Oh Hi! There you guys are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you! Okay, truth be told, we were having WAY too much fun (I’ve really embraced this vaction thing) to be blogging. I know, it’s hard to believe, but it is true, I tell you. But I’ve been thinking about you guys, I really have. So, what have we been up to, you ask. Let me see if I can get you caught up!
Day 16 – Epilogue…
We made the ferry. It was nuts, traffic was ridiculous. There was screaming, there was more than a little bit of swearing, but in the end, De Ann came through like a champ, balancing the speed with the avoidance of Johnny Law that was crawling all over those god-forsaken little towns…but we made it with a few minutes to spare. We cleaned our shorts, boarded the ferry and asked “Where’s the bar?” No bar on the car ferry, though if we wanted to buy some duty free booze, we could do that. We thought about it, but opted for caffeine until the truck was safely parked at the hotel. A one hour ferry ride later, we got off of the ferry and got interrogated by the customs agents… do we LOOK threatening? No, we look thirsty. Outta my way!
We booked a room at the Swans Hotel. A great place with a brewpub on the first level that has live music 7 nights a week. We spent some time in that little brewpub before and after dinner, and again the following night. I would highly recommend that hotel, as it is in a great location, offers affordable accommodations, full kitchens in every room and the aforementioned brewpub. We received a great recommendation for a tapas restaurant from our server at the pub, so off we went. The Tapa Bar lived up to the local’s recommendation. Small plates were anything but small, but everything was absolutely amazing – I’ll let De Ann tell you about the menu and what we had, she’s got the eye, nose and memory for that kind of thing. But we left full and very happy. Before we drifted off to sleep, we mapped out what would prove to be one of the best single days of our journey.
Day 17 – A day of fun and firsts…
Breakfast at the Pub and we were off to the wharf. We decided that we were going to splurge and take a Sea Plane tour of Victoria. Though a bit pricey, it was something that we have both wanted to do and never had. We went to the Hyack Air office and booked ourselves on a 3:15 tour of Victoria. 30 minutes of air time proved to be enough for us to see much of the island and have a blast… but I’m jumping ahead. With our 3:15 reservation, we had about 3 hours to do some other exploring and wandered over to the bike rental office. Armed with some new street bikes (yes, bicycles, not scooters, though we thought about it), a map and some suggestions from our rental office chap, we headed south to the coast and took a scenic ride on the southern coast, over to Oak Bay Village and back again. The ride was challenging, due to the hills, but we survived our 90 minute ordeal and were pleased with our biking proficiency. I guess those Denver Cruiser rides have really paid off!
With some time and a little hunger, we went to a restaurant right on the water. Milestones Cafe had patio seating available and the weather was perfect! We enjoyed some time basking in the sun and having a little lunch, before checking out some of the street vendors on the walk to the plane. We arrived and were escorted to a 7 seater seaplane, built in 1964 or there abouts. We were the only passengers on the tour that day. Our pilot, born approximately 30 years later than the plane was built, assisted us onto the plane. With De Ann seated in the co-pilot’s seat and Doogie Howser at the stick, we fired up the single prop and drifted into the bay. My general fear of heights, mixed with my propensity for motion sickness did not bode well as we travel to the edge of the bay for take off. But, I’m happy to say that all of that fear evaporated and was replaced by sheer exhilaration as the plane picked up speed and lifted out of the water. I joked with De Ann that I took a picture about every 30 seconds of the trip, but it’s not too far off. With the camera in one hand and the phone camera in the other, I snapped and snapped… we saw many of the places from the air that we had seen from the ground. The expansive Butchart Gardens appeared below, looking tiny from above… and before we knew it, we were heading back to the bay. The landing was smooth, just as Doogie has practiced so much on his Xbox I’m sure. Both De Ann and I were smiling from ear to ear, as our day of fun continued.
