A Weekend Getaway

It was our anniversary. After much deliberation we decided to make a short trip somewhere we'd never been, outside the good old USA. Our adventure took us to Sooke, BC on Vancouver Island. We live close enough that we've made several trips to Victoria, but never ventured beyond. It turns out Vancouver Island is a big, wild, outdoorsy place. Victoria is lovely, very touristy and fun for it's British vibe. It's a great place for urban hiking. The ferry runs from Victoria, so we spent some of our time there as well. Here's our weekend in pictures!

DAY ONE

Catching the ferry at Port Angeles

A mostly gray ride over

Waiting for the best fish and chips ever at Red Fish Blue Fish
 with my friend Jonathon Livingston

An afternoon walk on Whiffin Spit

DAY TWO

At a scenic view on our drive up the coast to the beaches

We hiked to several beaches along the Juan De Fuca Marine Trail for a day's total of a hilly 11 miles. An over-sized soaking bath tub was perfect at the end.

View from the trail at Botanical Beach

On the trail

A view on Botanical Beach

Tide pool life

Tide pools abound on Botanical Beach

I caught some waves, with the camera

Crane at the beach

Trail to our second beach, Sombrio Beach

This beach is popular with surfers

China Beach was mostly just us and the seagulls 

Mystic Beach was the last stop on our trek

To get there and back I had to overcome my fear of suspension bridges
(and heights)

Yikes!

DAY THREE

This was our actual anniversary, 34 years! The day found us trail weary and limited by time. We had to get in line for the ferry in Victoria by 1:30 PM, so we got going (slowly) and spent a short day of urban hiking in Victoria. We ate brunch at an old favorite, in the garden room of Swans Brewpub. No photos, as we left the card in the tablet the night before and didn't realize it. 

We had a lovely ride back to the U.S. Then we began our search for someplace open to eat one last celebratory meal. Somehow we ended up in the quaint town of Sequim (pronounced "skwim") at Blondie's Plate.

Yummy local steamer clams

One of my all time favorites, Moscow Mule

The entire meal was truly delightful and was topped off with complimentary truffles for our special day! 

Honeymoon 1980

34 years ago if you had said I would be eating tapas in Sequim and photographing the food and Moscow mule on my phone before blogging and facebooking it for everyone to see I would have said you were mad!

Original Browning quote by Suzi Scribbles on etsy

On the other hand, if you had told me I'd be doing that or anything for that matter, with my best friend, the guy I married 34 years ago, that, my friend, I knew.

Linda <><

Music Makes Pictures, a Love Story

"Music makes pictures and often tells stories

All of it magic and all of it true

And all of the pictures and all of the stories

All of the magic, the music is you"

                        ~John Denver

Music has always been dear to me. My husband says we should all have a sound track to our lives. My daughter is a professional pianist, quite talented I might humbly add. We've always surrounded ourselves with music, diverse melodies to carry us through all the times of our lives. I heard one of my favorites on my run the other day and it brought happy tears to my eyes. It reminded me of my parents love story. Mom passed away last year just three days before my folks sixty-sixth wedding anniversary. How they found each other is another story.

My father's childhood home -- Courthouse and Jail Rock in the distance

My dad grew up in a sod house along the Oregon Trail. In 1938 they lost the homestead to the dust bowl and auctioned off their belongings preparing to move to Oregon. Just days before my dad graduated from high school my grandfather was killed in a car accident while helping someone else auction off their things. My grandmother was hospitalized for some time. Dad wandered for a while and ended up in California building airplanes during WWII. 

Mom graduated from the University of Nebraska

Mom grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska and became a teacher. She taught high school typing and shorthand in a small town. There she fell in love with a farm boy who went off to fight. He was killed in Italy at the end of the war. She had resigned herself to life as an old maid school teacher.

Eventually, she was transferred to Bridgeport, Nebraska which happened to be my Dad's hometown. When a young man wanted to date her best friend she said she would only go if he found someone to go with my mom. It just so happened that Dad was in town to visit my grandmother for Christmas, so he was enlisted.

They went on that blind date and married six months later. The rest is, well, you know...

Lettie and Lester June 1946

Last June when I was visiting Dad he was reminiscing with me about the opportunities he had passed up and all those 'what ifs' that never really help. I played God Bless the Broken Road for him. He had never heard the song before, but he had lived it and he completely understood it. 

Happily Ever After

My brothers and I, our spouses, children and grandchildren are all grateful for that broken road that brought my folks together. 

Linda<><