Tea in Victoria

We left our comfortable lodgings in Sidney yesteday morning for a romp in Victoria, the Provinical Capitol of British Columbia, and the seat of their government. We parked in the first available parking lot, and began to wander. We went into a high-end Irish import store, and looked around, but most of the stuff was better suited for a much colder climate than any of us live in. We wandered the Inner Harbor, and past the Provincial Capitol building (the sun was in a lousy position for a photo). We thought about going to an iMax movie at the Royal BC Museum, but someone made the comment that we ought to try for an earlier tea party (Bubby had it all set for 2:00 PM). She called the White Heather in Oak Bay and they agreed to accommodate us early. We dashed back to our parked car, raced out to Oak Bay, and were only about 10 minutes late for our 11:30 tea time.

Of course the selection of sweets and savories was astonishing and all freshly made. There were two kinds of scones, raisan and apricot ginger. Lots of Devonshire clotted cream and lemon curd, and tea and hot chocolate to drink. The shortbread and jam tarts on the uppermost level were to die for. Our hostess does all of her own baking, and everything was excellent. Botty wouldn't even try the herbal tea, but hey, he knows he doesn't like it. We were all stuffed when we left the tea room after only 1 1/2 hours. We began to wander in search of antique and quilting stores and made several forays. We did find a Safeway and bought two more kilos of Scotch mints (I'll share with any of my readers). Bubby was looking for the pattern to the tea cup/pot quilt in the back of the photograph above. It was made by the Oak Bay Quilting Guild, but alas, she was unable to find a contact point.

We drove back into town, checked into our hotel, the Queen Victoria (locally the QV), and wandered out on the town again. We did see an iMax film about pre-historic sea monsters, and then headed for Swans Brew Pub for some pub-fare. That was the choice of Laurie and Booty, because you can get about anything in a pub. The Brew Pub was located on Pandora street and Bubby was really excited to have her photo taken beneath that sign.

We all opted for a hamburger. Bubby got sweet potatoe fries, Botty and I had ours with the local chowder. It was lovely. Bubby ordered a mug of their locally brewed root beer, and said it was excellent. We enjoyed being warm,inside, and watching the freaks wander around us. We were in and out of several shops on our way to, and from, the Swan but were unsuccessful in obtaining a Victoria charm for Big K.

Laurie agreed to pose with her burger. She might regret it after she sees the blog, but it was a fun time.

As we left the Swan, and headed down by the water, we spotted the capitol building all lit up (like a fairy land). We walked back to the QV via a different route and all crashed. Booty and Laur watched an episode of House, and Bubby and I just plain drifted off. She later woke up with a case of the molly grubs. She said her hamburger was stuck in her chest. I slept through all of that. Of course, I was awake by 4:45 AM, and watched a movie on my computer.

We are all ready for the day. We plan on leaving here about 9:45 AM to catch the Coho to Port Angeles. We will go to sacrament meeting in Sequim this afternoon, and then head south. We have decided to stay overnight in Portland tonight. We thought about going home to Booty and Lauries, but that would mean an extra three hours of driving that none of us needs. They have tomorrow off, so we might as well extend our vacation another day.

Buboppy

Oh, Canada!

The day started with an early appointment to ride the ferry. We were waiting at the dock in Anacortes at 7:00 AM. We loaded up, and were on our way by 7:45 AM. We stopped (picking up and dropping off passengers and cars) at Orcas Island, Friday Harbor, and finally Sidney, BC. The whole ferry ride took about three hours, but we were warm and comfortable on the second deck. We ate sack lunches provided by our motel and played a game of Crowns. Booty and Laurie posed for me at the boat dock, Friday Harbor. It is for certain that we need to revisit the San Juan Islands in the future. They looked really interesting.

After checking into lodgings (The Cedarwood Inn) we went to town in Sidney, and found a bakery and bookstore. Laurie tasted her first European sausage roll. Very tasty indeed. We drove to Butchart Gardens, arriving in a down pour. It was a little discouraging, because we had looked forward to the stop, but the gardens provide umbrellas, and our parking attendant even took this photo for us. We had to include the crab sign, which is how one remembers where he is parked.

You wouldn't think there would be much to see at a public garden in October, but not only were the fall leaves on prominent display, the garden was planted with mums, dahlias, fuschias, hydraganias, and a myriad of other flowers I couldn't name. We took a ton of photos, most of which I will spare you from. After about 45 minutes, its stopped raining and the sun came out. The garden was spectacularly beautiful then, because the wet plants really showed off their color in the warm sunshine.

One of the highlights of the gardens is the beautiful Japanese section. Bubby, Booty, and Laur stopped to ham it up at the gate. This part of the garden has beautiful ponds, streams, sculpted shrubs, and bridges. We had fun looking around, but Laurie's camera decided it didn't want to play in the wet, and just quit. She was bummed out, because there were still lots of photos to be taken, and she was cameraless. We tried everything, but the camera would just not work properly. Interestingly enough, we just got back to the motel, and she turned it on, it is working fine now. Go figure.

