We're just back from a trip to Canada. Late last year my brother asked if we'd like to meet him in Victoria for a few days and being the fancy free retirees that we are, we happily agreed to the hop on a plane.
The day began early with a 4:30 wake up call. We flew to Seattle and on to Vancouver where we rented a car and drove a short distance to the ferry terminal. It was a beautiful morning and the ferry ride to the island filled with memories. I remember the many times as a child I took the ferry from Seattle over to the peninsula to visit my aunt. Usually the rides were with my family but in the summer I'd visit by myself, getting on the ferry as a passenger with Mom's Samsonite cosmetic bag filled with a weeks worth of clothes. On one trip my cousin and I were crossing the sound together. She was going to buy each or us a soda. In went the coins, the paper cup dropped down and I picked it up and said, "It didn't give us any pop!" then the liquid began spilling out into the empty space and down the drain. My cousin put in more money and the same thing happened except when I was reaching for the empty cup she quickly pulled my hand away and told me to wait. That's when I figured out about the workings of the pop dispenser! Love the ferry memories...
Time with the family was great we watched some March Madness basketball games, played some Shanghai Rummy, and had a great Escape Room adventure (I'd recommend to everyone Escape Room In a Box; The Werewolf Experiment) We walked the city of Victoria, explored the Island and tried new Canadian foods.
The view from our condo:
A short walk to the Parliament Building:
The Empress Hotel:
On Sunday we left Victoria and started exploring the island. It is beautiful Pacific Northwest country.
The Family:
In search of a Nanaimo Bar we stopped in the town by that name. Unable to find the goodie we did stop at Tim Horton's for a "double double" and a go at "Roll the Rim." Although there is a 1 in 6 chance of winning, none of us rad a winning roll!
Unable to find the white ravens Hubby was hoping to see, we settled for North Island Wildlife and Recovery Center:
We spent one day whale watching and saw more than whales:
We hiked around Victoria visiting Beacon Hill Park,
The Dunsmuir's were an wealthy, disfunctional family and their home was beautiful. They came from Scotland and settled in Nanaimo, BC where Mr. Dunsmuir discovered a coal seam (but not the Nanaimo Bar)...
The day began early with a 4:30 wake up call. We flew to Seattle and on to Vancouver where we rented a car and drove a short distance to the ferry terminal. It was a beautiful morning and the ferry ride to the island filled with memories. I remember the many times as a child I took the ferry from Seattle over to the peninsula to visit my aunt. Usually the rides were with my family but in the summer I'd visit by myself, getting on the ferry as a passenger with Mom's Samsonite cosmetic bag filled with a weeks worth of clothes. On one trip my cousin and I were crossing the sound together. She was going to buy each or us a soda. In went the coins, the paper cup dropped down and I picked it up and said, "It didn't give us any pop!" then the liquid began spilling out into the empty space and down the drain. My cousin put in more money and the same thing happened except when I was reaching for the empty cup she quickly pulled my hand away and told me to wait. That's when I figured out about the workings of the pop dispenser! Love the ferry memories...
Time with the family was great we watched some March Madness basketball games, played some Shanghai Rummy, and had a great Escape Room adventure (I'd recommend to everyone Escape Room In a Box; The Werewolf Experiment) We walked the city of Victoria, explored the Island and tried new Canadian foods.
The view from our condo:
On Sunday we left Victoria and started exploring the island. It is beautiful Pacific Northwest country.
The Family:
The end of a great day:
and toured the Craigdarrough Castle.
We found them in a Victoria grocery store and were not impressed! HOWEVER the Maple Black Garlic and Tim Tams were delicious!
Other great tasting Canadian Calories not pictured: Poutine, Ketchup Chips, and Kit Kat Bars in green tea and orange flavors!
With sore feet we took a water taxi back to the condo...
...before heading out to an Irish Pub to have dinner and begin planning our next gathering of the clan in Ireland, spring 2020!
Walking back to the condo, Sam showed off his modeling ability, he's a natural!
With sore feet we took a water taxi back to the condo...
In the morning the Murphs had to hop on their ferry and head back to Portland but The Hubby and I headed north once again for another day of sightseeing.
And another beautiful sunset.
The next day it was an early morning car ride, with a double double in hand, to the ferry. Fearing a missed flight we left about 45minutes to early but there was a benefit to our early arrival at the ferry terminal, we were the first on the boat and had a fantastic view of the sunrise.
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