July 13 - Seattle

We took the 10:30 ferry to Port Angeles Washington, so our car had to be in line right after the 6:00 ferry left. Stan took the car over and put it in line, then came back to the room. It was a little cool this morning. The ride on the ferry was a lot rougher than our trip earlier in the week.

View leaving Victoria

We drove down the coast of Washington to a little town called Kingston; this area looks like it came right out of a story book. We had one more ferry to take us across the Puget Sound to Edmond, which is right outside Seattle. Eric called on the cell phone as we were crossing. It was great to hear from him. We walked around Pikes Market again and ate crab at the Crab Pot overlooking Puget Sound right on the waterfront. The weather was perfect and the food was great. Home tomorrow.

Seattle waterfront

The Crab Pot

July 12 - Victoria

Whale watching day! Our tour met right across the street from the hotel...no extra walking. They gave each of us an insulated suit to wear so we would stay dry and warm. Our guide took us to several places to see seals and told us about kelp and other eco things.  Unfortunately, I can’t remember most of the info they told us. Then we went to see the whales. There were two or three pods (families) in the same area playing together. We got pretty close, but not as close as Sea World, but this was a lot better. I think there were 6 or 7 around. The boat ride was a lot of fun too.

Susie and Stan

The thing I hate the most about vacation is deciding on where to eat when you're starving. Especially when you are walking around and around and around. We lucked out again and found a place with a view of the water and not too expensive.

Our feet couldn’t take anymore walking so we drove out to the Pacific Rim area west of Victoria. This area is a little drier than usual (short on rain). I forgot my camera. We went by a restaurant called the Six Mile Pub…it was so cute. (Thanks to the Internet...I found a few pictures of it.) Who needs to spend time taking pictures, when you can find all you want on the computer!  LOL

We then stopped at a beach area. Nothing like ours, we had to climb down a ways and the beach was made up of large pebbles. The sound they made when the wave rolled them around was very interesting. Another missed photo. We stopped at a Chinese place for dinner on our way back to town. We took the scenic drive around Victoria. Some of the houses must be worth millions. I could have found several we could be happy in. It’s unbelievably beautiful here. Everyone takes walks in the evening and lots of people ride bikes. I guess we would too if it was this cool and beautiful at home.

Six Mile Pub

July 11 - Victoria

Happy 20th Anniversary. We had to get up early so we could make the 8:30 ferry in Horseshoe Bay. Our luck has been great; we got there and only had to wait a short time to board. I stood on the outside desk for a while, but the wind coming off the water made it very cold. It took about 1 ½ hours to cross over to Vancouver Island.

Horseshoe Bay Ferry

The temperature here is so nice and everything is so pretty. We bought sandwiches for lunch and ate them in a park in Chemainus. They have lavender growing all over. I’m going to try and grow some when I get home. We got to Victoria around 2; our room is on the 14th floor and overlooks the Inner Harbor. We have a nice view of all the yachts and ferries. Stan told the clerk at the front desk it was our anniversary and they sent up a bottle of wine.

We walked around and found a nice place for dinner, and made reservations to come back later. Our feet were sore and we were tired so we went back to our room with a view and enjoyed the feather pillows. The room was the smallest of all, but the sheets and pillows were so soft. After a nice dinner we spent time watching the street performers on the Inner Harbor. Stan and I think we have seen the juggler before in New Orleans.

July 10 - Whistler

We stopped at Grouse Mountain on our way to Whistler. We took the sky tram to the top. Nice view of the Vancouver area and its harbor.

Looking up to Grouse Mountain

The tram up the mountain

Top of Grouse Mountain

View of Vancouver from Grouse Mountain

Our next stop was Shannon Falls. It was a nice walk to the base of the falls, then it was on to Brandywine Falls, smaller but nice. The best part about this hike was picking blueberries and berries that looked like dewberries. They were the color of salmon eggs and called salmon berries. Very good. Coming into Whistler we had to wait on highway construction. It took us an extra hour!

Shannon Falls

Brandywine Falls

On the way to Whistler

I guess the wait was worth it, Whistler is a breathtaking mountain village. Our hotel is right in the middle of the ski village at the base of Whistler Mountain. All cars are banned from the center of town. The hotels have entrances on the side streets. We stayed at the Crystal Lodge and our room overlooked the shops and pedestrian walk below. After resting a little while we went out to look around. Did a little shopping and had dinner at a little place on the square. I enjoy sitting outside to eat.

Whistler

July, 9 - Vancouver

We spent a lot of the day at Granville Island. It was a beautiful day, clear skies and perfect temperature. The Public Market had all kinds of food, fruits, fresh meat and fish. It would be fun to be able to shop here regularly. There were lots of art studios and gift shops. We saw hundreds of yachts and houseboats that looked like the ones from “Sleepless in Seattle”. We ate our lunch overlooking False Creek. This is a great place to spend a day.

Granville Island

View of Vancouver from Granville Island

Granville Island Dock

In the evening we went down to the beach area, surprisingly the water wasn’t all that cold. We had dinner at The Boathouse; we sat on the patio and looked out over the beach. It was great.

Vancouver Beach

July 7 - Seattle

We took the shuttle to the airport. The plane left on time and we arrived about an hour early! The plane seemed smaller than I remember. No room to move.

We got to downtown Seattle around one. It was crowded, but it was a beautiful sunny day. We walked around Pike's Market and the Wharf. There were a lot of weird kids around. We took a trolley down to the waterfront to Pioneer Square and Chinatown. Everything is beautiful…flowers in hanging baskets and planters. There were a lot of homeless people here close to Pioneer Square. We ate Chinese food at the Garlic Tree. We talked with people who live here…guess we found a good place to eat.

Pike's Market

Pioneer Square

July 6 - Canadian Adventure

After dropping the boys off, we waited for 45 minutes at Port Lavaca Ford for our car. Drove back to the house to leave the truck and finally got on the road a little after five. Checked into the Wingate Hotel and ate dinner at TGIF.