Post - The Hopeful Life

Wes, Kelly, and I decided to head to Mt. St. Helens area for three nights after leaving Portland. Although a bit cold and rainy…surprise, surprise…we were able to get a couple of hikes in during our stay. I have to admit that I am a little paranoid about mountain lions and bears. And spiders, but that is unrelated. I’ve lived in Hawaii and Delaware where there are next to no dangerous predators, so I am going to have to get used to it and quickly. Bear spray is expensive, but I will soon have an arsenal that I will use appropriately (I promise I love nature). However, the hikes were very enjoyable regardless of the “three step look back” technique that became a crucial part of my hike. Although cloudy, the hike provided amazing views of Mt. St. Helens and the river that flowed below. Wes also tried out our new drone for the first time right outside of the park boundaries, which I am happy to report he did not crash. He made it look surprisingly easy and we got a terrible first flight photo so we will have to work on that. We messed with Sasquatch after the hike. I think he appreciated it.

The following day we woke to some heavy rain, but decided to go through with the plan to hike the Ape Caves located an hour or so south. I can’t say it was the best hike I have been on since it was fairly wet and cold. The caves, or lava tubes, were also wet and cold. Although, the tube was really long and was large enough that I never had to bend down until the very end. Okay, more impressively, six-foot-two Wes did not have to bend down. They were cool. Literally, very cool. To warm up and dry off, we stopped in the very small town of Cougar, to have a beer and some food. Pretty sure all of the residents of Cougar were there.

We arrived in Seattle on Saturday, April 6th and met up with friends, Miyon (a birthday buddy) and Trevor, for a delicious birthday dinner at Matt’s in the Market. My mom spoiled us by calling ahead for a couple celebratory bottles of wine and the food was just as awesome as the company! My favorite dish was the seared foie gras appetizer with all things rhubarb, including a sorbet……yum.

Double birthday celebrations at Matt’s in the Market!

Delicious foie gras at Matt’s in the Market.

On my actual birthday, April 7th, I brought in my 30th year on top of the Space Needle, along with all of the other touristy things. We lasted a full rotation on the needle and then checked out the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum. Really beautiful installations. We may have snuck in a beer to hold us over while we educated ourselves in the fine arts. Classy. Afterwards, we roamed around Pike Place Market and got some cheese at Beecher’s. We ate some fantastic pizza at The Alibi Room for dinner. The waitress gave us gum to contribute to the wall outside. I disgustedly dropped mine from an inch away onto the wall where it stuck. Gross. So gross.

Space Needle terror. My palms were so sweaty.

Our favorite campsite so far was in Fairview just outside of Seattle, Tall Chief RV & Camping Resort. It was a gated park where you were able to choose your own campsite in the thick of the trees. We loved it so much, and Seattle, that we stayed two extra nights. They even had a miniature golf course where against my best efforts, Wes won, and Kelly remembered, after the first two holes, that she was right-handed.

Our sweet campsite at Tall Chief RV & Camping Resort.

We checked out some waterfalls, including Snoqualmie Falls, where apparently some show called “Twin Peaks” was filmed in the 90s? Wes is old so he knew. It was a pretty hike to Twin Falls, once again in the rain. This time we warmed up and dried off at Snoqualmie Brewing Company where Wes and I tried our fourth poutine appetizer. None of them are as good as the first one at McMenamins Edgefield though. I guess we will just have to keep ordering poutine until we find an equivalent or better.

Seattle was our last overnight stop before reaching Canada. On the way up, we stopped at the Tulip Festival in Skagit, Washington. There were many different fields of blooming tulips along the way, but we stopped at the most trailer-accessible place, Roozengaard. The gardens were beautiful and the fields were incredibly vibrant. We tiptoed through the tulips and took way too many photos.

Peace out ‘Merica. We made it through the border! Eh? It was a pretty short wait in line to enter and we headed straight for Vancouver, BC. Still not sure what the flashing green light signal means at intersections, but we just drive slowly and it seems to be working. Naaah, we googled it. Safety first, moms! We parked the trailer, and Kelly, in Vancouver for four nights total, but Wes and I decided to take a ferry over to Victoria on Vancouver Island for a night. We rented an AirB&B to give Kelly some peace and quiet for two days, which I am sure she thoroughly enjoyed. When we arrived in Victoria it was really rainy and windy so we hit up some of the breweries. Vancouver Island Brewing and Phillips Brewing were our favorites. Afterwards, we walked by the harbor to see the Parliament Building and The Empress Hotel lit up at night, which was very cool. The AirB&B where we stayed was great too. The owners, Graeme and Amy, were very accommodating and paid attention to all of the little details. We even received a hand written card welcoming us into their home. Graeme provided great advice for us including restaurant suggestions, cab numbers, proposed hikes, and other fun things to do in Victoria. His recommendations did not disappoint.

The harbor and Parliament Building lit up at night in Victoria, BC.

We had to book the 10:10pm ferry out of Nanaimo, which was an hour and a half away, so Wes and I had the entire following day to explore the area. We drove to Craigdarroch Castle and took the self-guided tour through the estate. It was built for the Canadian coal baron, Robert Dunsmuir and his family. Not only were the original design and belongings of the Dunsmuir family impressive to see, but the diverse past of the castle itself, after the family had moved on, was fascinating. The castle was a hospital during WWI and it was the original University of Victoria, formally Victoria College, among other things.

View from the lawn at Craigdarrock Castle.

Looking up the oak stairwell to the fifth floor from the foyer.

We revisited the Parliament Building during the day and it was spectacular. Beautiful architecture and decent weather that day, despite being a little bit chilly. We made our way over to Fisherman’s Wharf, my personal favorite spot in Victoria. I am currently trying to convince Wes that we should buy the only floating house that is for sale. It is Hawaii themed, so I am pretty sure it is meant to be. He is not convinced. The wharf was such an awesome spot with not only floating homes, but floating restaurants as well. We got some beers and buck-a-shuck oysters for happy hour while watching a few otters pop their heads up here and there. Otters are adorable! A friendly man passed by and said, “Didn’t think ya’d be wearin’ a tooke when ya woke up today did ya, eh?” We smiled and gave an appeasing chuckle. According to google, a “tuque”, is a knitted winter hat. And no, we did not expect it to be so cold, so we took a water taxi back to The Flying Otter Restaurant for a nice dinner. Deep. Fried. Cheesecake. Wow. We had a great view of the water and.....more otters! There was even a fisherman cleaning his catch right behind the restaurant while a hungry harbor seal patiently waited for his turn.

Floating homes of Fisherman’s Wharf, Victoria, BC

Harbor seal waiting for a snack behind The Flying Otter Restaurant.

Back in Vancouver, we spent two days exploring the city. The three of us rented mountain bikes for a day and rode through Stanley Park and downtown Vancouver. We ate lunch in Chinatown and stopped at Yaletown Brewing Company on the way back to the bike shop to soak in some of the rarely-seen sunshine with a beer. The city was very bicycle friendly with large bike lanes and paths throughout most of the area. I am not really a city person, but Vancouver was really fun and the two days flew by.

Too much to see and do in too little time. We may have to stop in Vancouver and Victoria again on the way back to California in the fall.