The Kids Leave Aug. 6 & 7

Taking the ferry from Victoria to Anacortes.
Our whirlwind days at Victoria wore us out!

We bring our yacht home!*****

We say goodbye to our "babies" at the Portland airport and begin our trip home along the Oregon coastline.

Hood River Valley





The Columbia River Valley

Bonneville Fish Hatchery (Beautiful flowers for the ladies!)

Clearly the most luscious hatchery I've ever seen.

Oh yeah! There are fish at the fish hatchery!

*****That isn't really our yacht.

Going home along the Oregon coast

Time to head home. . . . We had seen magazine pictures of the Oregon coast, but the beauty of the coast was so much more unusual and breathtaking than any picture. The picture below is the famous Haystack rock at Cannon Beach.

This was beautiful to watch--a waterfall created by the surf. I didn't realize I had a video feature on my camera. Duh!

Yes, some nights the temps got chilly for us desert rats but we had a great excuse for hot chocolate.

After three days at Cannon Beach, we moved on to Newport, where we spent four days. We managed to find RV parks on or very close to the beach.

Oregon Coast Aquarium at Newport, OR. The only place I could see my favorite sea creature, the sea otter. I also figured out by this time I could shoot video.

Bite me!
"Wild" seals snoozing and entertaining tourists on the piers at Newport's restored Bayfront Harbor.

My kind of place once. . . 20 years ago!

Heading home with a few stops to enjoy stunning views.

Fog rolls in along Hiway 101 and the northern CA coast.

Say goodbye, Forrest.

Victoria and area Aug 3-5

We did not have nearly enough time together on Vancouver Island, but we did have loads fun!

On Aug 3 Robyn, Seb, & Katy tried out ziptrekking--quite a popular activity around British Columbia. You fly thru the forest clamped to a wire. No, Gramma didn't go. Patricia and hung out at camp watched movies like OVER THE HEDGE.

Aug. 4 found us all about an hour from Victoria on Qualicom Beach. BCers love their beaches and actually play in the surf. However, Forrest described the water temp by saying "it's not as warm now as the Gulf of Mexico in the middle of December." It's all relative.

Check out price tag on umbrella.

We are a classy family.

Aug 5 was our tour of Victoria and while Robyn and I had high tea at the Empress Hotel ($50 a person), Forrest & Katy took kids to water park. We all met later for seafood in restaurant that overlooked harbour.

Pictures below are from bus tour of Victoria. The houses were cute cottages with beautiful gardens.

After tea and the tour, we all met at a seafood restaurant at Victoria Harbour.

I tried to capture some of the night lights on Parliament.

Gramma and Patricia call it a night.

Finally, our family arrives Aug 1-2

We traveled to Seattle to pick up kids on Aug. 1 and spent the night. The next day we drove back to Vancouver and did a little sight seeing with family. We took them to Granville Island, a small area of Vancouver that has a wonderful farmers' market, shops, and restaurants and brew pubs (not that I have any use for those). Then we finished the day at 2nd Beach, Stanley Park before taking the ferry to Victoria.













Patricia rocks out in airport. Robyn conducts interviews with kids. Seb and Katy--Seb looks really excited to see his Gramma!




Oh these girls are happy to see Momma and Daddy!










Robyn didn't break her neck--she sleeps on way from Seattle to Vancouver. And Momma loves her Chewey!












Katy's first picture of Vancouver. If you're seeing double, it is not your imagination.












Seb and Patricia enjoy Granville Island.The girls take a iced coffee break at Granville Island.















Playing on the beach at Stanley Park, City of Vancouver.







Pops and kids at Old Spaghetti Factory. (This really belongs with Day in Victoria, but I'm easily confused.)

Porteau Cove July 29

I messed up. Shocking, huh? I should have posted Shannon Falls first. This post might make more sense if you read that post first.

We also stopped by Porteau Cove. It is also between Squamish and Vancouver. Both Shannon Falls and Porteau Cove are BC provincial parks--SF is a day-use park & PC is a campground. BC parks are beautiful and well-maintained. Only July 30 we moved to Victoria on Vancouver Island and prepared for the arrival of our girls and grandkids.



My travel buddy!

Shannon Falls State Park

Can you tell I love waterfalls? Forrest is not as enthusiastic as I am--he sings that silly waterfall song.

This is Shannon Falls between Squamish and Vancouver. This is the 3rd highest falls in BC. Again, my camera doesn't come close to capturing the views.

I was also fascinated with this temperate rain forest--the variety of plants, moss covering trees.

Coming attcha! Tripod Man!

Last days on mainland British Columbia

Forrest was fishing the Squamish River along with Mr. Seal. I think they were both shocked. According to locals seals will swim up the rivers when the salmon come back to spawn. The next day Forrest caught a 19-inch spring.

We took a cruise of Vancouver Harbour (notice the British spelling). Some of the sights.

Harbour seal pup. You have to look carefully because it sort of blends in with logs.

Can you see the differences between the two pictures below. No? That's because I downloaded the same picture twice---again.


Yacht on bottom is the one we want. The one on the top is the one Patti & Janey want.