Aug 30 - Birch Bay, and Chuckanut Scenic Byway, Washington

  We hung out this morning, doing catch-up.  Headed out after lunch, and drove over to nearby Birch Bay, driving along the road edging the bay, and over to Birch Bay State Park.  The tide was out, so the "beach" was all round, smooth rocks.  I guess people were crabbing, or whatever they do.  A few boats were beached, slanted on their sides.  We spent a little time there, watching the birds, and enjoying the view--there are islands, with mountains on them, on the near horizon.
  Then we drove over to the Chuckanut Scenic Byway.  Route 11, which runs along the ocean shoreline, with high sections, and some lower ones.  Our first stop was at an Art and Sculpture Gallery.  It was the best art gallery I've ever seen.  Amazing variety of really good quality art.  Mostly local artists.  We stopped at various beautiful overlooks, and ended up at Larrabee State Park, which overlooks the Samish Bay.  Amazing shore line--high rocks overlooking the water, overlooking the islands.  We hiked to a lookout point, and sat for a while.  It filled up my senses--just like the John Denver song.  The feel of the sun, and the gentle breeze, the beautiful view, the rocks beneath us, the water before us, the sound of the lapping waves and the smell of the ocean.  What a feeling. 
  Since it was dinner time, and Peter needed to find a Walmart, to get some meds, we found a nice Mexican restaurant, in Bellingham.  The decor in this restaurant was unique.  And all of the waitresses were Latin, all with blouses that slide off the shoulders.  Good food.

Birch Bay photos:

Larabee State Park and Chuckanut Scenic Byway photos:

Lilia's Mexican Restaurant photos:

Aug 29 - Vancouver, BC tour

  We had a 6 hour driving tour with our private guide, Eva.  Our first stop was at the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park.  This was an amazing park, on the side of a steep mountain, with old-growth forests.  You cross a long suspension bridge, over a steep gorge, into the forest.  There are boardwalks through-out the forest, that are suspended from high up in the trees. They are very ecologically-minded, and no nails were used to build these boardwalks.  You get to walk throughout these huge, tall trees.  Quite the experience.  Walking back across the suspension bridge, with lots more folks crossing it, made it swing a lot more than when we arrived.  It was a bit challenging!  But we both made it.
  Then on to the Cliff Walk.  A suspended walkway hanging off the edge of the very high cliff on the edge of the gorge.  Incredible views.  And, we both managed to walk it!  Before heading across to the city, we stopped in the north side high-rent district of beautiful homes, on the hillsides, overlooking the Bay. Turns out many Chinese have purchased homes, and businesses in the area.
  The rest of the tour was pretty much in the Vancouver city limits.  There are a lot of different neighborhoods.  Each with its own history.  Parks and islands, that are all part of greater Vancouver.  We saw Chinatown (older generation of Chinese immigrants, versus the newer influx), Gasstown, the financial district, the homeless area.  We drove more thoroughly through Stanley Park, stopping at several of its diverse areas, including where they have an exhibit of Totem Poles.  A really interesting area was Granville Island, where they have a VERY extensive Market-- artist shops, and a huge public market, selling all kinds of local, fresh foods.  We took the local ferry across the harbor, and met up with Eva again over there --fun to see the cityscape, with mountains in the background, from the water.  Vancouver is a fast-growing city.  The majority of the high-rise buildings are residential, with more going up every day.  It is a very expensive city to live in.  A good 25% of the population is Chinese.
  All-in-all, it was a very interesting tour of the city.  And Eva was very knowledgeable of its history.  And, it gave us a good idea of the city.  However, if I were to do it again, I would prefer more of the scenic nature, surrounding the city, and less of the city itself.  I guess I just don't appreciate city life, as much as I appreciate nature.
  Due to the traffic, it took us an extra hour to get back across the border.  We were a bit frazzled.  Haven't driven in big city stop and go traffic for a long time,  Reminds me of why I don't live in a city.  When we returned, it was almost sunset, so we drove over to Semiahmoo Park, overlooking the Semiahmoo Bay, right near Blaine.  It has an isthmus with a narrow road and walking trail, jutting out into the bay, with water on either side.  One side looks west, and had a sweet, relaxing sunset.  We walked the isthmus, and sat for a while.  Then, returned "home".


