August 2019 – today's worry

Victoria to Nanaimo. 8/29/19

Lots to do today with a trip from Victoria to Nanaimo along the north shore of Vancouver Island. We will be catching the ferry tomorrow from Departure Bay (Nanaimo) to Horseshoe Bay near Vancouver.

After a filling breakfast which should hold us until dinner we are on our way taking time to stop along the way to take in the gorgeous views. Our first stop is at the two Malahat viewpoints which overlook an arm of the Saanich Inlet.

Beautiful view of the inlet with the Olympic Peninsula mountains in the far distance

Also on our way to Nanaimo we pass through Duncan, City of Totems. Certainly that deserves a look. They have an information center with a map and a chatty lady. She wants us to take a tour but we demur. We have places to go and things to see today!

Our map helps us find the totem poles and there are plaques to explain the different figures on the totems and the stories associated with them.

Raven’s Gift Totem

These are the words of the carver, Doug La Fortune. “This one was a story about a young fellow… the Man in the middle with adze in his hand was a carver. He’s holding the adze, he is saying,”Here is my gift to you.” The Chief commissioned this pole and the raven brought the carved pole to another village that was near the river…the Beaver helped provide the log.”

The Feast Totem

Also by Doug La Fortune. The Quw’utsun’ people called upon the Thunderbird to help them. The Killer Whale was eating all the Salmon in Cowichan Bay and the Salmon were not getting up the river. The Thunderbird helped the people by taking the Killer Whale out of the bay and putting it on top of a mountain where the Thunderbird ate him.

Cedar Man Walking out of the Log

Cedar Man is the world’s widest totem pole at almost 6 feet. The original tree was over 750 years old when forestry company MacMillan Bloedel donated it to the city. The Cedar Man is showing a chief who has the right to speak at ceremonies holding his talking stick which contains his family crests. On this talking stick you see the thunderbird, the killer whale, and the man.

It is pretty hot here in Duncan, over 80F. The town must be shielded from the ocean breezes by the mountains in the middle of the island. We are pretty warm from our walk and ready to get back in the car and take the short ride over to B.C. Raptor Center. They have raptors including owls, hawks, and eagles plus some non-raptors like the turkey vulture.
A flying show is put on three times a day. The birds are flying free and sometimes they do what they are supposed to and sometimes they go sit in a tree. Most were born at the Raptor Center and stay there of their own accord.

So the birds fly back and forth between perches and are rewarded with little tidbits of food. All the while the head caretaker tells us fascinating facts about the birds., i.e. that pigeons can fly 60 mph and peregrine falcons can dive at 180 mph. This is probably the most comprehensive bird show we have ever attended.

Flying Saker hawk. They fly low to the ground to use the heat to push them up

Not to be outdone, just northwest of Duncan is Chemainus, City of Murals. There are murals everywhere—on the sides of public buildings, garages, even a Subway sandwich shop. Plus they are really professionally done and in excellent condition. This is quite a surprise.

Late in the afternoon we reach Nanaimo where we will take the ferry to Vancouver tomorrow. We are staying in a tall hotel and our room has a great view of the harbor.

We have dinner at the hotel’s casual restaurant. Unsurprisingly seafood is on menu.

My dinner is steamed seafood with corn and shallots

John has fried oysters and local vegetables

All about BC. 8/28/19

British Columbia has a lot going for it—a fabulous natural setting, a diverse population, a great climate, and friendly people. Today we take a closer look at this province at the Royal British Columbia Museum. The museum has two floors of BC’s natural and human history.

The museum is an easy walk from our hotel. I took a couple of pictures of what the Empress Hotel and the Parliament Building look like all lit up last night and here’s what they look like in the daylight.

We do a pretty thorough job looking at the exhibits. A lot has to do with climate change and the possible consequences from it. Interestingly when the ice age happened the sea level dropped a lot due to all the ice and the land bridge between Alaska and Asia was immense. Animals and people migrated across the land bridge. A lot of the animals died out once the ice age was over which is why we don’t have wooly elephants in North America. What will happen when the oceans rise from climate change?

Here’s a picture of John with a now extinct mammoth.

John says this picture gives him a Princess Leia look.

And here is a huge sea lion which did survive.

