Day 6 - Tofino to Victoria - From nature to man-made wonders

This was a big travel day for us - a 5 hour drive from Tofino to Victoria. We stopped at the other side of Cathedral Grove

Look at the big tree!

I love this photo - doesn't the forest look primeval? (I said that word probably 30 times on this trip!)

A teeny tiny mushroom.

We got to Victoria in under 5 hours, and we walked immediately to the middle of town. Here's the famous Empress Hotel.

While we were in Vancouver, a fellow B&B guest recommended a fish and chips place called "Red Fish Blue Fish". It's a converted shipping container on the harbor.

We decided to get sandwiches, as we were supposed to go to a local fish joint recommended by our friend Huay the next day. It was fun to watch the whale watching boats while we were waiting for our food.

Side note - did you know that in Canada, Canada Dry is the "champagne of ginger ales"?

The sandwiches were so tasty, I got oysters and Rob got scallops. One of the condiments was a deep fried pickle chip, which tasted way better than it sounds.

Afterward, we went to the Royal BC museum, which was one of the best museums I've ever been to. Great exhibits about the history of British Columbia, including the First Nations cultures - these tomtem poles were very impressive.

They also had crazy recreations of different time periods in British Columbia. Rob says they are "full-size occupiable dioramas". Here we are next to the HMS Discovery (in my Klaralund!)

After checking in our B&B, we headed back into town for a movie. It was fun to watch a movie with the locals.

Our favorite highlight? Our lunch (it always comes back to food!)

Day 7 - our final full day of vacation...

Day 5 - Tofino - Hiking and recharging

We were worried about the weather on Day 5, because rain was in the forecast. But we awoke to no rain that morning! Here's the view from the windows of our room.

The B&B owner told us that there are usually bears back here, but we didn't see any during our stay.

I am so excited to eat breakfast in my pajamas!

We went back to Chesterman Beach, where we got drenched the night before. It was so incredibly beautiful!

A sand dollar with some "fuzz" still left on it.

The sun peeking through the clouds.

The beach is very long, and there were only about 10 other people enjoying the morning.

We walked out to an island that's only accessible during low tide.

A lone paddle surfer.

After our walk on the beach, we went and hiked in the Pacific Rim National Park. There are a bunch of easy hikes that each had their own personalities. During the summer, the crowds are enormous, but we pretty much had each hike to ourselves.

This hike was through a lovely forest that ended going down lots of stairs next to a waterfall to a beach.

One of my favorite hikes was through this bog - it reminded me of the scene in Lord of the Rings in the Dead Marshes, but happily there were no dead bodies! The walkway is just sitting on top of the moss, so it was nice and springy.

Even slugs are beautiful in Tofino!

We took some more hikes to several beaches, each with its own personality. This was the first time I understood the appeal of beachcombing, because each beach had so much beach "debris" to look at!

Rob thought this would be a good before/after shot of some driftwood.

So happy that my ears are protected by my Chevron Scarf.

The last hikes we did were through some rainforests, which had walkways that took you through the canopies of of the trees. None of the photos did justice to the incredible landscape and scale of the trees.

This bridge is made from a fallen log.

Rob can barely fit under this tree!

The entire day was just what I had hoped for - great but easy hiking, beautiful scenery and a chance to be with nature. It was definitely worth the trip just to make it here!

Day 4 - Vancouver to Tofino - Surfing in the rain?!?!?

We woke early, sad to leave Vancouver but excited to head to Vancouver Island. We were headed to Tofino, which we kept hearing from everyone was beautiful. So we were definitely looking forward to this leg of the trip!

The trip would entail a 90 minute ferry ride, as well as a 4 hour drive across the island.

It was cold on the ferry ride!

But very beautiful too!

We landed in Nanaimo and immediately found a place to get some tasty seafood chowder - topped with cheese, yum.

As usual, we took one of our customary camera-on-dashboard photos.

The photos don't do justice to the landscape - the fall colors were just beginning to show.

We stopped at a place called Cathedral Grove, which had some huge old growth trees and felt like we were back in the age of the dinosaurs.

More fungi!

I loved all of the moss hanging from the trees.

We checked into our B&B, the Harvey House, which was perfect for our stay.

We took a quick walk to the beach (in the rain) where we were SHOCKED to see about 15 people surfing! We didn't get any good photos because it was cold and RAINING!

As we walked the beach, we got really wet but still enjoyed ourselves.

Afterwards, we headed into the town of Tofino for a lovely dinner. It was too dark to take photos!

Our highlight? The surreal landscape of Cathedral Grove.

Day 5? It stops raining! Yay!

Day 3 - Vancouver - Meeting a Blogging Legend!

We started our third day by taking in some beautiful flora at the University of British Columbia's botanical garden.

We had the entire garden to ourselves (or, so it felt!) I loved all of the dampness and the mushrooms...

...and the fall berries.

Hey! Who are those people?

You can kind of see the blurry people in this photo - there was a class on tree climbing while we were there.

Oooo - pink berries!

An attempt at an artsy shot.

We went to the Nitobe Japanese Garden down the road, where we felt like we were in Japan when we saw the Japanese school group leaving right before us.

This garden is described as one of the most authentic Japanese gardens outside of Japane, and it really is.

The views are very well situated (I'm channeling my inner Austen - tee hee!)

After the gardens, we drove across town to meet... Felicia from SweetGeorgia yarns! She was so sweet to meet up with us and we went to lunch together. Her blog was one of the first ones I started reading when I first started knitting. I was so excited to meet her!

She is so pretty and super nice!

We went to her studio and saw her lovely yarn and her looms.

It was so much fun meeting her (and of course I bought some yarn!) Her restaurant/travel advice really made our trip so much more memorable.

After we left Felicia's studio, we headed to Granville Island and went to the public market. It was great to walk around the area, but Rob only took one photo.

Sometimes his love of all things industrial goes too far!

For dinner, we were slightly embarrassed to admit that we went back to the Foundation Eatery to get more nachos! We ordered the large, and the waitress said, "Have you ever ordered the large before?" Of course we hadn't, and it was even bigger than we had imagined! It was the perfect end to our short jaunt to Vancouver.

Highlights of the day? For Rob, it was the nachos!

They looked bigger in person.

For me, it was definitely meeting Felicia!

I took a blurry photo of the yarn I bought.

Thank you again Felicia! We'll have to return the favor if you ever visit good ol' So Cal!

Day 4 - we go to one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to!

Day 2 - Vancouver - Biking and... eating!

We were really lucky to enjoy great weather during our trip. Cool, in the 50's and 60's, and it really only rained on our travel days. The first thing we did was to grab the mountain bikes from our B&B and ride to Stanley park.

For some reason, we woefully mispacked for this trip. I forgot a hat and proper gloves, Rob forgot good hiking shoes. Luckily I remembered my newly finished Chevron scarf and it gots lots of play during this trip!

There were lots of totem poles during our trip. I love looking at them and seeing the different personalities of the animals and artists in each piece.

Hey! That's how I hold Unki!

Rob's friend Ryan told him to look out for the big sulfur piles across the water - Rob took many, many photos of them (don't ask me why!)

There were some beautiful fall colors along the ride.

Our bike ride took a couple of hours - it was just amazing to be able to get such beautiful views along the way.

Our B&B (the West End Guest House) was a great find! There were such beautiful flowers in the front yard.

Lunch took us to another of Felicia's restaurant recommendations - Finch's Tea and Coffee House. Super fresh, super tasty baguette sandwiches right near Gastown.

Yummy prosciutto sandwich.

We walked around Gastown and Chinatown - Rob swore he took a photo next to this statue from over 20 years ago!

We are such dorks! We got so excited to see posters advertising the Canadian version of our favorite summer tv show!

For dinner, we went to number 3 of Felicia's recommendations - Chambar, a belgium restaurant specializing in mussels. This was such an amazingly tasty meal - we really, really loved this restaurant!

We had to take a photo of Rob's beer so he could remember what brand it was.

I had a beet and crabapple salad - it was so delicious.

Rob had the moroccan style lamb with couscous. Again, super yummy!

Of course we had mussels, which were the best mussels I've had in a long time. They just didn't photograph well...

So, the highlight of the day for both of us? Dinner!

And they had the best frites!

Tomorrow? Do we actually get to meet the person who is made sure we ate so well? Wait and see!

Day 1 - Seattle to Vancouver - Mexi Fries, anyone?

A couple of weeks ago Rob and I went on a trip to Vancouver and Vancouver Island. It's been a while since we took a vacation so we were both very excited! So... you'll notice that the theme of the trip was FOOD! We ate lots and ate well.

We flew into Sea-Tac and drove across the border to Vancouver. We had to stop in Seattle at Hole in the Wall BBQ for some delicious BBQ pork sandwiches.

We went here on our last trip to Seattle and luckily I remembered the name of the place!

My boss Jen told me once about the Mexi Fries at Taco Time so we had to stop and get some to sustain us on our drive.

The tastiest tater tots in town!

It didn't take us too long to get to Vancouver, where we checked into our B&B and took a walk to Stanley Park and our neighborhood (in the rain...)

Even the pigeons looked a little cold and damp.

Before we left, I had asked Felicia from Sweetgeorgia yarns for some restaurant recommendations. She gave us a list of super tasty places. That day just happened to be Canada's Thanksgiving, so we were a little worried if anyplace would be opened. Luckily, we went to the Foundation Eatery, a vegetarian place where they had the best nachos ever! We also had great entrees.

