thesimpleHOUSE

Our last day, as we were getting ready to leave, it started to rain bit. Our timing for the trip was impeccable. We were taking the noon ferry from the north end of the island, to Vancouver, then down to Seattle. I have to say this was the first trip I didn’t obsess about locating superchargers along our route. And the attached picture shows why. Between Vancouver BC and Seattle, there are no less than a dozen Superchargers in the 140 mile leg. Charging would NOT be a problem.

We had a great view of Pike Place Market from our room, the hotel was very nice and we were ready to get home.

All in all, it was a wonderful short vacation. It was also economical for “fuel” costs. We spent just $63 to drive 900 miles.

Not too shabby! 

Friday was our actual anniversary.

First, we toured Parliament (we had not done that on our first trip to Victoria), walked to a coffee shop (and had awesome coffee), then over to Fisherman’s Wharf for lunch. I’m starting to eat fish, but the fish and chips for lunch (even though Brenda said they were good) were just “meh” for me. But we did find a street vendor selling dried, pressed seaweed and kelp art that was beautiful. Our dining room pictures from New York in 2003 had faded, so we bought some replacements.

I had made dinner reservations at an Italian restaurant (Il Terrazzo) that came highly recommended. I was glad, because they were packed. However, dinner was excellent and so was the service. There is an Il Terrazzo in Portland we liked as well, but they are not connected.

Our fourth day was all about Butchart Gardens. It had been about 40 years since we were there and it’s just as nice as we remember. Gorgeous flowers and greenery and the weather was absolutely perfect. Sunny and at times a bit overcast, but in the mid 70s. 

I have traditionally bought yellow roses for Brenda on our anniversary. Since we were going to be in Victoria on the actual day and since we would be leaving Victoria the day after our anniversary, I decided to have them delivered a couple of days early so she could enjoy them longer. I didn’t think they would travel well. She liked them.

We spent Day Three at the Royal Canadian Museum. We got to see John Lennon’s Rolls Royce (complete with actual record player). Very nice museum.

That evening, we walked over to Chinatown. Everything said it was phenomenal. It was nice, but VERY small. Only a couple of blocks wide and three blocks long. None of the Chinese restaurants in Chinatown looked appealing, so we ventured out a few blocks to Hope Key. It had great Yelp reviews and the owner was named Brenda. So it seemed natural. 

We got into a great conversation with her and found out her husband’s name is also Bill. Wow. Such a coincidence! And yes, the food was excellent. Highly recommend!

The next morning’s breakfast was amazing. Only one other couple was staying at the B&B and we engaged in a good conversation. We then packed up, then headed up to Hurricane Ridge.

Hurricane Ridge is probably our favorite National Park hike anywhere. This was now at least our third time there. Sadly, the lodge burned down a couple of years ago during a renovation project, but we had decent weather and packed a lunch to carry in and carry out.

The weather was decent. A bit more overcast than we hoped, but very nice nonetheless. Cold (it’s almost 6,000 ft elevation), but we enjoyed a picnic lunch anyway.

I had scheduled an evening ferry to Victoria so we could arrive around dinner time.

Unlike our recent Chicago trip, this one was to be a road trip. We find we really like road trips, listening to an audio book on the long drives and just enjoying the scenery.

We left, as usual, around 10 am and headed north. This is our “normal” for a couple of reasons. First, it let’s us have a comfortable, unrushed morning, and second, it puts us at the Vancouver supercharger right around noon for lunch. You see, there’s a Thai restaurant we really like in the shopping center adajcent to the charger, so we can “fill up” while we eat. And we did just that.

Our first night was at a B&B we really enjoy in Port Angeles and we rolled in right around 4:30. This gave us time to unload the necessities from the car and head out for dinner.

We tried a new spot, the 929, A Woodfired Grill. We had heard their halibut was to die for. But the water had been too choppy that day and they didn’t have halibut. We “settled” for the smoked salmon linguini. Oh. My. Word. It was phenomenal. If you’re ever in Port Angeles, go there.

We settled in for the night and looked forward to a wonderful breakfast the next morning.