On the upper floor there is a lot of information about the First Peoples of Canada. I really enjoy hearing their stories about language. There are a lot of aboriginal languages in British Columbia. The story goes that the original people went to a Language House and received a language from their creator which they took back to their people. The Canadian government spent a lot of time and effort trying to stamp out the languages and customs of the First Peoples in the 19th and 20th centuries. Some groups have very few “speakers” left. It is sad what the immigrants to the new world did to the original inhabitants.

Lunchtime! My back is aching from all the walking around the museum and I tell John that I don’t want to walk far for lunch. We find a diner right next door and John says that a beer will fix me up. Okay.

John orders some samosas that are stuffed with lamb and goat cheese. He likes them a lot. I am less impressed. I order sliders which come out like hockey pucks. I am even more unimpressed with my dish.

Later in the afternoon we go see Miniature World. It is a museum of dioramas made to scale of history, fantasy and toys.

Last stop of the night is a bite to eat at the Empress Hotel. The Hotel is a landmark in Victoria. We checked it out to stay in and it costs A LOT! Plus the carpets in the public rooms are worn and the decor is ponderous. So I am glad that we stayed just around the corner in the less expensive but still nice and with a great location, the Hotel Grand Pacific. I recommend it. At the Q Bar we get a plate of vegetables with hummus and baba ganoush and have a glass of wine. It is enough for dinner.

O Canada! 8/27/19

We have to get up really early today because we are catching the ferry to Victoria on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The ferry company makes the threat that if you’re not there an hour early your reservation will not be honored and you might not get on the boat. So our boat is leaving at 8:15 which means we have to be there at 7:15 and we are half an hour away so you do the math.

We are in a long line of cars and trucks and probably the most paradoxical thing that we see is a truck pulling a boat onto the ferry. A boat taking a boat seems a bit redundant. The crossing is about an hour and a half. We get to Victoria and government officials check our passports and off we go. Our goal today is to see Butchart Gardens. The gardens are very beautiful and are the number one attraction on the island. They are about 40 minutes away from Victoria.

It is pretty busy at the Butchart Gardens. I think we expected it to be a little less populated because kids were going back to school. Interestingly, a lot of the people here are Commonwealth people. We hear English in all sorts of accents. They all must get along pretty well because everyone seems jovial with everyone else. There do not seem to be too many Americans.

We see such beautiful flowers, plants, and trees all set in perfect combinations— dark foliage with bright flowers, big and small-leaved shade plants, and flowers in every shape and size. Some of the things that I like are the hanging baskets, the zinnia and dahlia area, the Japanese garden, the carousel, and the rose garden. It is not the best time of year for roses however.

We eat at their cafeteria style restaurant since it is difficult to get reservations in the table-service restaurant. We both have a vegetarian curry over basmati rice which is just okay. It is a little sweet and too gloppy for me.

Luncheon curry glop on top of basmati rice with cauliflower

Although it is only around 2PM we are pretty worn out and make our way to the hotel, the Grand Pacific. It is right on the harbor in Victoria and now I wish I had booked a harbor view instead of the cheaper city view. We spend the rest of the afternoon catching up on mail and taking a nap.

Dinner is just a trip downstairs to the Pacific Lounge where we share a small plates dinner of calamari and scallops. After dinner we take a stroll along the harbor with all its lights.

Empress Hotel at night reflected in the harbor

A very long day. 8/26/19

Our first stop today is at the Mount St. Helens Interpretive Center near Castle Rock, WA. On our way in a park ranger stops us and asks if would we like to have our picture taken together. Of course we did. So he took a picture and he said, you know I was here when the mountain exploded. I was 19 years old. He said it was really eventful day. My thought immediately is, how could you be an older-looking guy? I was 31 in 1980!

Mary and John at the Mt. St. Helens Interpretive Center

Mt. St. Helens is a long way from the Interpretive Center. It is just a dim gray blob from the viewing area. Kind of a disappointment. But there are other things to do. We take some time and look at the plant identifying garden . Then we head to the door to look at the indoor exhibits. We are stopped at the door by a park ranger who says oh I’m sorry but there is no visiting today because we’ve had a power outage. Rats! Today is not going according to my carefully planned schedule!

