Month: April 2025

Starting the day in the high desert of Kamloops, British Columbia. It doesn’t seem right to use “high desert” in the same sentence as British Columbia but, here we are.

Turned on the television this morning. Canada had a national election yesterday. The liberals won. One of the commentators said that Trump should get the Order of Canada for uniting the nation. I won’t make any more political comments.

We did wake up in time to make the 5:50 am boarding time for the shuttle bus to the train.

One interesting thing is that people all along the way will come out on their porches and patios to wave at the train.

We have come out of the desert terrain into alpine meadows. Also, there are numerous lakes.

Found that they will make us apperol spritzes. Tina chose a Caesar, a popular local drink akin to a bloody Mary.

Site of the last spike on the TransCanada railroad. The pyramid is made from Stones from each Canadian province.

The first day of the trip I was wondering what the big deal was about this excursion. Today the scenery is spectacular,  well worth the trip.

The sun came out early afternoon which added to the pleasure of this part of the trip. The train stopped for a long wait until some freight trains passed. Stopping in a beautiful place is not a bad thing.

Made it to our hotel in Banff. Staying at a place called the Rimrock Resort. The place is beautiful but we turned in after a short walk through. It has been a long day and we are beat.

We made it to the bus that took us to the station; then onto the train. They had a piper to pipe us onto the train.

It seems that we have left the sunny weather in Washington. Today is overcast. The service on the train is great, very attentive. Had breakfast on the train with a very nice couple from Philadelphia.

The scenery is spectacular. It reminds me very much of the time Jim and I brought the Jeep from Wenatchee to Samish Island. We drove through Stevens Pass with a very similar landscape.

Once we get east of the coastal mountains the climate changes to desert, beautiful but in a different way. The Fir and Cedar forests have given way to Ponderosa Pine and Sage Brush. It is easy to see the beauty of the coastal forest but, I believe, it takes one time to see the beauty of the desert. There is certainly beauty here.

The afternoon meal on the train was outstanding. The landscape changes to desert.

Transported to the hotel in Kamloops. Closing this post because we need to meet the shuttle back to the train at 6:00 am. It’s been a long day.

This morning we are leaving Skagit Valley. It was the first cloudy day we have encountered here. We will travel to Bellingham, drop off our rental car then catch an Amtrak train to Vancouver BC.

The Morgan’s dropped us off at the train station. It was sad to say “goodbye” to the people who have been so very kind to us the last several days.

When we got to Vancouver and through customs, we took a cab to the hotel. We got into a conversation with the Iranian driver about politics (we were all in agreement about the state of the world). One notable comment was “When the US sneezes,Canada catches the flu”. I thought that was a great observation.

Went to a great place for lunch, Joey’s. They have a lamp I want for the Carolina room.

After lunch we came back to the hotel and crashed. Having had such an active week in Pugit Sound, we needed some down time. In the morning we are to meet the shuttle to the Rocky Mountaineer at 8:00 am. Fortunately we leave our bags in the hotel room to be transported to the next hotel.

We got to Vancouver the day after a tragic event where a fellow drove his car into a community celebration killing eleven people. It was a Filipino celebration. Our waiter at a restaurant was part of that community. We spoke with him at length about the happening. It seemed to me that he needed to talk about it. The offender had just been discharged from a mental facility. It was a sad and poignant conversation.

On a much happier note. Since I have so many nights at Marriott hotels, I have lifetime “Titanium” status. This gets me into the club room at hotels that have them. So, we went to the club room for a light snack before our evening walk. There was a great view of the city.

Observation for the first day in Canada. When we left the US we were wondering how we would be received in Canada. There had been comments about being the 51st State, tariffs, border enforcement…. We were told by numerous people in Washington that there was a huge downturn of the number of Canadians coming to the US. We standout as being from the US, (we are both wearing LL Bean outerwear, what Canadian would do that). Well, this first day, every encounter was remarkably delightful. From the border officials to wait staff at restaurants, everyone was remarkably kind and nice.

As we were planning this trip I got in touch with my Aunt Georgia. We had not seen each other in many years. I wanted to see her as she is the last remaining relative that I have from my Mother’s generation. Georgia was married to my Uncle Jesse. My contact with Georgia sparked conversations between cousins that led to what turned out to be a family reunion, the first in many years.

We started the day with breakfast at the Edison Cafe. This is a converted filling station where many locals meet before they start work in the fields. Edison claims Edward R Murrow as a native son. His family actually lived in the adjacent community of Blanchard.

