British Columbia to Mexico

During the second and third week of my cruise, some of the ports of call repeated themselves, so I decided to post the last two weeks in one message. The rainy weather in Alaska followed us until we got to California. The first picture was taken from the highest point in Victoria.

I toured the Dunsmuir Castle in Victoria. The history of the castle was fascinating.

The Big Wheel, Seattle's new ferris wheel is visible on the waterfront along with some nice boats. You can also see the roof of both the Mariners and the Seahawks stadiums. I rode the wheel earlier this year and was impressed by how high you get and the view from the top.

Our ship docked at Pier 91 along with the Holland America ship that followed us around Alaska. There was a Celebrity ship docked at the cruise ship terminal at Pier 66. I am looking back at our ship (in the foreground) on my walk downtown.

I took this picture as the Sapphire Princess sailed out of Seattle.

Little cars you can rent in San Francisco.

In Chinatown. I wish I could remember how many people live in a 30 block area in Chinatown, but the number was staggering. San Francisco has the largest Chinatown outside China.

This grassy area, called Crissy Park is a venue for artist to display sculptures, but it was originally a naval airstrip.

Everyone in my immediate family are hotdog fans and we use to have a business just like this in Yakima, but it closed two years ago.

Walking around Pier 39 in San Francisco. This place was incredible and popular.

Just of few of the many sea lions that call the harbor home in San Francisco.

The Walt Disney Family Museum was very interesting. I love the seven drawfs!

San Diego has a very strict building design code - even Starbucks looks like everything else. You think it would be boring, but it actually looks nice.

A picture of the ship's tenders taking passengers ashore in Santa Barbara.

The San Diego airport is right downtown and just across from the cruise ship terminal.

One of the buildings in Seaport Village, San Diego.

A very cute little hat shop in Seaport Village.

These last three pictures were taken in Ensenada, Mexico; two by the natural geyser and one in town.

Alaska

During my recent visit to Alaska I took way too many pictures - something I always do.  Since I can't show them all here, I decided to select a few of my favorites from each of the three weeks I was gone. My favorite of almost all my photos was this bald eagle in Juneau.  I could not believe how close I was when I spotted the eagle.  If you click on the image for a larger view, you can actually see the individual feathers on his head and back. 

I really liked the tram ride up the mountain in Juneau. Our tour group went on a short nature hike once we reached the summit. We saw several bald eagles on the mountain.

Even though I have seen the glaciers before, this was my first visit to Glacier Bay. I am always surprised at the tremendous noise the glacier makes when part of the ice breaks free and falls into the bay.

This is a picture of Creek Street in Ketchikan, the original 'Red Light District'. The salmon run was incredible even though I was there during low tide.

I finally rode the White Pass railroad out of Skagway. This was an incredible trip and well narrated by our guide.

Neighbor's Grass Fire

The homeowner to the south of our property had a pile of debris burning today but unfortunately for him, the winds picked up and it quickly spread across the field. The fire spread to the west, crossing the property line.

At first the fire was headed southwest which was great but then the wind changed direction. You can see the blackened grass in the back of this photo showing where the fire burned initially. 

Not sure how they managed to save the cars, but they did. I was not the first person to call 911 and even then, the first firetruck on the scene was not a water truck, so even more land burned before a water truck arrived.

They ended up with four different water trucks on the scene before they stopped calling for more help.

Even though I knew the fire would not reach our property it was still a little scary to see how fast the field burned. 

The ever diligent Toby watched as the firefighters hosed down the hot spots. That is enough excitement for me for the day.

Famous Dave's

Famous Dave's opened last weekend in Yakima and we went to lunch there yesterday before going to Art in the Orchard.

Susan and I ordered different sides so we could taste different options. The potato salad, coleslaw, beans and mac and cheese were all good and all prepared just a bit differently than most restaurants. The atmosphere is fun and the service was really good, especially for a brand new crew.

We loved the pork and the ribs and intend to go back and try a few more items. YUM!

Art in the Orchard

On Saturday, Johnson Orchards located at 4906 Summitview in Yakima held a fundraising event for Children's Village. All donations plus 20% of all art proceeds goes toward helping children in our community with special health care needs.

Artist sell a variety of items at this event including jewelry, glasswork, birdhouses and signs.
Well known artist such as Duane Heilman, Lucy Valderhaug, Dennis Pedemonte and Boris Gaviria are featured along with other vendors.

Susan and I loved the watercolor work of Sally Griffin from Sammamish so we purchase two of her pictures. Last year this fundraising event raised almost $3,000.

Snipes

Mom and Dad spent the long holiday weekend with us and while they were here we celebrated Susan's birthday, which was earlier in the month. They told Susan they would take us out to dinner anywhere she wanted to go and she picked Snipes in Sunnyside.

The actual name of the place is Snipes Mountain Brewery and Restaurant. The restaurant is family owned and was designed to reflect the surrounding countryside.

You enter the restaurant through large double doors with beautiful glass etched scenes to enter the main dining room. There are banquet rooms available and kids are welcome.

If you order pizza, they bake it in a wood fired oven and brew their own beer. Susan had been to Snipes many years ago, but none of the rest of us had ever been there and we loved it.

Tillie's Bath Day

It was bath day for Tillie today. When Susan is finished giving Tillie her bath, she wraps her up in the afghan, which Tillie will stay in for a long time. Tillie usually dries off sitting in Susan's chair but today she kept me company while I was resting in my room.

Toby stays nearby waiting for Tillie to emerge from the afghan at which time Susan uses a hair dryer to finish the job.

Anacortes Arts Festival

Susan and I went to the Anacortes Arts Festival this weekend for the first time.  We drove over on Saturday morning taking Highway 2 in anticipation of the heavy I-90 traffic the result of Seafair and we were so glad we did.  We took a little side trip to Cashmere, stopping at the '59er Diner.  This darling diner is located in Apple Annie's Antique Mall. We got quite a kick out of looking at all the memorabilia from the 50's. 

They have a kitchen decorated from the 50's complete with a table you can eat at, if you are lucky enough to get there when it is empty. 

A person could spend a lot of time simply looking at all the decorations on the walls of the restaurant. Apparently the restaurant is famous for their milkshakes. We did not try one, because we stopped by in the morning, but they even have a contest every month to see if someone can guess how many shakes they will make that month.

We want to go back when we have enough time to look through the antique mall, and go through the Applets and Cotlets factory at Liberty Orchards.

The weather was just gorgeous and there were a lot of people at the Arts Festival. I took these pictures while we were walking around - really an excuse to use my new digital camera.

The festival is in its 6th year and features 250 artisans over a six block area. There were several jewelry and pottery booths, but they also had some stunning wood and metal art.

Terry Jones from Trout Lake, WA won the Best of the Fest award for his wood art. It was just beautiful.

Even though many of the items were pricey, I would go back to the festival again. On Sunday, we drove up to Port Susan and visited with Mom and Dad while we watched the NASCAR race and some tennis. They treated us to lunch at the "Little Casino" and then we drove home. We had a great road trip!