Capilano Suspension Bridge Park photos:

Cliff Walk photos:

Granville ferry photos:

Stanley Park Totems photo:

Semiahmoo Park photos:

Aug 28- Vancouver, BC

  We started planning our stay here in the Blaine area, and decided we wanted to tour Vancouver, BC, instead of meandering around on our own.  So, we scheduled a tour of the city, and a bit of the surrounding area for Thursday, but it turned out we needed to be there, in Vancouver at 8:00 am.  This seemed a bit challenging, as we had no idea how the traffic would be crossing the border, close to the Labor Day holiday weekend.  So, Eva, the private tour guide, offered to let us stay at her house, so we could get an early start.  Very generous offer, especially considering we are strangers.  However, we took her up on the offer, and decided to go up today, and explore around a bit in the afternoon.
  We got to the border crossing around 1pm and had about a 15 minute wait.  Once we arrived in the Vancouver area, Georgette had recommended we go to see the Blodell Gardens, in Queen Elizabeth Park.  They were created on the top of and down the sides of a steep hill.  And, they did an incredible job!  Each area was beautifully laid out, and packed with flowers--both annuals and perennials.  Also, included water features, creating delightful ambiances.
  The Vancouver Maritime Museum was next.  It overlooks the English Bay.  Very nice park.  It had the sailing ship owned by the Royal Mounted Canadian Police, that was the first ship to cross the Northwest passage.  They also had an exhibit showing the history of Green Peace, which started in Vancouver.  I can even remember when they first began.  There is a little harbor in this park, and the small ferries that take folks around all these islands stops there.
  We went from there over to Stanley Park, a pennisula, in Vancouver harbor, right in the middle of Vancouver.  Drove around and through it.  By then, it was dinner time, so we headed over to North Vancouver, where Eva lives, and found a quaint Italian restaurant for dinner.  There are mountains on the north side of the city, and Eva lives in a subdivision a little ways up, so we drove around, heading upward, and watched the sun set from the mountain-side.  On the way to her house, we passed the shipping yards.  They are huge.  Apparently, Vancouver is one of the busiest ports in the world.  Huge silos, many in a row, and there were quite a few of them.  Coal, ships, trains, --all along the water way. 

Border crossing into Canada photo:

Blodell Gardens photos:

Vancouver Maritime Museum photos:

Stanley Park photos:

Aug 27 - on to Blaine, Washington

 We made the 3 hour trip up to Blaine, Washington, which is just 10 miles south of the Canadian border.  The route west on I-90 into Seattle was beautiful--more mountain canyon passes, with steep pine-covered canyon mountain sides on either side of the road.  When we hit Seattle, and started heading north, things flattened out.  And, of course civilization comes with lots of traffic. 
  This is the first of many Thousand Trails RV campgrounds we are staying at.  Since we are now members, we can stay here for "free".  It is like a parking lot, but with full hookup, laundry, swimming pool, and game room.  Ends up being a good staging location, from which to do our day trips.
  Since we arrived mid-day, I took advantage of there being both a Trader Joe's and a Whole Foods in the city of Bellingham, just 20 minutes away.  On the way back to the RV, I stopped at the beach overlooking Birch Bay, a few minutes away from our campground.   The tide change is very big here on the bay, so mid-day, at low tide, the water is WAY out there, but in the early evening, at high tide, it was quite beautiful.

No photos today.

Aug 26 - Day trip to Leavenworth, WA

  We decided to go on a day trip up to Leavenworth, WA.  This is a town that decided to create a theme tourist town in order to save their dying old logging town, up in the mountains of Washington.  So, they decided on creating a Bavarian village, as many of the mountains in Washington seemed similar to the mountains in Bavaria.  They started it in the 60's, and now it is a thriving tourist town.  It worked so well that the nearby town of Whinthrop, on scenic Route 2, created an old west theme town.  Leavenworth has rigid building requirements in the commercial district.  They also created a very nice river walk park, a couple of miles long, crossing over a small island.  It was a bit hokey, but it was a nice place to visit.  Great restaurants.  With quite a diverse range of art galleries, wineries, and general tourist stuff. 
  We had lunch there, then on the way back, just outside of Leavenworth, which is surrounded by big pine-covered mountains and canyons, we drove up one to a National Fish Hatchery.  I've never been to one.  This one hatches 1.2 million trout a year, to release into the streams. 
  Back to the RV, just in time for our sibling/cousin monthly Zoom call!

Leavenworth, Washington photos: