IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINEER

 This morning we boarded the Rocky Mountineer train in Vancouver to begin a twelve day circular trip through the Canadian Rockies. Our train is marvelous.  

Our car is called Gold Service.  It is two stories tall with a dining car area downstairs and this fully glassed top dome seating area upstairs.  It is almost like being out of doors with just glass in between. (Good for climate control and safety!)

The first part of our morning was a long breakfast downstairs as we traveled alongside bays where the Pacific Ocean touches Canada.

We then turned inland where crashing rivers ran beside us as we crossed over several times.  Caretaking on the train is really splendid.  We leave our luggage in our room in the morning and, lo, it is in our next room that night before we arrive there.  The Rocky Mountaineer people surely do everything just right.

In the afternoon we came to our stop for the night in the town of Whistler. Whistler was the site of Alpine events in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.  The village is a pedestrian only village and is a wonderful place to wander, eat, and drink.  Lots of people to watch!

Yes…and one of those people got her favorite soft serve dip top ice cream!

The wildfires are north of here. We do have some high level overcast from the smoke, but we smell nothing and if we did not know of the fires we would not be aware.

Tomorrow, for safety, the Rocky Mountaineer will take us on a slightly alternate route.  It will be a route taken on one of their other trips and we may get some extra treats for this small change.  These people are so caring and really do everything to please us.

BUCHART GARDENS

 Robert Buchart and his wife, Jennie, began manufacturing cement in Western Canada in 1888. In 1904 their operation was moved to a huge limestone deposit on Victoria Island.  By 1909 the limestone was exhausted. After seeing garden work done by Japanese designer, Isaburo Kishida, Jennie Buchart commissioned him to create a sunken garden in the old quarry site. Finished in 1921, the Bucharts begin to welcome people to their garden.  Over 100 years later the garden has grown considerably, but it is still in the family.  We could have spent the day, but only had an afternoon to relax here until our eyes were full.

The Victoria climate loves flowers, warm and sunny by the afternoon and cool at night, the colors are very brilliant.  This hanging garden of fuscias was nearly overwhelming.

There were also fountains galore.  They ranged from giant snails to dragons, or simply dancing waters.

One of my favorite sections was the Japanese garden.  Totally floored with beautiful green moss, the space combined gentle water with shade and coolness.

The Buchart’s original home is now a restaurant and gift shop.  If this were my garden, I would have to still live here!

This was a day much worth living!

VICTORIA ISLAND

 We arrived in Vancouver, British Columbia, on August 12 and yesterday took a day long trip to Victoria Island. Though we live with ferries, we had been on nothing like this one. It carried over three hundred vehicles and more than a thousand passengers.  There were even three restaurants on board so you could eat your way through the ninety minute trip.

After the ferry ride we traveled to the city of Victoria and spent most of our time at the inner harbor area. You can’t miss the Fairmont Empress Hotel and its lovely grounds. 

 Built by the Canadian Pacific Railroad in 1908 to promote luxury tourism along its railroad and steamship lines, the hotel has hosted British Royalty from George VI to Elizabeth II and a host of celebrities.  The grounds are spectacular. (They have also served high tea for 118 years.)

The Parliamemt of British Columbia meets in Victoria and the Parliament building is huge and spectacular. 

As you can see from this map, Victoria is actually farther south that parts of Washington State and the climate year round is perfect for flowers. After the city of Victoria, we spent the afternoon in the Butchart Gardens…but that deserves another post all its own! (Tomorrow)

ON TO MONTANA

 We happened to wake up early today. (Our travel rule is to always sleep until we wake up naturally and only drive 6-7 hours each day.) As soon as we got on the road we started seeing very long trains.  Some had two to four engines on the front and then more engines in the middle of the train.  They were always more than a mile long. This one happened to have five engines.

After that we started to see oil wells.  We were on the western edge of North Dakota and did not expect this here.

Then as soon as we got into Montana it was hay hay hay all the way!

Over and over again we sometimes met and sometimes passed these huge truck loads of hay.  If they could coordinate their logistics properly, they could save a lot of time and money.

