Beautiful British Columbia

Leaving on a jet plane with her iPad, downloaded movies and music.
The view at 37,000 feet.
Yes, British Columbia, I understand why you are allowed to put that on all your license plates - you are VERY beautiful.
Caroline getting settled into our hotel before our first adventure.
Our first adventure was whale watching. This was even more exciting than I had anticipated. First, you have to dress like you are on the tv show, World's Deadliest Catch - huge rubber yellow pants and jackets over your own clothes. I was miserable and half way through the adventure I ask one of the leaders of our group if I could take it off. After I took mine off I noticed others taking theirs off too. I felt like a huge Orca with that on.
We saw many bald eagles. We couldn't get close but they are HUGE.
It only took about 20 minutes to get to the pod of whales. I almost screamed when I saw my first whale. It was amazing.
I took over 100 pictures of the more than 19 Orca whales (also known as Killer Whales) that we followed. They are fast moving and hard to photograph. There was a professional nature photographer on the boat and he was even having trouble getting any good pictures. That made me feel better when I heard him say that.
This was our hotel mascot, Hippo. We loved this dog. I never barks and he can go to your room to visit you if you are missing your dog back home.
On the ferry to Victoria. I had never driven a car on a ferry. That was an amazing, highly organized spectacle that occurs many times a day in that part of the country. It is so easy and very relaxing to travel with your car by ferry.
The Empress Hotel in Victoria. The only thing that keeps it from being a 5 star hotel is that it doesn't have AC. If you are from my part of the world that sounds like all kinds of misery. It wasn't at all. It was lovely and cool and so nice to sleep with the windows open.
For me, the highlight of the trip was Butchart Gardens. There is no way to describe it so I won't even try. In the early 1900's a woman decided to start gardening near around her home and it expanded to include the quarry her husband owned and over 100 acres. In the film I watched about the gardens the narrator said that there were many people that told her nothing would grow where she was planting. The doubters included her husband. I can't image the creativity, determination and hard work that went into her gardening.
The gardens are still owned and run by the same family. One of the grandsons got in a boat with a plumber and put together this fountain that is in one of the lowest parts of the quarry. Occasionally, I find myself not taking any pictures when I am observing something. Pat is asking why aren't you taking any pictures. Sometimes you realize that there is no way a picture can capture what you are seeing. I found myself feeling like that so much at Butchart Gardens. It is a place that can only be experienced in person. There are no words.
High Tea at our hotel - The Empress. Caroline called her grandmother and told her she was having high tea just like she and Gramps had many years ago.
In the town of Victoria there are many homes that have beautiful gardens.
Shannon Falls on the way to Whistler on the Sea to Sky highway.
This is the International Fireworks Competition in the English Bay in Vancouver on our last night in Canada. One country competes each night in the summer for a few weeks. On this evening Spain was competing. They were very good. They even had fireworks coming out of the water.
Oh Canada, I enjoyed singing your national anthem with all the Canadians even though I didn't know all the words. Your people are so friendly, your cities are so clean and your scenery is unbelievable. I hope to visit again.

It is so interesting to me that you actually enter the U.S. before you get on the plane in Canada. Getting back into the Unites States is much harder that getting into Canada. The lines are long and the agents that ask for your passport aren't especially friendly. They ask some questions and stamp your passport and say, 'Welcome home.' It is a good feeling to see the American flag and no matter how nicely you ask they will NOT let you take a picture of the sign that says, Welcome to the United States of America.

The ride home was long and tiring. I am always so grateful when our plane lands and we are all safe and our luggage has arrived with us. Now, I am off to do more laundry.