More Seattle - Chilhuy Puctures

(See "Seattle" for the start of this story.)

Tiny, delicate glass sculpture, especially compared to the bigger pieces.

Chandeliers

all in a row.

A ceiling of glass.

Travel Day

View from our hotel last night in Sidney, British Columbia.

There were numerous sailboats out there this morning, taking advantage of the very breezy conditions. Sidney is a neat little town, somewhere I'd like to return for a longer visit. Especially if it included another dinner at Beacon Landing Restaurant. Best halibut hubby and I have ever had. The shrimp wontons and chocolate pate were also pretty spectacular.

Then we were back in line for the ferry, enroute from Sidney to Anacortes, with a short stop over in Friday Harbor.

We were able to get window seats for the second part of the trip. Nothing much to see though - just grey clouds and passing ferries.

Tomorrow - Pike's Market!

Travels to Canada

We were up early this morning and on the ferry to Sidney, British Columbia.

It was a smooth ride, although we slowed once to avoid a pod of dolphins and again, when we passed into Canadian waters, to switch flags.

Once past the very chatty (and slow) Custom's agent, we broke out the old-school navigation system - no cell phones or data plans for us for the few days we are in Canada!

What should have taken us 15 minutes from the ferry terminal took almost an hour, and we were well past Butchart Gardens before we realized our error.

But we made it and it was well worth the effort. This sunken garden was originally a cement quarry.

It sure looks better today! The grounds are filled with statues,

art works,

- this snail was my favorite -

water features,

hidden paths,

and gorgeous flowers everywhere.

Although the sky was grey and overcast, the rain held off while we were there.

But it was obvious that hadn't been the case earlier.

It didn't seem to bother the bees,

one way or the other.

Next stop was Craigdarroch Castle in Victoria.

Built for the coal-rich Dunsmuir family in the 1880's,

the exterior is beautiful . . .

but the interior is stunning.

Stained glass in almost every window, on every floor

All four levels have inlaid wood floors,

detailed wood ceilings,

and gorgeous banisters, walls and curved alcoves - all in beautiful dark hardwoods.

Hubby was in heaven. It really was an amazing house.

We both want to know how they got a 6'x12' billiard table up those winding stairs to the third floor!

Tonight we are staying in Victoria,

around the corner from Parliment,

a block from the harbour,

across the way from the Empress.

We've been really lucky with the weather so far, only getting sprinkled on tonight as we walked back from dinner. Hope our luck holds!

A Whale of a Day

Today was all about whales. We started at the (literally) world renown Whale Museum in Friday Harbor

We learned some cool stuff,

admired the street art octopus (I love octopi),

and found out about a talk to be given that night by a visiting Orca researcher.

Which we, and an SRO crowd, attended. Interesting stuff.

Fish lights at our lunch spot, Blue Water Bar and Grill.

And in between, we took a boat

out past San Juan Island's second lighthouse,

to do a bit of whale watching.

Our hopes of seeing whales weren't very high;

the two naturalists on board told us no Orcas has been spotted on the previous day's trip.

But it was nice and relaxing to be on the water, so no big deal, right?

Instead, we hit the whale jackpot.

The J Pod we were looking for decided this was the day they should reunite with their pals from K Pod and L Pod.

We saw at least 20 individual Orcas (those with stars by their names on the list above),

and since pods always travel together, there were probably 70 - 80 whales in our vicinity. There was lots of breaching, splashing and general whale high jinks. And our boat's hydrophone captured some amazing whale vocalizations.

My little camera got a few shots, mostly through blind luck, but the naturalists each had big cameras, with huge lenses, and said they will email their pictures to passengers in a week or so. Can't wait to see those!!

2015 saw five baby Orcas added to the resident pods.

And how do they know which whale is which?

There's a app book, just for that.

Pictures, identifying markings, lineage, last sighting - it's all here. All the whale watching boats - and other individuals - track which Orcas they see each day, then turn that info over to the Whale Museum for use by researchers and the Orca Survey. Lots of people working together to better understand these majestic creatures.