We drove for 9 days, 2895 +/- miles. We stopped the first night in Sacramento having gotten a later than hoped for start. The hotel was gorgeous and wonderful, and the best part was the time frame now gave us chance to tour our state capital. Of course, being the political goof I am I was all excited. We get out of the car at the capital and Drew states with arms outstretched; "nobody panic, if you get lost hug a tree!". We did the tour, the kids did "sort of enjoy it." Both the Assembly and Senate were in session, THAT was cool. After that we hit the road, on to Vancouver, Washington. This is a Suburb of Portland Oregon. And the home of dear friends, who allowed us to invade their home and sleep. J made us a yummy yummy pancake breakfast to send us on our way. the 2 miniature pinchers, and 2 slightly larger flufflier dogs gave the kids TONS of entertainment. The visit was wonderful, but too short. On to Canada though.
We crossed the boarder about 2pm. It was easy enough, we were asked where we came from and where we were going and why. We stopped at the info center for a more local map and directions and exchanged our funds into Canadian.. oooo foreign currency, there's a some entertainment. silly, but true, my mom and I oogled over it. We found our way across the bottom of Canada to the Ferry terminal in Tsawwassan. Boarded and were on our way to Vancouver Island. We had a yummy dinner on the Ferry. It was an adventure for us all. Victoria is beautiful!!! The buildings are pretty, the surrounding scenery is gorgeous and the people are really friendly. Our arrival was late so we just slept. The next day we got up and drove to Butchart Gardens. It was beautiful.. we enjoyed and walked all of it!!! We stopped at the Butterfly Gardens after that, and my mom was in heaven, she LOVES butterflies, and so it was perfect, especially since one landed on her. After that a brief stop for ice cream, a park playground for the kids to run about and it was time for dinner. We were HUNGRY.. we found an English pub called the Sticky Wicket. It was yummy, and fun!!! Back to our hotel for swimming, baths and bed!
Day 2 in Victoria was spent in the downtown where we rode a double decker bus for a guided tour, saw the undersea gardens, the Royal British Natural History Museum, The Parlaiment building, and dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. The bus tour was my favorite. Our guide was a great person who fell in love with Katie and Tori. More swimming, jammies and an after dark adventure. They light the parlaiment buildings at night and both mom and I wanted to see, so with kids in jammmies, we loaded up and drove down to take a look and pictures.The kids were funny about tromping down the street for the pictures at first. And then to bed.
Day 3 of Canada was short in B.C. as we had to catch the earlier Ferry to Port Angeles, Washington. Customs was easy enough with passports and Birth certificates for the kids. Due to food in the car we did have to do a secondary inspection, but no biggy. Back in the USA... ahhh, road signs in MPH, not Km/hr. We drove hwy 101 home. I'd forgotten how slow one must drive hwy 101.. but the bonus was getting to view the gorgeous scenery!
We spent the night at a lovely little hotel in Southern Washington. No swimming, it was late and we were all pooped. We got up early-ish and headed out to breakfast, the Trees of Mystery, and Bandon Boat works. :o) Fun!!!! The kids had a blast in the Trees of Mystery, Tori, Katie, and Drew were each given their own disposable camera. I'll share pics. as soon as I get them back.
The next day we stopped in Tillamook, Oregon at the cheese factory, had a fun little tour and stop, then headed on south. By this time even my mom and I were ready to be home.
We stopped in Monterey hoping to hit a couple of the historical sites, but no luck, they were either tour only, or closed, and I didn't want to wait 15mins. for a 45 mins. tour I wanted to get home. We stopped at the Dennis the Menace themed City Park and let the kids run about.. unfortunately the steam locomotive enigine "bit" Drew's head and we had to make a hasty departure. He's fine, but he hit the back of his head on one part and bounced up to bonk the front, which gave him a black eye. Poor boy. We got home Wednesday night about 10pm, surprising Tim with our early arrival.
Look for pictures soon. :o)
No comments:
Post a Comment