My partner and I took a vacation out to the Pacific Northwest back in late May and early June. We visited Vacourver, B. C. (and kossack and occasional TC diarist Light Emitting Pickle), Seattle, WA, and the Oregon Coast. Despite the fact that it was rainy, or at least cloudy, on all but three days in our 13 day excursion, we had a great time. It has taken me a while to finally get the photos organized for display (not that there were that many). Follow me over the fold to take a look at what we saw...
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Our first objective was Vancouver, B. C. After landing at Sea-Tac, we rented a car and headed north. We've been to Canada quite a few times, but only in the east. This was our first time exploring the west coast of Canada.
Light Emitting Pickle and her husband were gracious hosts to us. They were too busy to come with us in our touristy adventures, but they gave us lots of ideas and information about where to go and how to get there. And, we had some truly fabulous dinners! There are some really great restaurants in Vancouver!
Vancouver is a very beautiful city, nestled below very high mountains that, at that time, still had snow on them. Unfortunately, we didn't think to get any shots featuring the mountains, but we do have this shot of the downtown.
(I told you it was cloudy.)
At this same park, there were some impressive totem poles as well.
While just walking along a street in Vancouver, my partner, who is a gardening maven, noticed some huge, beautiful peonies. (His hand is the closest thing to a people shot in the photos I'm sharing.)
On our second full day in B. C., we took a ferry to Vancouver Island, to visit Butchart Gardens and see Victoria, the provincial capital of B. C. After crossing open water, the ferry boat threaded through a number of smaller islands. We have this shot of the journey.
At Butchart Gardens, the rhododendrons were just about at their peak. Here are a variety of blooms. (The first shot came from the Japanese garden.)
One flower that amazed and delighted my partner was this Himalayan blue poppy. He had only read about these flowers, and about how hard they are to grow.
Mrs. Butchart, who planned the garden, started it in a spent gravel pit used by her husband's cement business. There were photos of what the pit looked like before Mrs. Butchart got started on it. This is what it looks like today.
I have no photos of Victoria, unfortunately. We didn't have enough time to get out of the car and take in the sights if we were going to catch the ferry we needed to get on.
We then bid Light Emitting Pickle and her husband farewell and headed back to Seattle for the Northwest Folklife Festival, that takes place over Memorial Day weekend, and it's free! I have no photos of this, but we had a great time. One highlight was seeing the Bobs perform. I don't have any photos from Seattle either. So sue me.
Next, we headed down to the Oregon coast, where friends of ours live in the rainforest. Following are some photos from their land. It's a truly beautiful place.
We also visited Cannon Beach nearby. This is where we saw the bald eagle in the branches of one of the dead trees at the top of that sand dune on the right in the photo below.
After that, we drove back up to Seattle, took a side trip to Bellingham (again, no photos--sorry), and then flew back home.
Now on to top comments!
From JanF
This comment by hestal in NCrissieB's diary Morning Feature: What Americans Want, Part I - Says Who?? sums it up: "Americans want to live very long lives that are worth living".
And from that same diary, I share some of the cynicism of DWG in this comment: "I want to believe a better day will come, but my coffee tastes bitter this morning, the orange juice does not taste like oranges, my rice crispies refuse to snap, crackle, or pop, and every news station is debating whether there should be a Muslim exclusion zone around the site of a terrorist attack we call sacred."
Again, from the same diary, NCrissieB adds this hilarious comment suggesting that people who say that health care reform will make "a trip to the doctor like a trip to the DMV" may unintentionally be promoting HCR.
From ChocolateChris
Caj explains the difference between GBCW & TTFN in dedmonds' diary A Farewell to Dailykos.
From BobSmith415
plan9pub describes his emotional state in a comment longer than his own diary, I have seen the change, and ask "Is there any hope?" in which the comment was posted.
From sardonyx:
In aaraujo's diary The Growing Ignorance of the Electorate, temptxan says I used to believe that I was of average intelligence, but the change in this belief has wider implications...
