A late-winter getaway provided some interesting revelations:
Regular gas in Wenatchee is $2.19 a gallon!
It's about a dollar a gallon more near Omak and Oroville, which is still a bargain for cross-border shopping Canadians.
$2.19 a gallon.
Holy Toledo!
Gas was $1.239 a litre here that day.
One litre = .26 US gallons, so we British Columbians pay almost $5.00 a gallon here.
We pay 226 per cent more than folks in Wenatchee pay.
And yes, for the anal among us, it should be stated that the U.S. gallon is a bit smaller, at 3.79 litres.
And, despite the 10 per cent currency exchange, everything in the United States is still a bargain.
Yup, we Canadians get screwed here...firstly (world-wide) by the Seven Sisters (Exxon, Gulf, Texaco, Mobil, Socal, BP, and Shell: five huge American companies, one British company, and one Anglo-Dutch concern dominated the world of oil for most of the century). Ahem...yes, Americans buy fuel from those people too.
Then there are Federal taxes. Not to be outdone, our own British Columbia government imposed carbon taxes to assuage their western societal guilt.
More than 30 per cent of Canadian gas prices are taxes, and British Columbia cranks that number higher, being one of the worst offenders.
If you don't trust PetroCanada's numbers, here are Wikipedia's.
Yeah, but aren't there also taxes to Americans on their retail gas purchases?
Sure there are.
The American Petroleum Institute issues quarterly reports for Federal and State taxes, including state comparisons. Washington State's taxes are found on page 48 of 51 here.
Oh, but our gas tax money comes back to us.
Yeah, sure....two billion annually at last count?
The B.C. government must have one hell of a daily interest savings account!
But the Union of B.C. Municipalities seems to be unable to do without gas taxes...all that funding for their members, albeit with considerable jump-through-the-hoops strings attached.
It couldn't be the sunshine tax, because Wenatchee has plenty of sun too.
"How would you spend 200-300 sunshine days?" ask several Wenatchee tourism booklets.
Visitor's guide is here.
Sure, Canadians earn higher wages, most dramatically the public sector.
However, I doubt the $2.35 monthly increase in Canada Pension payments will have seniors shouting off the rooftops just how much better off we are.
Oh...and did I mention there are no parking meters?
And 3 hours parking is allowed...yes...free.
One bylaw officer drives around chalking tires on South Mission Street.
And unlike in Vernon, you never see him again.
The City of Wenatchee, much like Vernon, has grown northward with Wal-Mart and Target locating there.
But their "old" downtown is completely different from Vernon's.
They have angle parking in the older section of town, with senior's apartments for rent signs. The angled parking spots are chock full...and NOT with cars of employees of the businessfronts either. You can tell, because every third or fourth parking space seems to be signalling to back up, all while one or two cars ahead are entering an angled spot. Their old downtown area is a hive of activity! Lovely older brick buildings, lots of people walking on the sidewalks, in and out of stores. And yes, there was only one lane of traffic in each direction. An old red and black trolley car--converted with pneumatic tires--slid easily among the downtown traffic. People were considerate, block after block, letting cars back into lanes. Didn't hear one horn being tooted to hurry someone up...!
Oh, and did I mention that Americans are better drivers?
Yup...Americans do not speed, whether on city roads or highways.
They simply don't.
Not one mile an hour faster.
And when travelling on a two-lane road, cars always use it only for passing and move into the curb lane, especially on highways.
Even their highway signs are more considerate of Canadians.
Just south of the Canada/US border, the American sign is very considerate of visiting Canadians (similar to one of these):
 |
| How inconsiderate of us... |
Note to Golf Nuts visiting Wenatchee:
Stop in at The Golfer's Edge and say hello to PGA Golf Pro Ed Paine.
Great little retail shop, repairs, custom clubs, lessons as well as indoor golf from a nice mid-Century house at 218 South Mission (Mission is a one way road, heading south to north, so drive south on Wenatchee Avenue (from near the convention centre) about a mile or so, then turn right, and turn right again...the next street is South Mission). Ed's place is on the left.
Need a place to stay that's clean?
Try the Wenatchee Comfort Inn, 815 N. Wenatchee Avenue, within a short walk to the convention center.
Near 9th Street (for the east-west orientation). Sara Baum, general manager, is a great hands-on manager who can meet your every need. Breakfast (included) takes a bit of getting used to, flipping your own waffle in an iron contraption in the bright and spacious breakfast area...endless coffee and sausages and eggs and toast and bagels and cereal and yoghurt and...The room was $89 plus $7.12 state tax, $3.56 city/county tax, and $1.00 "occupancy tax". Swimming pool, plus well-appointed rooms complete with HD television, hairdryer and coffee maker, iron and ironing board (what are those?). Thanks for making my stay enjoyable, Sara! Hope you enjoyed your time off this weekend!
Bye bye, Wenatchee.
Great place.
Great gas prices.
Great people.
"Maybe Americans pay 10 times what we do for water," suggests Kia.
The wager: a bowl of dog kibbles that Americans do not pay more for water than we do.
The odds are with me.
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