Island Hopping

Ian rented an AirB&B in the old part of Victoria and within walking distance to everything.  I love this picture of Alexia on our balcony, the spitting image of my mom.

It was her heart's desire to have high tea at the Fairmont Empress and she wanted to dress the part.  She bought two dresses and brought them both with her, but this is the one she asked me to iron.  She felt like a princess.  Unless you've met her, it's difficult to convey the unaffected poise that she conducts herself with.  An elderly German woman walking with difficulty aided by a cane, stopped to tell her that she reminded her of her childhood, what it was to feel like 13 again.  Alexia sweetly and in all sincerity said, "I'm so glad that I could do that for you."

She had studied the menu and tea choices in advance and had given us the whole run down before we got there, but then Todd, our server, explained it to us all over again.  We selected our own teas and we each had our own teapot. She had wanted us to share with each other, but it became a race against Todd who would suddenly reappear and refill our cups.  Let me tell you that three pots of tea is too much tea and Lexi stubbornly drank all of hers, then reached for Grandpa's pot.  We told her NO!

She said it was everything she had wished it would be.

This was our view of the bay from our table.

We spent one day at the Royal British Victoria Museum and we really needed a second day to see it all because we were worn out after five hours.  We spent one day at the Butchart Gardens where we also wore ourselves out.  We took the public bus for the hour ride out and back - very interesting, but that's another story.

 I think I came away learning the most from the gardens as they were very instructional.  I asked Alexia to stand on the path to provide perspective for the lily and hydrangea on the right, both taller than her.  I brought home their plant guide and also bought two packets of columbine seed which I had to declare at Customs.  The Canadian Customs people were much nicer than the American ones, I must say.

We took the ferry back to Port Angeles where we picked up our car and drove to Vashon Island to spend a few days with our sister-in-law at her place there, which is way down on the end.

Turning around, I took this shot looking the other direction.  Click for big to see Mt Ranier hidden in the cloud.

The summer compound is right on Puget Sound so maritime traffic traveling to and from Tacoma passes right by.  Alexia loved watching them with both the telescope and binoculars.  We found a great app called VesselFinder Lite that identifies the ships, tells what country owns them, whose flag they're flying, usually a picture and lots of details that I don't understand.  We had a lot of fun with that.

Low tide reminds me of Limbo - how low can you go?!

High tide, however, is getting higher.  I took this picture of Ian from the second floor, and you can see how high it is, so high that the stairs are damaged and unusable.  Homeowners on Vashon have been meeting with the Coast Guard, looking for ways to protect their property.  They were told that in a hundred years, these shoreline houses will be under water.

So what to do?  Enjoy it while we can.

Road trip, part 2

The route from Rosburg, WA to Tacoma on Hwy 101 is much more scenic than I-5 and the drive was easy.  We were back to Rochelle’s house in plenty of time to pick up the cake and get to the skating rink.  The kids had the time of their lives - what a great idea for a family birthday.  As for me, I was glad it was only two hours.  I had already just celebrated my own birthday and was worn out, but the cake was great.

We piled into the car Sunday morning for a Quaker meeting, my first, in Olympia followed by breakfast in Steilacoom, the oldest incorporated town in Washington, established in 1854.  It’s right on the Puget Sound with the Olympic Penninsula in the distance.  It’s meant a lot to me to put places to names I’ve heard all my life.

I was eager to visit Fort Nisqually and compare their living history reinactment to ours at the High Desert Museum, however, Allison had just concluded an exhausting candlelit fundraiser, had just said goodbye to house guests and was looking forward to some downtime.  The next thing I knew we were all in the car, destination Point Defiance Park and the Fort.  I was so glad she changed her mind and came with us as her explanations were really insightful.

Fort Nisqually, named for a local tribe, is a stockade set in 1854 and completely different from the HDM’s Miller Ranch and Sawmill set in 1904 where we’re talking about the train and the Sears & Roebuck catalog.  Here the men married local Indian women called Metis which created a whole new culture of mixed-race descendants.  The women’s clothing is a blend of Indian and European. Like HDM the facility is only possible by dedicated volunteers.
All Hudson’s Bay facilities were on waterways to facilitate the movement of heavy bales of beaver pelts to the Eastern and European markets, so I was confused by the Fort’s location on a promontory.  But it was originally on the Sound, and in fact, the log structure on the right is one of two that were relocated.  When the property was purchased by DuPont, the stockade was recreated in Point Defiance Park, next to the zoo.