This is the obligatory shot by the entrance to the gardens. We had a wonderful time, finishing our visit with warm up by the fire and some bread and cheese. It was nice to just sit and smile, thinking about everything we had seen and done.

We left the gardens in the rain, again. We drove to the other side of the island to a Provincial park called Goldstream. When we were here with Uncle Phil in November a few years ago, the salmon were running up this little stream and it was really something to see. Unfortunately, the fish were not in the stream, so the whole outing was kind of a waste. Bubby did pose with the biggest maple leaf in the world, and she wanted me to be sure and include this photo.

After we got back to Sidney, we went to the grocery to buy ketchup flavored potato chips and Scotch mints. We also bought a liter of milk for tomorrow's breakfast. We tried a couple of restaurant options and settled on a Greek spot. We had warm, homemade, pita bread and houmus for our appetizer. Bubby and I shared a nice Greek salad and pasta dish, Booty had a gyro, and Laurie ate baked spaghetti. Aside from their using clove in her pasta sauce, the meal was great. We ended the evening at Dairy Queen, where we finally celebrated Booty's new job.

A great day altogether and tomorrow will probably be just as good. Bubby has high tea reservations at the White Heather (a favorite of hers) at 2:00 PM and we will undoubtedly look around the Inner Harbor tomorrow, too.

Buboppy

On the Road with Booty and Laur

What a fun plane ride we had to Portland! We got to Las Vegas just in time to make our plane (don't ask me how we missed up our departure time so badly). We flew from Las Vegas to San Diego, then to Sacramento, and finally to Portland. We arrived about 1/2 hour late. When we found our hotel, we were severely disappointed. We stayed at a Quality Inn that looks like it is about to loose its franchise. The room stunk, the floor was unvaccumed, and the beds had stray hairs in them. When we woke up in the morning, grateful to wake up in the morning, we figured out why. As the sign says, the motel is located on Skidmore Street, we should have known.

While traveling from Portland to Seattle, we saw an outlet mall complex on the side of the road. One of the stores was a Pfaltzgraf outlet. Bubby was very happy to stop and look around. Of course, we had to make a token purchase, and Bubby was happy to pose with her new salt and pepper shakers and "pinch bowls". They also had a Bali outlet, and an Eddie Bauer storefront. Laur found a skirt and Bubby bought some necessary undergarments. It was a very fruitful stop.

When we got to Seattle, we wandered around a bit before finding Pike's Place Market. We went down by the water first, because we were starved! We went to our favorite on the waterfront dive, and had some alder smoked halibut and fries. It was outstanding! You can see Booty and Laur smiling in the aftermath, and she barely even likes fish. It was super fresh and delightfully smokey. After lunch, we wandered to Pike's Place Market, bought bread a cheese, and generally looked around. We had another 80 mile stretch to drive north of Seattle, so we didn't linger for long.

Our lodgings in Anacortes are great. Our room opens up onto a nice lawn, which was frequented by two different buck deer while we watched! These accommodations are really nice, and we hate to have to catch the ferry and leave them behind. Anacortes is definitely on our list of future Northwest destinations. It was kind of touristy, but in a cute and well kept way. We did go out to dinner in a bar, and they carded Laurie. She didn't have her purse with her, and they almost threw us out. We talked them out of it though, and enjoyed some great bar food. Bubby had a bowl of chili, Booty a hamburger with chili on it, and Laur and I, a salad. Very nice. No DQ in Anacortes, so we will have to do that elsewhere.

The final news is that Booty got his offer from The Republic Group today. He is employed in Dallas, starting November 12th. They even offered money for the move! He and Laur are smiling big tonight.

This last picture shows Booty getting the facts in our motel room. We were all very pleased, and I am sure that Matt and Laurie are relieved that their future can now take a more definite shape. Congratulations to them.

Buboppy

Chocolate Heaven!

It has been a quiet, but busy week for Bubb and I. Meanwhile, Jake is on Fall Break from school (in lieu of UEA, I guess), and so Sarah has been trying to add a little vacation spice to his life. She, and the whole gang, came to Cedar City on Wednesday with Auntie Nell. They were going to visit Jodie and the boys (Cade and Jake are best buddies), but Bubby intercepted them, and they went to lunch at Bruno's. Jake ate an entire meatball sandwich, and then, Bubby took him to the Garden House and bought him a piece of their "Ten Pound Chocolate Cake". It is an amazing thing, with nine layers of chocolate ecstasy. I guess he was unable to eat it all, but the whole gang shared it, so none was wasted.

