Vacation! Part 2

After flashing our passports at the US/Canadian border, we entered beautiful British Columbia and headed north toward Vancouver. We stayed at a B&B in Richmond (just outside Vancouver), and enjoyed dinner down the road in the quaint fishing village of Steveston.

While strolling through the village, we discovered ABC films the TV show "Once Upon a Time" here, and many of the shops and restaurants have converted their names to Storybrooke, as seen in the show.

Dinner on the wharf at the Blue Canoe.

The Stone Hedge Bed & Breakfast. We stayed in the Safari-themed room situated in the poolhouse, so cool!

 Those are real grapes on the roof too! The owners gave us a jar of the homemade grape jelly.

We enjoyed a fabulous 3-course breakfast in the mornings on this patio with the other guests. So good!

Our adventure into Vancouver started out with a little hike through Lynn Canyon and across the suspension bridge. Being a Saturday, it was quite a popular destination, but still a very fun outing.

 There were two loops to get back across the canyon, so we took the longer trail through the forest.

 Waving from a different footbridge.

 Such a beautiful area!

 From there, we drove across the Lions Gate Bridge (modeled after the Golden Gate Bridge) into West Vancouver.

 Parked in the West End and rented bikes for a nice ride around Stanley Park. A tried something new and went with the Ellipti-Go, a stand-up bike. It was quite the head-turner, everyone we passed loved it!

 A little off-roading on a dirt path through the expansive park.

 After completing the bike path around Stanley Park, we took a wrong turn and ended up at the far end of town. Thankfully it was totally worth it!

 Accidentally went through the Gastown area and found the famous Steam Clock, one of the few working steam clocks in the world.

Random laughing statues. 

After getting a good workout biking the whole area, we enjoyed a yummy lunch at Three Brits Pub.

 After saying farewell to Vancouver and our cute B&B, we took a ferry across the Salish Sea to Vancouver Island and drove to Victoria. It's amazing how many cars they can fit on these ferries!

After checking-in to our room at the cute James Bay Inn, we walked three blocks to downtown Victoria. 

 

The Parliament building. 

The city's namesake, Queen Victoria herself.

 Lots of totem poles in the Northwest!

 It's not called BRITISH Columbia for nothing. Love the English flare.

 Captain James Cook.

The historic Empress Hotel.

And a Canadian mermaid playing an accordion? She even made squeaky dolphin sounds.

Fun lunch at an old bank converted into a pub.

 Finally ran into a Canadian Mountie. 

 Canadian ice cream.

Beautiful hanging flowers all over the city.

And more Native totem poles.

 Dinner downtown.

Loved the beautiful churches throughout the city.

In the evening, we caught a military ceremony outside the Parliament building honoring the local cadets.

 World War I statue.

 

Before leaving Victoria the next afternoon, we had a chance to go vinyl hunting at the local used record stores. Enjoyed more neat buildings on the walk too.

We caught another ferry from James Bay in Victoria and enjoyed a beautiful ride to Port Angeles, WA.

Loved watching the sea planes take off and land in the bay. Farewell, lovely Victoria!

After entering the United States through Port Angeles, we took a beautiful drive toward Tacoma, WA, and spend our last night at a joint-base, Lewis-McChord Army/Air Force base. 

Loved these beauties hanging out on base. 

And to top off a wonderful week, we enjoyed beautiful sights right outside our airplane window. A nice view of Mt. Rainier in Washington.

And how cool is this? We flew right over our house in Camp Pendleton! Yep, it's there if you zoom in. What a fun flight along the whole San Diego County coast.

What a fantastic trip! Praise God for His protection and blessing on our adventure.