Last Stop Before Home

 

Kolya loves climbing the "rocks" at the
playground near their home. 

Our last stop was a Memorial Day weekend with our son James, daughter-in-law Morgen and grandson Kolya in Washington DC. We left Walt & Honoree at 8 AM after a terrific big breakfast and arrived at our Cherry Hill RV Park at 6 PM - a very long day. The last two hours were spent crawling along the highways around Washington. What a relief to settle in for the night with some excellent leftovers from the night before. 

A scattering of beautiful waterlilies were in 
bloom

We saw a lot of herons - green and here, blue.

It's an easy drive on a Saturday morning into the Capitol District where they live and the weather was lovely. Morgen's parents came for dinner and we were able to sit outside outside and eat James' excellent mixed grilled meats. The next day, after some time at the park with Kolya, we drove to the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. This National Park Service site was once a thriving business in aquatic plants back in the early 1900's and since 1921 was run by Helen Shaw Fowler, one of the few woman running a big business. The government bought the property in 1938 and it encompasses many ponds of rare waterlilies and lotuses plus the biggest preserved marsh land in the District. 

Grassy and gravel walkways wend their way through the watery landscape.

Kolya's inseparable companion that weekend
was the sea otter we brought him from 
Vancouver. 

James and Morgen

The weather continued to be lovely so we all went out to our RV park on Monday and enjoyed the playground and water park before having dinner on the patio at our RV. We needed to make an early start on Tuesday morning as we had another long day before reaching home. And it was long - another 10 hours. We were so tired that when we got to the border of Vermont, we stopped at the Welcome Center and had our dinner! We found a lovely spot in the truck/trailer parking lot and had a nice view of the Bennington Monument and the hills. 

Enjoying dinner at Baby at the Cherry Hill RV Park - where we have stayed now many times. But this was the first time in warm weather where we got to enjoy their amenities. 

Like the water park.

So we were a bit rested when we pulled into our driveway at 7 PM and found enough energy to unpack a few things. But it was an early night to bed. Our own bed...after 5 months away. "There's no place like home", to quote Dorothy. 

And a fire where we made s'mores!

Graduations Galore

Sean, Scott, Josh, Shira, Maya, Heather & Uzi at the Columbia graduation

The happy graduates, Daniel and Ariella

Our grandson Nick, new graduate from 
University of California, Merced!

Three of our grandchildren graduated from college this May! We were only able to attend 2 of them, both our oldest son Josh's, Daniel and Ariella "Cookie" from Columbia University. Zoë's son Nick graduated from University of California at Merced the week before but they couldn't get extra tickets so we watched the live feed. That really worked out well and we were able to see Nick get his diploma! 

Daniel with his friends, all new graduates at the party (Ariella had left to attend another party)

We flew from Vancouver to NYC and stayed three nights with Josh and Michal and all five of our grandchildren. Our youngest son Sean also joined us from Boston. The graduation took place over 2 days. The first was the ceremonies of individual schools within Columbia. Both Daniel and Cookie attended Columbia College. The second day was for the entire university where the President conferred the degrees. Daniel is heading to Oxford in the fall for Medical School. Cookie finished in only 3 years and is taking a year before starting medical school as well. 

Daniel and Sean

We lucked out on weather on our first day but the second was rainy. It didn't stop thousands cheering their sons and daughters! We had a big party at the apartment with lots of new graduates attending. Altogether a wonderful time. We're so proud of our grandchildren!!!

On Thursday we flew down to Raleigh, NC. Walt & Honoree picked us up. They have been keeping Junior and Baby for us for the last three months. We only had one night there before driving north to Washington DC to visit our son James and his family for Memorial Day weekend. It was a grueling 10 hour trip due to arriving in the city at rush hour! But the result is a lovely visit, which I'll cover in my next post.

The graduates filing into the ceremony on the first
day!

That's Shira and Michal center left. We got very
good seats on the second day but not all 
together, 

Sean was able to whip out his phone and take this photo of Daniel and Ariella on the big screen - amazing since it was only up for a brief time!

The Rest of Beautiful Vancouver Island

Jim, Renate, Heather and Scott at lunch on our way to the West Coast of Vancouver

 After leaving Victoria on the Royal Princess, we docked in Vancouver. This was our last morning on the boat and an easy departure. Our baggage was all packed and outside our stateroom door the night before. We weren't anxious to leave early in the morning as our ferry over to Vancouver island wasn't until 1 PM.  So we dawdled over our breakfast and waited until the last moment to depart. Which was still early at 9:30 AM. 

Looking one direction from the front of Jim and
Renate's home

And now the other direction and down to their
patio.

It wasn't easy walking over to the Hullo Ferry landing. No one seemed to know where it was although we knew it wasn't far. And we were dragging two big bags, one carry on and 2 back packs. Once "there" we still couldn't see a sign indicating the actual location. Finally we met a woman who was going on the ferry and assured us that this was the place. AND she pointed out a great restaurant right there that wouldn't mind our taking up a table for many hours. De Dutch was a terrific find. We spent 3 hours there outside but under an awning and enjoyed a wonderful Dutch pancake breakfast: mine was with maple syrup  with bacon and Scott's eggs , bacon and potatoes! Our waitress was so much fun and spent a long time chatting with us. 