By the time they got to the Garden House, Lydia was through sitting. I guess it was quite a circus with her trying to get down and the ever-wandering Katie exploring the inner most recesses of the Garden House. Bubby said she had fun. They did get together with Jody and the boys later, and a good time was had by all.

This photo was taken in Robert's Craft, where Auntie Nell is shopping for Christmas.

Bubby and I went to the Temple last night with the Rodriguez. Dinner at the Mongolian BBQ followed. It was the Pearl's first experience, and he wished he had put more cashews in his stir fry. Sarah and family are coming for overnight tonight, and they are starting on our roof this morning. Lots happening this weekend.

Buboppy

Conference Weekend

By now, most of you know that Sarah rode up to general conference with us. Carolyn, her boss, has been in an auto accident, and was hospitalized at the U of U Medical Center. While Daniel, Rosalyn, Bubby and I attended the Saturday morning session, Sarah rode Trax out to visit Carolyn. We all rendezvoused after the session. The morning session was amazing, and it was so interesting to watch the sustaining of a new councilor in the First Presidency. You may not know this, but after the announcement and the change in seating assignments, President Hinckley used his cane to "knight" Elder Eyring, which brought a laugh from the audience. After conference, we stopped at Frank Granado's for lunch. It was everyone except Bubby and my first time. I guess the canoli was awesome.


It was Daniel's first trip to the conference center, and he was having a good time. I think that Grandma Patty did everyone a big favor by agreeing to watch the Boy while his parents went to conference. Bubby insisted that we get a picture together, which is why that one is included. You know how I love to have my photo taken. I think we caught Rosalyn thinking about missed sleep in the photo taken inside the conference center.

While we were waiting for the Sunday afternoon session we did a tour of Temple Square. The newly refurbished Tabernacle is very impressive, and we even had our photos taken there. We blasted out of the conference center, hoping to beat the crowd, and get Sarah back to St. George at a decent hour. She still didn't get home until after 9:00 PM. Thanks to Grandma Marsha for taking the Wild Ly for the weekend. I guess she spent most of it carrying a video tape around. If she puts it down in front of a door she wants to open, the extra inch gives her just enough height to pull down on the door handle. Marsha said she spent much of the weekend with a video tape tucked under her arm, and that Grandma Eves look of determination on her face.

Buboppy

Test Day

I am writing this in a classroom while my geology students take an exam. If they only knew . . .

I have no photos to post today, but some good news. I talked to Booty last night, and he got home safely from both of his interview trips. Last night, he was getting home from Dallas. He said the interview went well, and I am hoping for more details in the very near future. I hope that some more opportunities to interview come up, because I know he would like to have a couple of offers working.

Bubby and I went to the Temple last night with Barb and "The Pearl". Lots of fun. Ruby River for dinner. The baked potato was great, I had an appetizer for the main course (artichoke dip).

It looks like a serious storm is blowing in. They are calling for snow up north, and of course we are headed that way at o'dark early tomorrow morning. Babsy is coming with us. Her boss, Carolyn was in an auto accident and is hospitalized up north. Sarah wants to check on her, and besides, it gives her a weekend away. Unfortunately, we don't have conference tickets for her.

We will be seeing Daniel and family tomorrow, so I will have much more to report.

Buboppy

One last entry!

Sorry, but I though everyone would like to see this cute picture of Babsy and the girls. This was one of several she sent me, but I thought it was great, and that Katie looked fabulous.
Buboppy

Field Trip to GSENM

Thought you might like to see some photos from our field trip. We drove over to Escalante on Friday morning, but stopped to walk the Mossy Cave trail and allow the students to see a little bit of Hoodoo action. We also made a quick stop at Red Canyon visitors center (Bubby got a new vest with Smokey the Bear on it!) to get some specific directions to dinosaur tracks from my friend, Gayle Pollock, and then we headed for Escalante. Our group was small (12), and we really had a great time.

We drove down the Hole in the Rock road about 35 miles to the Dry Forks Trail Head, and hiked both Spooky and Peek-a-boo slot canyons. This photo is Peek-a-boo. It is a nice loop hike that brought us back to the car. Spooky was so tight that I couldn't get past the rocky interior. I was through hiking it about 50 yards into the canyon. Several members of our group were able to go all the way through and climb out at the end.

We stopped for lunch at Devil's Garden, and it was delightful and sunny. Bubby found a place she could do the lizard thing. I know she had fun, because the sun was out.

The last day, we left Escalante and drove to Cannonville. We drove down the Cottonwood Wash road, and I took the kids to Round Valley Draw. It is a really cool slot canyon that opens up in the bed of a dry wash. Bubby and I didn't end up going in, but the kids loved it.

I included a couple of photos to show you just how narrow these slots are, just in case you haven't seen them. The trip was great and it started raining about five minutes after we got back on pavement. Our timing was perfect.


Buboppy