I had scheduled an hour and a half of vacation time for the Interpretive Center today. So we decide we will take the 1 mile hike into the wetlands as an alternative. The wetlands were created by the formation of Silver Lake which was created by flows from Mount St. Helens in a previous eruption and the eruption in 1980. No doubt we will see some of the half million birds who live and migrate through here, or some fish, or some other wildlife. Nada, nothing. Not even some bugs. Today is not going well.

Maybe no birds, bugs, or wildlife but John is here!

No worries! We hop back in the car and John drives to Lattin’s Cider Mill just south of Olympia, WA where they are making apple cider and all sorts of apple goodies. We had an apple cider mill called Delicious Orchards near where I grew up. Their apple cider was so crisp that it tasted like biting into an apple. You could even taste the skin. The apple cider at Lattin’s really takes me back in time.

Lattin’s delicious apple cider and a pale but tasty apple turnover that we shared

Back on schedule we stop in Olympia, the capital of Washington. After an uninspired lunch we head over to the state capitol buildings complex. According to Wkipedia “The design of the Capitol Campus is a grand example of the City Beautiful style of the Progressive era of the early 20th Century. The City Beautiful style promoted beauty not only for its own sake, but also to create moral and civic virtue among urban populations.” The Mall in Washington D.C. completed in 1922 is a prime example of this.

John points out that the capitals on the columns on the portico are Corinthian but the ones in less prestigious areas are merely Doric. No need to spend extra bucks where they do not need to!

I am not going to go into a long explanation about what happened next. I will just say we were sent on a two and a half hour detour which wrecked the schedule for the rest of the day. We were supposed to visit a lavender farm but never made it. But here is a picture of lavender which is abundant in this region outside of our restaurant for the evening, Blondie’s Plates.

Lastly we had some tasty small plates for dinner.

Steamed clams and fries with brown gravy?

John’s second beer, Iron Horse Irish Death Stout

Because I was not keen on the clams, we ordered these yummy sliders

Today was a long day that did not work out perfectly but was fun nonetheless. We are off to bed. We have to get up at 6AM to catch our ferry to Victoria, British Columbia.

From cavemen to carousels. 8/25/19

This morning we are up early after, at least for me, a really bad night’s sleep. The hotel bedsheets are covered with tiny pills which feel like sandpaper. It is not until 2 AM that I figure out a solution. If I put on my long pants, a long sleeved shirt, and socks, I’ll be able to get some sleep. Bonus! I am already dressed in the morning! We have breakfast at the hotel and then are off to get some gas and take a picture of the miner at the entrance to Yreka.

We say goodbye to the miner, his donkey, and Yreka.

Our first stop is in Grant’s Pass, OR. We stop at the visitor center which apparently does not expect any visitors on Sundays since it is closed. But we have an enjoyable walk around the building and take a picture of the Grant’s Pass caveman and some adorable bears by the welcome sign. Apparently people dressing up as cavemen is a long-standing tradition of boosterism for Grant’s Pass.

After another hour we are up to Sutherlin, Oregon where we stop at the magic mushroom gift shop. It’s claim to fame is that it’s got magic mushrooms and a joint on the roof. I briefly consider buying a cream to put on my aching back but since I am allergic to so much stuff, I give the notion a pass.

Our second stop in Sutherlin is the Depression Era, Rochester covered bridge. Oregon has a lot of covered bridges. We even passed a sign for a covered bridge museum! John says they built roofs over bridges to keep the wooden decking from rotting away. The bridge is interesting and picturesque so we look at it with interest and take some pictures.

Lunchtime! I have found a town, Springfield, OR, that has an Ethiopian restaurant and a giant Simpsons mural only blocks apart. Sounds like lunch and a short walk to me! Plus it is obvious that Addis is where we should eat because we get a parking space right out front.

John parallel parked right in front of the restaurant!

Our lunch is their veggie combo. It comes with a cold salad, split yellow peas, spicy red lentils, and cabbage with potatoes and carrots. You use the bread called injera to pick up mouthfuls of the tasty vegetables. It is not as good as our regular Ethiopian place in San Jose but better than another burger!