I thought I'd list the highlight of each day of our trip... and for this day? The nachos for both of us!

Taking a break... cruising!

I wanted to thank everyone for the thoughtful comments you left on our last post. It's always such a comfort to hear from fellow bloggers, even when I've only met two of you! It definitely is appreciated by Rob and his family. :)

We felt like we needed a little emotional break after coming back from the east coast. So, I started researching, and a couple hours later, we were booked on a four day cruise to Cabo San Lucas! Neither of us had ever been on a cruise before, and we had a great time! It's not the... well, we'll say "classiest" way to travel, but we were thoroughly entertained by everything we saw and experienced.

The main pool and slide.

Looking down into the main atrium.

Wow! It's windy!

Relaxing next to the ocean.

Look! We won the scavenger hunt! Next stop, Amazing Race!

During our snorkeling trip in Cabo.

Our favorite part was meeting different people that you would never meet anywhere else. Our favorite people were Ted and Terese, who live in Idaho on a dairy farm. I also thought a lot about how hard it must be to work on a cruise ship. There were so many employees it was mind boggling. Rob's favorite entertainer was a guitar player that sang at the "Drama Bar". He was truly not very good. Here's a video to show you:

Rob's parents both loved to travel so I think they both would have appreciated the trip. :) So, we are refreshed and ready for summer! Rob is going to have half day Fridays at work so we're hoping to do lots of sightseeing in our own backyard.

Relaxing in Boca Raton

Mama and I got back Thursday from her work function. We had a great time staying at the Boca Raton Resort, which was definitely a high-class hotel. Luckily, we had time to enjoy all of the amenities.

The view from our room.

Enjoying the beach.

Watching the sunrise.

The croquet lawn (!?!) with the hotel in the background.

When I got back, I was able to start on the final part of my quilt!

I'm hand sewing the binding on. Do you see my crazy looking thumbnail? That's a sewing related injury, I had cold clumsy hands one morning and accidentally cut my thumb with a rotary cutter. I am so excited to finish the quilt! The end is definitely in sight!

A promised gift... only a year late

Rob asked me over a year ago to make him a bag. Last week, in my fever induced haze, I kept my promise.

NOTE TO SELF: do not sew while sick. Mistakes will happen.

Pattern: Amy Butler's High Street Messenger Bag
Fabric: Black Canvas, natural canvas (sewn onto the black fabric for stability) and Shirting material

From the outside, the bag looks nice. But on the inside, it's a different story. So different that I couldn't take a picture of it. While I was sewing the bag, I couldn't figure out why the lining wasn't sewing up right. AFTER I finished it, I realized that I didn't interface the lining. D'oh! Considering the fabric (which was a shirting fabric) is stretchy, interfacing was a must, which I kept reminding myself. So maybe I thought I did it? I have no idea.

The strap is like seatbelt material from REI. It makes a nice strong handle.

I think this is a very good pattern. The directions are clear, the details make it look very finished, and the bag feels very substantial. I did not do the hanging zipper bag or the zippered pocket in the front flap because I just felt it was too much small storage. So if you're looking for a good messenger bag pattern, I think this one will do the trick.

In other news, Rob and I are going to Japan in May! Very exciting. We're going for three weeks with my mom and our friend Huay. We'll be visiting Tokyo, Kyoto, Hakone, Naoshima and relatives in Takayama and Mashiko. Rob and Huay have never been to Japan, so it'll be fun to introduce them to both the country and family. I should have internet access in a couple of places, so I hope I can blog while there. What I'm looking forward to: eating, shopping, seeing beautiful gardens, spending time with wonderful people, shopping, relaxing, seeing new family members, shopping, and brushing up on my Japanese. Oh, and have I mentioned shopping?

Mari's Birthday at Disneyland

We decided to spend Mari's Birthday at Disneyland this year, and was it worth it! A great way to get away from all the stresses of being an adult, everyone is a kid at Disneyland.

We started our day off, as all should, at (the fairly newly renovated) Space Mountain. I must say it did not disappoint. The ride is as great as it ever was, and the improvements are just that.

The park was very empty, as it was a weekday before Thanksgiving. I was told this was widely know by a Disney connoisseur and friend of ours, it was a very pleasant surprise for us!

We rode many rides twice, including Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blaster.

We had our new cmarea with us, and captured some of our favorite things, including Mari's favorite moment in a small world.

As it was Mari's B-day, we did splurge for lunch and ate at the Blue Bayou. Mari had the prime rib, while I had the infamous Monte Cristo sandwich. Oooooh heaven... (although I still think Bennigan's is the best)

The highlights continued as Mari's sisters, Yumi and Mina, with family, Steve, Anna and Sammie joined us for some evening fun, including another ride on Small World.

A great day had by all and finished off as all day's at Disney should be with fireworks, enjoy.