With a stop back at the hotel for a chance to relax a bit, we headed out again for the last event of the day. The Ghostly Walking Tour of Victoria took us on a 90 minute tour of most of the major buildings in Victoria, complete with “scary” ghost stories and interesting facts. Content that we had seen much of what Victoria had to offer, we stopped for a late dinner (crappy restaurant, not worth discussing), before heading to the pub for a nightcap and the end to a magical day in Victoria.
Day 18
With a quick breakfast and a pack of the truck, we were off to the harbor to catch our ferry back to the USA. Same interrogations from the customs agents and we were through the process and traveling to Seattle. Now, remember from Day 16, the “easy” way to Seattle is over the bridge that is currently closed for repairs/expansion. So, I got the joy of driving the same route that De Ann took us through. Quaint towns and idiotic drivers seem to be all that you will find on Hwy 101 from Port Angeles to Olympia. “Hey buddy, nice mini van and I appreciate your desire to be cautious. However, did you happen to notice the 25 cars stacked up behind you because you won’t pull over??” We finally made it through the canyons and through Olympia for our 3rd time in 3 days. On to Seattle…
We checked into the Fairmont Olympic Hotel (another shout out to the good folks at Travelzoo, a last minute deal resulted in a great room in a gorgeous hotel for next to nothing.) And kudos to Seattle and the Fairmont, as I was informed that the $36 overnight parking fee was waived because we arrived in a Hybrid. Their little thanks for keeping the environment a bit cleaner. Nice work.
With some time to kill before our dinner reservations, we headed on a walking tour of downtown. We stumbled upon Pike’s Market and were amazed at the fresh fish and produce deals at this farmer’s market. We walked past the very first Starbucks, and meandered through stores. Back to the hotel to get spruced up for dinner. An old friend of De Ann’s, reacquainted through the Boo (Facebook for those not “in the know”), is the executive chef for the Queen City Grill. Upon hearing that we were coming to town, he extended an invitation to be his guests at the restaurant. A nice place with good ambiance, the Grill experience was an amazing one. With a few questions for us, Chef Larry took our menus away and let us know that he would just bring us a great meal. 8 courses in all, which De Ann will go through with you in good detail, I’m sure. We left there, having had a wonderful meal and great conversation. As things were a bit quieter on this Tuesday night, we had the pleasure of having the Chef bring us each course, discuss it with us, and visit for awhile… just like we like it! Thanks for a great time Larry. Everyone should be so lucky, as we’ll look forward to the release of the cookbook later this summer!
An early night, as we prepared for our departure from Seattle in the morning.
Day 19
It’s Wednesday. We will be back in Denver in just 3 days from today. The trip has been amazing and there is still more to look forward to. The remainder of the trip consists of a visit with Ash and Bridget in Spokane, WA. (Shout out to Ash and doin’ it “bloggystyle”, our web host and guide to this wonderful world of blogging. You can check out Ash’s adventures as a work from home husband with no kids at www.homesweethomme.com ) Tomorrow, we head to Yellowstone for some camping fun and checking out the sights and sounds of this historic national park, before doing the marathon drive back to Denver all day Saturday.
But before all of that, we had a couple of hours to spend in Seattle before heading out. So we got some Starbucks (had to, it IS Seattle, after all) and headed out to the Seattle Space Needle. The Needle, for those that don’t know, has an observation platform just 520’ above the ground and was built in the 60’s for the World’s Fair. We took the tour to the top and the views were amazing. The weather has been great, with temps in Seattle of 86 with not a cloud in the sky. We have been very fortunate, and today it made for a great viewing of the city. With the pictures taken and the views taken in, we wandered around the grounds a bit before hopping in the car. We are about 100 miles outside of Spokane now and looking forward to our time with A&B. We’ve got some driving to do tomorrow, so De Ann will likely be sharing with you pictures from the last few days, as well as a detailed look at the food we’ve been lavished with. I hope you all are having a great day, and we’ll check in with you later!
Until then…