Monday morning Rochelle took us to Vashon Island, a place I’ve wanted to visit ever since reading Betty MacDonald’s book Onions in the Stew. (She’s better known for her children’s Miss Piggle Wiggle series.)  We hurried up to get near the front of the line and then visited while we waited.  The ferry is not a quick afterthought.  It runs every 40 minutes so if you miss it, it can completely throw off your day.

We walked down to the Point Robinson lighthouse and the lighthouse keepers Victorian buildings.  The five Campbell/Loans spent a picturebook week here this summer and want to plan a return visit with us next year.  I’m in!!

We wandered through shops, I bought another book and otherwise resisted temptation to buy because art is for sale everywhere.  Rochelle’s theory is that people create all through the dark winter months and then sell in the adorable shops all summer.
She took us to this quaint trail and the bike in the tree.  The story goes that a man laid his bike against the trunk of this tree and then was shipped off to the war.  The bike was forgotten and the tree grew around it.  There’s probably a less romantic true story but I like this one.  
We ate lunch at The Hardware Store in Vashon which earned all it’s stars and then it was time to line up again for the ferry.  It was a perfect day!

We were even treated to the appearance of Mt Rainer, another place I’m finally able to put a face to.  The colloquial expression is “the mountain came out.”  I didn’t notice it at first until later when I was asked if the mountain came out for us.  Well, yes she did!  Rochelle loves Tacoma and especially her northern location where can park her car for days on end. She walks to the grocery store, the library, her hair place and the elementary school where she picks up her grandkids after school. The two families live three blocks apart, close enough for convenience but not too close. What’s not to love?!

We packed in a lot in just a few days, so I’ll just say ate a lot, saw a lot and laughed a lot.  And we drank a lot of coffee (sign from the Raymond coffee shop.)

Birthday Week

Ian and I drove up to Tacoma last Tuesday, spent the night and left with his sister-in-law for Rosburg, Washington to celebrate my birthday with my sister-in-law.  It’s confusing because they’re both my sister-in-laws, but Rochelle was Ian’s brother’s wife and Georg was my brother’s wife.

They don’t get any fresher than this!  I drove to Raymond where we all ate fried oyster sandwiches (from Goosepoint) at the Pitchwood Alehouse which had just opened.  It was 11:05 and they were just lighting the fireplace to take the chill off when we stumbled in the door.  It was Ian’s turn to drive and there was no way we were going to drive by the plant and miss a chance at the freshest oysters available to have that evening on the half shell, knowing how much Georg loves oysters.

The next day was Thursday and my birthday, and I wanted to celebrate it in Astoria.  It’s almost four miles across the Columbia River and the restaurant we had wanted to eat at was closed.  Even better, a Mo’s had opened in July and was right on the river.

They seated us at a corner table where we could watch the ships and seals in the river.  I had pan blackened fish tacos and I know, I know, it’s a chain with a simply menu but I still love Mo’s.  Rochelle is behind me and Georg is straight across.

Ian suggested we drive home the “scenic” route and detour to the Port of Ilwako to get fish for dinner.

To my surprise there was a very cute independent bookstore on the harbor called Little Time Books.  It took me a day to realize the name is from the saying “so many books, so little time.”  Anyway, it was my birthday and I bought myself a present.  I’ve heard that I’m in for a literary treat.

We took Rochelle for a drive around the Grays Harbor area which included a historic marker for the point where Lewis and Clark found the river and discovered they weren’t at the ocean yet, hence the name “Cape Disappointment.”  This littlest island was at the end of Altoona Road and the river is so huge that it looks like an ocean!

Next stop, the Grays River covered bridge, the only functioning covered bridge in Washington.  According to the historical marker it was built by the Ahlsburg family who owned the property on both sides of the river.  They built a bridge so they could drive their cattle from one side to the other but it was too wet and mucky to be functional - so they covered it!  It’s maintained by a local interest group and the weekend prior had been the venue for a 4H fundraiser, with cloth-covered tables and chairs and a catered meal inside instead of cars.

This is the Grays River from Georg’s front yard.

I love this place!  Saturday morning we piled back in the car and headed back for the Loan/Campbell birthday celebration.  Rochelle’s daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren have birthdays within six weeks of each other so they rented the roller rink for two hours and invited all their friends.  Next stop Tacoma!