Coast to coast
Day 304 – Tofino, Canada After a leisurely breakfast and a quick stop at a bakery (called Mon Petit Choux), we drove onward towards Tofino. That is, we crossed the breadth of the island (from the East coast to the West coast). Our first stop was the eagerly awaited Cathedral Grove, a stand of old-growth…
Butchart Gardens
Day 303 – Nanaimo, Canada So you have heard about karma, right? We have been joking about the big trucks people are driving here for several days, thinking that maybe we would get an upgrade on our car rental. Well, that’s what happened. We are now in charge of a small SUV, with heating on…
Victoria
Day 302 – Victoria, Canada Today began in a hurry as we had a tight schedule to catch our ferry for Canada! The crossing was a pleasant one, as we had a fairly nice view of the Olympic Mountain Range with a ray of sun on top, and most of all we met two pods…
Seattle Aquarium
Day 300 – Seattle, USA We wanted to start by a visit of the Pike Place Market, but today the morning walking tour was scheduled for later in the day, which didn’t work with our plans. So we went straight to the aquarium. We were soon impressed by the volunteers working around each exhibit, coming…
Seattle Art Museum
Day 299 – Seattle, USA Having read that the SAM -the Seattle Art Museum- was free the first Thursday of the month, I had waited today to visit. I didn’t have a clue of the collections, I just thought it would be a nice way to kill an hour or two. I was pleasantly surprised…
Chihuly Glass and Garden
Day 296 – Seattle, USA Today dawned once again clear and sunny, so I took myself to the Chihuly Glass and Garden. What’s a Chihuly Glass and Garden, you wonder? Well, this strange beast is the result of the vision of a glassblower artist, Mr Chihuly, who likes to put his glassworks in strange places,…
Sunday at the beach
Day 295 – Seattle, USA Since the weather was again cooperating, I resolved yesterday’s dilemma by going to the other park, the one with the reputed view over the mountains. Indeed, from the bluff and from the beach, on can see the Olympic Range beautifully. (We are supposed to be able to see the Cascades,…
Arboretum of Seattle
Day 294 – Seattle, USA Having checked the weather forecast for the next few days, I had found out that Saturday would be the best day for an outdoor outing. (Inhabitants of Seattle agree, as I have seen many in shorts and T-shirt while I was considering shedding one of my three outside layers.) So after…
Pike Place Market
Day 293 – Seattle, USA As I said in my previous post, I arrived late last night in Seattle. I had quite a few to-and-froes with the front desk renting a towel and asking for an extra sheet (to put between me and the blanket that is not washed between guests). Nothing like unpacking and…
Klamath Falls
Day 290 – Klamath Falls, USA After a night aboard the train -not too bad, I had chosen the Business class with wide seats and plenty of legroom-, I arrived at Klamath Falls not quite rested and bright-eyed. I’ve crossed the state line into Oregon, and I’m slightly inland… hence the snow on the ground,…