Though we usually like to travel on smaller highways, we are taking I-94 and I-90 for a couple of days to get on toward Vancouver, our present goal.  The speed limit all day was 80 miles per hour.  Our average speed for the whole day was 81 MPH so we covered our planned 446 miles in just five and a half hours. We each drove about half the time, so, neither of us gets the whole credit! I happened to be driving when Trish took the picture.

Tomorrow we have n easy day and go on to Spokane, Washington.  

ACROSS NORTH DAKOTA

 Today we finished Wisconsin and traveled across most of North Dakota.  All our photos today were taken from the car, so, many of them have dash reflections.  

I have never understood how anyone can be bored driving across the country. The landscape and the culture changes as you go and there is so much to watch and take in all through the day and the miles. Today we saw beautiful acres and acres, no, we saw miles and miles of corn!  The patterns of the rows as they round the gentle South Dakota hills are truly artistic.

Then there are the miles of Mormon sunflowers. The legend is that Mormon migrants, traveling toward Utah, scattered sunflower seeds to mark the way for others to follow.  In reality, the small sunflowers are native, but, the wheels of wagons and the tracks of walking feet cleared the prairie grasses and made a habitat for them to flourish.  In doing this, the sunflowers did begin to grow along the migrant paths and still follow the highways today.

We watched miles of hay being baled on the highway right of way and learned that the hay growing on what is the right of way does not belong to the adjacent landowners. No, the right to cut and bale this hay comes from competitive bidding with the North Dakota DOT.

 This went on for miles and the bales were round and huge.  One would barely fit, sticking out over the sides, in a large pickup truck.

I was surprised by the number of natural lakes we passed along the way.  Exploring this we learned that there are hundreds of small lakes from the last glacier period.  In fact, the entire Red River Valley (popularized in song) was once the largest post-ice age lake until it eventually dried up.

We saw giant fields of oats in harvest.  Now the oat straw was being baled.  The huge oat fields, and a smaller number of wheat fields, explained the multiple grain silos that popped up every few miles.  

Tomorrow we finish South Dakota and head into Montana.  Now time for sleep!

THE SS BADGER

We left Trish’s mom’s home and are headed west. Instead of driving down and around by Chicago, we planned to take the steamship SS Badger across Lake Michigan to Wisconsin.

The Badger is the last operating steam powered vehicle in the United States.  This information sign posted by the boarding queue tells her story.

We watched while they loaded cars and trucks into the belly of the steamship.

Once on board, we had breakfast and then explored things to do on the four hour voyage.  We discovered several large lounges, lots of chairs outside on the top deck, the movie theatre, cafe,  bar, history room, and, of course, the gift shop.  You could also book a cabin, but, for day crossing this had no appeal.

Since there was a chilly breeze on deck, we chose the main lounge and got a table by a window. In a short time Badger Bingo started.  We played along, but didn’t win anything.  After that there was trivia time.  Trish and I did much better then.  There was a three way tie at the end of the game. The winner was to be determined by the team that could list the longest value for mathematical pi. My memory from Roy Haupt’s eighth grade class came to the surface and 3.1415926535 made us the winners! (The prize was two drink cups that change color depending upon whether their contents are hot or cold…wow!)

It was a very pleasant journey an a calm day.  Once off the ship, we drove to St. Cloud, Minnesota, for the night. On to North Dakota tomorrow.

 

VISITING TRISH’S MOM

 This week we are in Lake Orion, Michigan, visiting Trish’s ninety-seven year old mom.

When Trish was born, her father was career Navy.  He retired when she was ten years old and the family moved from Southern California to Lake Orion, Michigan, where there was a job waiting for him.  

They built this house and moved here in 1967 and her mom, Betty has lived there ever since.  Trish’s dad, Ralph, died in 2019 and her brother, Jerry, and his wife now live in the house with Betty. So, she has been here for fifty-nine years!

Betty is very strong physically but is having a gradual decline in memory.  We sit and visit, we walk around the yard, we even go out for ice cream.  We enjoy being with her.  She is not sure when we for here, but she sure does enjoy the moments.

At this time in her life, moments are very important. If you only remember the moment, it is important to make them as much fun as possible.  Enough good moments surely contribute to feelings of love.  Our hope is that we will get to come back next year and celebrate ninety-eight years!