The giant Simpsons mural is right down the street from Addis so we take an after lunch strolli to see it. This is the official Springfield that Matt Groening had in mind when he created the Simpsons. Groening worked with the town in the planning of the mural and Lisa came for the dedication.

We have have one more thing on our agenda today and that is the Carousel Museum in Albany, Oregon. We have visited another carousel museum, the Herschell Carrousel (spelled with two r’s) Factory Museum in Tonawanda, NY. Both are very interesting although I would give the NY museum the edge. It has lot more history and antique animals. In Albany they have an active carvers group who continue to make the carousel animals. You can view partially completed carvings in their workshop. You can also ride their beautiful merry-go-round if you buy a ticket.

Here are pictures I took in 2007 of our visit to the NY museum –

Herschell Carrousel museum, Tonawanda, NY

We are spending the night in Keizer, Oregon. After an appropriate rest for two old geezers we find a place called Gustav’s Bargarten for dinner. We luck out! On Sundays they have a Happy Hour all day so drinks and bar foods are super cheap. We order pints of Hefeweizen and do the traditional Pilat vacation pose.

I have a Hacker-Schorr (even though the glass says something else)

We share a pretzel and have sausages and fries.

Tomorrow we are off to Washington and have a volcano, a cider mill, a lavender farm and more on our agenda.

Yreka? Why not? 8/24/19

Our trip starts out not exactly on the right foot or on the left one either. It seems that Jack, our GPS, in an update of his maps, decides to delete the maps for North America and so when I look for Fairfield the answer I get is someplace in Ireland. But we have plenty of back up. We have my phone and we have the less than ideal system in the car. Anyway we find our way to Fairfield without any problem because we know where it is anyway and proceed to find a McDonald’s in a shopping mall that isn’t open. We give up on Fairfield and stop for breakfast at McDonald’s in Vacaville. It is OK, not great.

Our first sightseeing stop is in Redding, California. We go to the City Hall where they have a very nice sculpture garden. There are various works— some made of wood some made of granite or metal in a park like setting. We take advantage of the very small number of people in the park to take some pictures.

Mary in a sculpture called Wood—I feel like Jonah in the whale

Next we go to the Turtlebay Exploration Center where we see the number one attraction in Redding, the Sundial Bridge. It is a pedestrian crossing of the Sacramento River. A guard on the bridge is nice enough to take a whole bunch of pictures of us. It is not possible to spend too much time on the bridge since we are melting! The temperature is 95°!

Picture thanks to the nice guard on the bridge

For lunch we stop at The Habit in Redding. I am not very hungry since we had a big breakfast between 9:30 and 10. But John manages to finish up anything I leave behind. While we are waiting for our food, a guy next to John has a conversation him. What is it with people spontaneously talking to us!? This guy needs to rant about the unfairness of the gender-neutral bathroom situation. He wants to wash his hands! He shouldn’t have to wait around for the bathroom to be free! We are somewhat taken aback. I take out my Purell and we quietly clean off our hands.

The rest of the ride up to Yreka is uneventful. John drives and listens to the History of English podcast. Between bouts of nodding off frequently I catch sight of Mt. Shasta looming ahead.

We reach our hotel around four and decide to take a little siesta time. Later on we head downtown to see what’s available for dinner and to check out their historic downtown. We have dinner in an historic building whose name is a palindrome. Strings Italian café is in the old bakery. If you write Yreka bakery you will find that it reads the same forwards and backwards. Unfortunately Strings Italian café is not a palindrome.

John diligently writing in his little notebook so we won’t forget what we are doing

Eggplant Parmesan, not the best but far from the worst

After dinner we take a stroll up and down main street to see the buildings built in the late 19th century. Although there are a lot of historic buildings it seems that Yreka is not such a prospering town anymore. They had their moment of glory during the late 1800s gold rush but now only about 7000 people live here.

Founded by a French guy not the Italian chef!

We have had a really great start to our vacation!

Phyllis comes to visit. July 31-August 6, 2019

I suggested to Phyllis that she might like to come out for a visit while she is not working. I was so amazed and pleased when she agreed to come. I plan a busy week that mostly works out well. We both have a great visit.

