to Canada via Whidbey, but it's faster the way back. Also, the ferry is free going to the mainland.

For this trip, the only time constraint is that we be in Blaine by 7:50 to catch the last morning bus out. Other than that, all buses run on regular schedules. This single constraint may be hard to meet. The earliest trip I can find will put us in White Rock at 7:30 AM, leaving only 20 minutes for walk across the border. Uh-oh.

Final leg of the trip, going from the Canadian Border to our hostel (tentative):

Depart Eastbound Marine Drive & Stevens Street on the Translink C51 (7:01 PM). Get off at White Rock Centre Bay 7 (7:10 PM).

Depart White Rock Centre Bay 6 on the Translink 321 (7:28 PM). Get off at King George Station Bay 2 (8:05 PM).

Depart King George Skytrain station on the Skytrain to Waterfront (8:10 PM). Get off at the Main Skytrain station (8:43 PM).

Translink's Trip Planner gives a trip fare of CA$2.25. I don't know how the transfers work here.

This is just a first approximation. I don't know when we're going to get across the border.

I can't find anything on how to cross the border at Blaine by foot. It's all so car-centric.

There has been a lot of interest expressed in my planning a bus trip to Canada. I've decided to actually go!

It'll be in mid-September, and we'll spend at least two days in Vancouver. We could either leave on the 13th (Thu) or the 14th (Fri) and spend the weekend, or we could go the 10th (Mon) and return the 13th or 14th. My preferred trip at this point would be to bus there on the 12th (Wed) and come back on the 17th (Mon). Of course, since it's the bus, you can go back any day you please. I think that this trip will only work on weekdays, however, because of its heavy reliance on commuter buses.

I think that travelling earlier in the week is better in general, because traffic will be lighter and bus connections will be less stressful.

We'll leave downtown Seattle at either 6:45 or 7:15 AM, and arrive in Blaine for the border crossing at 5:00 PM. I'm not sure about the departure time. The 7:15 bus to Everett is the last one that we can take, because any later bus would cause us to miss the last bus from Everett to Mount Vernon. As it is, the 7:15 bus from Seattle is scheduled to arrive in Everett just 15 minutes before the last bus to Mount Vernon leaves.

Several people have brought up the idea of staying at a youth hostel in Vancouver. I'm fully in favor of that, especially because it would lower the price of the trip even more. I'm trying to have a quality trip for as little money as possible. At this point it's a bit of a game.

After the border crossing, we'd have to walk about a mile to the bus stop. Keep that in mind when planning how much luggage to bring. (A mile is 20 Seattle city blocks.)

I'll prepare detailed instructions on how to get there and back, and all who want to go can comment on this entry (on LiveJournal, not the Facebook note) to get on my email list.

This is just a plan ... but it's possible! I hope to do this before the end of 2007.

Starting time: 7:15 AM on a Monday. I can leave my house at 6:45 and be downtown by then.

Depart downtown Seattle on the Sound Transit 510 (7:23 AM). Get off at Everett Station (8:14 AM). $2.50.

Depart Everett Station on the Skagit Transit 90X (8:30 AM). Get off at Skagit Station in Mount Vernon (9:00 AM). $2.00. (This is the last trip before evening. If you miss this bus, you have to go on a six-hour detour via Whidbey Island. Not horrible, but you have better things to do.)

One-and-a-quarter hour layover in Mount Vernon!

Depart Skagit Station on the Whatcom Transit 80X (10:45 AM). Get off at Bellingham Station (11:30 AM). $0.75.

Six hour layover to enjoy Bellingham!

Depart Bellingham Station on the Whatcom Transit 71X (5:40 PM). Get off at the last stop, in Sumas (6:48 PM). $0.75.

I think it would be better to take the Whatcom Transit 70X to Blaine, leaving Bellingham at 4:15 PM and arriving at 5:00. This allows a connection to TransLink, the transit agency of greater Vancouver. It's about a mile walk, to the closest TransLink stop.

Not bad, eh? Seattle to Canada on $6.

Mood: accomplished