Nulwee posted a similar diary to TomP's Bye, bye Carnahan. No More $$$ From Me and then deleted it, but there's some good stuff from it that was fortunately posted as a comment in the surviving diary.
From your humble diarist:
I liked this comment by filby from kos' front page diary Beltway CW: Cut social security to make the markets happy.
Top Mojo (cskendrick/sardonyx-style) excluding Cheers and Jeers, search-identifiable tip jars, first diary comments, and various pooties:
1) I feel like I'm shifting to become a different... by APA Guy — 134
2) He wasn't the best husband or father by debbieleft — 129
3) how much of the Iraq withdrawal did you see by aaraujo — 111
4) Thank you by FrugalGranny — 106
5) Net Neutrality Now and Forever by JekyllnHyde — 101
6) Thank you everyone. by debbieleft — 99
7) Oh, it gets worse. Much worse. by BruinKid — 93
8) Fiscal responsibility..I guess she joins Limbaugh by APA Guy — 89
9) As long as I am going to still die someday by AntonBursch — 88
10) Happy Birthday Snackdoodle!!! by spiraldancer8 — 80
11) That's the key. by TomP — 79
12) Forgive me by Diogenes2008 — 78
13) The Imam's Statement by JekyllnHyde — 78
14) None... And that's the point. by atdnext — 75
15) I was about to say by jj32 — 74
16) I'm so sorry by Senor Unoball — 73
17) My Thoughts Are With You And Your Family by webranding — 73
18) We are to travel together sunday by debbieleft — 72
19) Honestly Speaking? by smoothnmellow — 70
20) Getting our combat troops out of Iraq by elliott — 70
21) I am so very sorry by Frankenoid — 69
22) I worked for those assholes for years... by APA Guy — 68
23) Thanks for this. by Rudyard — 68
24) My condolences by yuriwho — 67
25) Let's be blunt. by madmsf — 65
26) Very sneaky by blue aardvark — 65
27) Like the IGTNT diaries, you've graced us by watercarrier4diogenes — 65
28) Bets on whether the survey will include: by Clarknt67 — 63
29) As always, BWD, your diary lifts and inspires... by APA Guy — 62
30) You shouldn't stop crying by Dallasdoc — 62
Top Mojo with No Exclusions:
1) TJ by snackdoodle — 493
2) For some reason I thought by debbieleft — 459
3) Tip Jar by TomP — 403
4) Tip Jar by aaraujo — 361
5) Remembrance. by noweasels — 353
6) Tip Jar by Zain — 332
7) Tip Jar by blackwaterdog — 284
8) Can anyone help me out? by LaughingPlanet — 260
9) Tip Jar by Alan Grayson — 258
10) When thrown an anchor by the other side... by Stephen Daugherty — 241
11) Tip Jar by Cenk Uygur — 217
12) Tip Jar by indiemcemopants — 195
13) Tip Jar: Note by LaFeminista — 194
14) Tip Jar by dedmonds — 191
15) I feel like I'm shifting to become a different... by APA Guy — 134
16) He wasn't the best husband or father by debbieleft — 129
17) Tip Jar by Muzikal203 — 121
18) how much of the Iraq withdrawal did you see by aaraujo — 111
19) Thank you by FrugalGranny — 106
20) Tip Jar by Haole in Hawaii — 101
21) Net Neutrality Now and Forever by JekyllnHyde — 101
22) Thank you everyone. by debbieleft — 99
23) Oh, it gets worse. Much worse. by BruinKid — 93
24) Scritchie Jar by triciawyse — 90
25) Fiscal responsibility..I guess she joins Limbaugh by APA Guy — 89
26) As long as I am going to still die someday by AntonBursch — 88
27) Happy Birthday Snackdoodle!!! by spiraldancer8 — 80
28) That's the key. by TomP — 79
29) Forgive me by Diogenes2008 — 78
30) The Imam's Statement by JekyllnHyde — 78