Our first adventure is on Thursday, August 1. With Sarah as our driver we take a trip up to Sonoma Wine Country. We stop at the Olive Press in the Jacuzzi Winery. We sample and buy some olive oil and vinegar and then do a small tasting of their wines. It is not busy and the man behind the bar looks like he could use some patronage.

Phyllis and Mary in front of Jacuzzi Winery

After this we go to Imagery Winery where we have a very nice tasting. I am so glad that Phyllis enjoys the wines and the experience. She even joins the wine club! Then we hurry over to Sonoma Square for our lunch at The Girl and the Fig where we have a tasty lunch and even order dessert, a fig bread pudding with salted caramel and cocoa nibs.

Fig bread pudding with salted caramel and cocoa nibs

Our last tasting at Three Sticks Winery in Sonoma is our least fun of the day. We had to make a reservation for a pricy tasting and tour of their adobe. The person assigned to us has a very lackluster attitude towards us. We sip their very few offerings because they are mostly sold out of everything. The tour is interesting, the wines are good, but the presentation is really lacking.

Room in the adobe complex where we have our tasting

Then we are stuck in horrendous traffic on the way home.

On Friday we have a date for tea at Tyme for Tea in Niles, CA. Sarah comes with us and we order the sparkling Victorian tea which comes with a glass of champagne, scones with clotted cream, lemon curd, and jam, various sandwiches, and desserts along with a personal choice pot of tea. It is all pretty delicious but there is so much food!! We have to bring some of the desserts home because we just cannot eat it all. And speaking of home, once more we are stuck in horrendous traffic on the way home.

On Saturday after a giant breakfast at Bill’s Cafe Phyllis and I brave the Farmer’s Market in downtown Pleasanton. We are looking for ingredients for a vegetable paella which we are planning to make tonight. There are so many stalls with so many vegetables and so many people shopping! One of the vendors is particularly aggressive with me. She keeps shoving samples that I do not want to eat in my face. We quickly buy the rest of the produce we need and head home. Later in the day we stop at the grocery store for the rest of our ingredients. The paella comes out very well and John, Phyllis, and I enjoy it. (Plus we enjoy the leftovers for several days!)

On Sunday we meet Jonathan and Ryan for lunch at Zeni’s. It is a favorite of ours and we are really hoping that Phyllis likes it. I took Peggy to lunch here and I am not sure that she really enjoyed herself although she says she liked it. Anyway, it is so great for Phyllis to see Jonathan again and he remarks to me later that he did not remember Phyllis being so funny. We all have a wonderful time with each other and the food although Phyllis cannot quite get over that the injera looks like Ace bandages!!

A platter of veggie combo and sizzling lamb at Zeni’s

Phyllis using her “Ace bandage” for a taste of Ethiopian food while Sarah watches

We head to Jon and Ryan’s afterward to meet up with Leigh, Sam, and Alex. The visit does not go quite as planned since an old friend from Iceland stops by with his daughter. The kids get very rambunctious. The friend does not seem to know that he should leave so we do.

Monday and it is time for another trip to Wine Country, this time in Napa. Sarah is our driver again. We have a lovely tasting at Sherwin Family Winery off Spring Mountain Road. The wine is good and the setting is beautiful. Phyllis signs up for the wine club and I buy a bottle of their Cabernet Sauvignon. Sarah busies herself taking selfies around the grounds while Phyllis and I enjoy the wines.

I try a selfie of Phyllis and me but I need longer arms!!

For lunch we stop at Gott’s Roadside, the iconic place to eat in Napa Valley, We stand in line to order and sit at picnic tables. We all have hamburgers and French fries. Remembering the terrible traffic from Thursday we decide to head for home after lunch.

Is it Tuesday already?! Tonight Phyllis is catching the red eye so at least we have today to continue our visit. We have lunch and a nice talk at Delatorre’s and for dinner we use up the rest of our Farmer’s Market produce and Sarah’s bounteous tomatoes.

Around 8:30 PM we head to SFO. I can tell that Phyllis is nervous and we are glad that we go into the terminal with her because everything is pretty confusing. Luckily she has gotten TSA pre-check so at least security is less of an ordeal. Very bravely she waves good bye and I feel teary that my little sister is on her way home after what seems like a very short visit. I hope she will come again!!!