California to Canada – 7/23/2016 to 7/29/2016 – http://fulltimetimeshare.com/blog

Mike here, it is a little hard putting the saddle back on and cinching it down. We have gone so many months without the daily publication, I am struggling to force myself to the task at hand, not unlike starting grade school…I wanna go play! Anyway here we go again, Edie’s commentary follows:

We left Prunedale, California on July 23, 2016. Our first night was spent in a beautiful AirBnB in Redding, California. Before going to our “home” for the night, we stopped and walked across the Sundial bridge. How beautiful it was, but it was about 105 degrees and there were signs warning people about burning feet on humans and their pets.

Larry later reminded us of the art museum in Milwaukee, Wis that was designed by the same fellow. — Larry later reminded us of the art museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin that was designed by the same fellow, Calatrava.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Art Museum, a first cousin to the Sundial Bridge. We toured this facility and it was beautiful.

Pretty woman lost in contemplation of the beauty of nature and human creation. — Pretty woman lost in contemplation of the beauty of nature and human creations.

Nearby Canadian Geese, the inspiration for the form of the bridge. — Nearby Canadian geese, the inspiration for the form of the bridge.

A Pokemon Go herd as we exited the bridge, "Look there is a pinser here." — A Pokemon Go herd as we exited the bridge, “Look there is a pinser here.”

Oil or maybe acrylic paintings above the bed.

Too pretty to sit on but really fun to look at.

They thoughtfully left room for us in the driveway, but we only had an overnight bag and the street was perfect.

We got into Keizer safely after witnessing two rather ugly wrecks. One was a SUV that had been pulling a trailer and both were severely damaged. What a way to ruin a vacation.

Lake Shasta was up nicely for late in July.

Mt Shasta was in all her glory with snow still on the slopes.

This trailer jackknifed and flipped this... — This trailer jackknifed and flipped this…

Once we got into Keizer, we immediately headed for “Paddington’s Pizza,” our favorite. It’s thin crust and so delicious. We took it to brother John’s and had a wonderful visit. We spent the next several days visiting with John, and with Michael’s other family – Ellen and Brad, Paul and JoDee, Jim and Anna, and some nieces and their children. So nice to see family and get caught up.

We left for Canada on Thursday, 7/28/2016, at around 10:30 AM. The drive from Keizer up to Mount Vernon, Washington was only supposed to take about 5 hours. We saw so many wrecks along the way, we lost count. Because of all the wrecks, and then all the commute traffic through the Seattle area, we didn’t get into Mount Vernon until around 5:30 PM.

I think the building in the center was BORG inspired.

By that time we were pretty hungry and went on line with our phone to see who in Mount Vernon had a good salad. Our phone told us Porterhouse Pub had the best – so we headed that way. We could tell it was probably a good place because it was so crowded. Michael got a chicken salad and I got a steak salad. Probably the best and most tender steak I have had in years.

Pretty woman taking a photo of the entrance, not knowing I had her back.

Damn my gout, they have a great selection of beers.

Drop the "ale" and you have the password to their free WiFi. — Drop the “ale” and you have the password to their free WiFi.

Edie's steak salad. — Edie’s steak salad.

When we were done we walked towards the river and just happened upon a wonderful live band playing. Just love it when that happens. Also, the area where the Porterhouse Pub was located was in old town and it looked like a really nice town to explore.

Fiddler and a drummer put out a great sound.

Pretty woman checking out the river walk.

We spent the night at the Days Inn and met up with Larry and Renee. A few weeks ago, I had used the last of my Wyndham points and gotten us each a room there for around $35.00. Nice room, very large and clean, plus it included breakfast in the morning. Comfortable bed, slept well. Got a nice visit in with Larry and Renee when they showed up. (Found out at breakfast by the attendant that Mount Vernon holds a tulip festival every year in March or April. Would like to go one year.)

Pass through door to visit with Larry and Renee.

Friday morning we had breakfast and left a little earlier than originally planned to go to the local Verizon store to get the Canada plan put on Larry and Renee’s phone. We also stopped by the local Costco to get a jacket for the ferry ride (around $20.00 for a nice water repellent jacket). While I was getting the jacket, Michael was getting Costco gas. Worked out well.

Once we were done in town, we started driving towards Anacortes, around a 15 mile drive. We took a little detour to La Conner. Larry had mentioned it so we had time and decided to do a little exploring. What a cute little town. Driving there it reminded us of the mid-west with the fields of what looked like wheat and potatoes. It’s one of those towns that doesn’t have a fast food in sight, lots of flowers, lots of old buildings, lovely. Want to go back and experience more of it. (Sounds like we need to spend quite awhile in the Northern Washington area as it’s very lovely.)

Lots of interesting looking places throughout the town. This was a quilt museum.

Many little shops that a pretty woman could wander through for hours while I quietly go insane.

Or I could find a store that might interest me.

We left and continued on to Anacortes.

Some kind of grain getting close to harvest.

Corn, much more than knee high after the 4th of July.

Beautiful! We had plenty of time so we decided to have lunch at a local Pizza Factory. They had a nice buffet lunch (salad, pizza, and a drink) that was very reasonable. Afterwards we headed to the ferry and got in line. Larry and Renee parked their car for the week and met us on the ferry. Didn’t mind the long wait so much as there were lots of people, dogs, and the view was spectacular.

Once we got on the ferry, we met up with Larry and Renee and enjoyed the ride.

Left to right: Renee, Larry and Edie, aka pretty woman.

Beautiful ride through the San Juan Islands. Much prettier than the ferry ride from Port Angeles to Victoria. The ride was about 2-1/2 hours and was spectacular the whole time. So many little islands, big islands, islands covered in trees, barren islands, islands with houses, islands with boats. Loved it. We decided we liked this route much better than Port Angeles, but the traffic in and around Seattle was horrible and that made it a toss up between Port Angeles and Anacortes.

Lots of smaller Ferries. — Lots of smaller ferries.

The ferry is open in the center and the boat scoots right along. I think it is a pretty good wind tunnel in the center as it is open in the front and back.

View out the back as we return to our car.

About to land. The border crossing was very quick this time. We told him it was our fith year of coming to the Splash. — About to land. The border crossing was very quick this time. We told him it was our fourth year of coming to the Splash.

We got into Sidney and drove to Victoria (about 15 miles). It was a little cramped with Larry and Renee’s luggage in our Prius, but not too bad.

This is on Renee's bucket list this year. — This is on Renee’s bucket list this year, the BC Museum.

We got into Victoria and were able to check into our room. Lovely, as usual.

Once we settled in a little, and unpacked a little, we went across the street to Il Covo for dinner. It was, once again, amazing. We were not able to get a table as it was so busy and we didn’t have reservations, but we were able to sit at the bar and eat. The bartender/server did an excellent job of answering our questions and making sure we were taken care of. Such a wonderful Italian restaurant in Victoria. A little spendy, but a lovely place to enjoy a great meal. (Plus the dollar is about $1.30 here so that makes it a little better.)

Our server was great, as well as the staff that assisted her.

Larry had a very spicy penne pasta dish.

A kind fellow at the bar with us took a group photo for us. — A kind fellow at the bar with us took a group photo.

That was our day. Hope yours was great!