You have an amazing view from their living/
dining room

Looking up at the house from the patio.

The ferry was fast and easy on and off. Our great friends Renate and Jim met us at the dock. We have spent wonderful times buddy boating with them on their Island Packet "Emerald Seas" in Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. Two years ago Jim and his brother brought it up to Florida and we met them there for a few days. In 2023 and 2024 we all got together in New Orleans first and then Montana for the first and second annual Tortugeezer Reunions. Then they came out for our third reunion at our home in Vermont in October. 

Walking the beach on the West Coast

This driftwood had a lovely saying carved on
it "We are all one"

The miles long beach on the west side of the island: Jim, Heather and Renate

They have a fantastic home overlooking the sound just north of Nanaimo. The weather was great our first day and we were able to sit outside for drinks on their patio overlooking the sea. And the next day was lovely too. We drove over the mountains to the west coast and picnicked on the beach. Later we walked along West Coast trail for a short ways near an iconic Amphitrite lighthouse. Built in 1915 on the site of a previously destroyed wooden one, it is still active. We met Renate's son James there and picked up a huge amount of fresh shrimp! That graced a wonderful dinner for the next night and there was lots more for more feasts in the future. On the way back we stopped for a nice meal at an old church turned into a good restaurant. 

 The walkway down to the Amphitrite lighthouse.

Views along the West Coast trail

Sun dappled trail

Scott and Jim enjoy a beer at the repuposed
church, now a restaurant.

The next day the weather wasn't great but the occasional drizzle didn't dampen our plans. We visited BC SPCA, a animal rehabilitation center with a huge range of rescue birds and animals. Renate made an amazing dinner with those shrimp that night with homemade pesto and pasta. 

There were lots of owls on view

Dressed for the rainy day!

The next day was so fun although again, cloudy and cool with occasional showers. We drove up the east coast seeing lovely beaches and towns. At lunch time we stopped at an excellent local cafe with a terrific lunch.  But the best part was the end where we walked through some virgin forest to a beautiful waterfall with a swing bridge. 

The long beach on the East side third day.

The waterfall was beautiful at the end of our
hike. 

Scott on the suspension bridge

Sea planes are everywhere in Vancouver. They provide transportation to many areas where roads don't go. 

It was hard to say good-bye after such a wonderful visit! We lazed around after a big breakfast and caught the 1 PM Hullo ferry back to Vancouver. We had one night at the Marriott Airport Hotel before flying the next morning to NYC for the graduation for two of our grandchildren: Daniel and "Cookie" Ariella. More on that in my next post.

I loved this driftwood whale sculpture!

Jim caught this image of a wonderful 
sculpture done by a good friend of theirs's in
a public park. It commemorates the fight to
save the virgin forest. 

Victoria - Butchart and Butterfly Gardens

The Butcharts' home now houses restaurants, the gift shop and info center.

The view looking down into the Sunken Garden, once a limestone quarry.

This pond with water lilies is in the Sunken Garden

 Because if was a short day in Victoria we decided to go on another cruise ship tour and the only one with seats available was the Butchart Gardens and Butterfly Gardens. I really wanted just the former having seen many butterfly gardens in the past but our experience in San Francisco cutting it too close on boarding taught us to be careful. And it was a very good tour due to an excellent guide who drove us two different directions through Victoria so we saw a lot of the city. 

This waterfall was at the end of the quarry. Those are forget-me-nots in blue with wine dark tulips.

Scott in the Japanese Garden

I found this peep hole in the Japanese Garden that showed a glimpse of the lake and their boats.

Butchart Gardens is a marvel - one of the prettiest ones I've ever seen - especially the sunken garden which is built in the old lime quarry. Robert and Jennie Butchart bought land on Vancouver island in 1904 with limestone deposits for his Portland Cement Company. In 1909 when the quarry was exhausted Jennie began a life long job of turning it into a garden. It's still owned by the family and run by their great-granddaughter. 

I can't resist including tons of photos - there were many more of course.

The Italian Garden, built on the old tennis courts

The tulip colors were so gorgeous - looking from the Italian garden to the Rose Garden, which was due to the time of year, flowerless. 

As you can see from the photos, we had a beautiful day. We walked all around the property. The main areas are: the Sunken garden, Rose garden, Japanese garden and Italian garden. The displays are changed for each of the four seasons. We wish we could be there to view the other 3 seasons!!!

More tulips in the Italian Garden

The Greenhouse with orchids and blue poppies

A view into the Greenhouse

Just love these!

Then we moved to the Butterfly garden, a private enterprise and quite nice really. Scott particularly loved the flamingo and parrots. They had some lovely flowers as well. The drive back went right through the historic waterfront area and really made us wish we had a lot more time there. Oh well, another time maybe. But our last night on ship was very pleasant with a good evening show featuring the Princess singers and dancers. We said good-bye to our wonderful Stewart Paolo and packed our suitcases to leave outside our door. More on our trip to Vancouver in my next posts.

Blue Poppies are ethereal 

This insect is well camouflaged. 

Scott was good at catching these butterflies
at their brief rest.

And the parrots as well.

Only one flamingo!

Those are U.S. mountains across the bay from Victoria