We then ventured to Aunt Georgia’s home for the party. Wow, what a gathering. Cousins, their children and their children’s children came. The weather was beautiful, the setting was beautiful and the abundant food was great. I was greatly honored to have been feted in such a grand way.

A couple of my male cousins were not able to attend as they were attending a bachelor party. Here, a bachelor party consists of going to Idaho to hunt bear.

Got an email from Amtrak. Instructions for crossing the boarder. We will be taking the train from Bellingham to Vancouver BC in order to start our trip across the Canadian Cascades. Amtrak sent two pages of fine print to say “bring your passport”. We would be in a fine fix if we had left them in SC.

Came into Burlington to go to a coin op laundry, there is no facility at the Airbnb to do laundry. Burlington is my hometown and the laundry is near where I live in elementary school. It’s become a somewhat scary place. A lot of boarded up buildings. Not at all like where we are staying. Bow is upbeat, thriving and becoming a destination for “with it” people from Seattle.

Walked past my old elementary school and house. House looked tiny, little different from when I lived here nearly 70 years ago. Except, the willow tree is gone. Mrs. Stensrud’s store where I got ice cream cones with a candy on top, is gone. The bank is now “Terra Nueva del Norte,  Skagit County Jail Ministry”. One, I’m glad I left my cash at home; two I’m glad I left Tina at home.

Later we visited some shops in Edison; then did a short hike on the Padilla Bay trail. This trail is flat. It runs along the top of a dike that keeps the Pugit Sound water from the farmland.

In the evening we met friends for an outdoor campfire dinner. A unique and very entertaining evening. We were joined by Barbara, our neighbor from Samish Island and Addie, Kveta and Jim’s daughter. Addie had this day returned from an adventure in Japan and was on her way home on the Olympic Peninsula.

I have continued my tradition of making coffee for Tina this morning. She likes a little half and half in her coffee so I bought some yesterday at the Co-op. It has been many years since I had seen separated milk in a glass container – I had forgotten how to deal with it. I initially made a bit of a mess but eventually got it mixed.

We started the day with a hike to Squire Lake with Kveta and Jim. They have taken the responsibility to be our hosts, much to the delight of Tina and me.

After the hike we met some old friends from the time we had the place on Samish Island. Rosalie and Glen had also been close friends with my mother. Both in their 90’s and living independently. Truly inspirational.

After the visit we stopped at our old summer place.

We then joined Rosalie and Glen at a local pub for an oyster dinner. The place was a real treat, far away from the tourist places. The food was great but not as good as I remember my mother’s oysters

Tomorrow morning we are planning to take it easy. We bought a huge sticky bun from the Farm to Market bakery for breakfast and plan to stay close to the Airbnb for the morning. The Farm to Market bakery has always been one of our all-time favorite places for pastries.

Tomorrow afternoon we are joining Kveta and Jim with other friends from Seattle who have a part-time place on Samish Island. We are planning an early dinner at the Chuckanut Manor. On Samish Bay, the Chuckanut Manor is an old time roadhouse. Originally we were planning for the Oyster Bar further up Chuckanut Drive where the food and views are spectacular. However, a landslide on Chuckanut Drive closed the road from our end.

Well, plans have changed. Our hosts were told that it would be difficult to get an outside table on a Friday afternoon at Chuckanut Manor. So even better plans were made. We will have an outdoor dinner cooked over a fire at Kveta and Jim’s.

This morning started in a grand way. There was a beautiful sunrise introducing a clear sunny calm morning:

This was the day that I visited my parents gravesite. My purpose is to clean the stone and sweep the area. The site was a lot better than I anticipated. I had thought about planting something next to it but the cemetery rules prevent that. I was able to give the stone a good cleaning and I borrowed a broom from the caretaker. She happened to arrive to mow grass shortly after I got there.

I came to the gravesite while Tina was at a yoga class with a friend.

On the way to pick up Tina, I had a great view of Mt Baker.

After I picked up Tina we went shopping for groceries as we had invited friends for dinner. This area is quite a foodie place. There are rural specialty shops for all kinds of food. We went to The Bread Farm in Edison has wonderful breads, Del Fox Custom Meats provides steaks directly from their farm (can hardly get fresher than that. Besides, the owner helped us pick out exceptional steaks with just the right marbling). The Skagit Valley Food Co-op was the source for local vegetables, beer, wine and what looks like fabulous pastries just out of the oven. I just hope I will be able to get the grill to work at the Airbnb.

On the way to the co-op we stopped at Sonofresco. They are the fabricators of Tina’s coffee roaster. Last year I had to make some repairs as the roaster malfunctioned after the trip south. They were great, walking me through every step. We got a tour through their facility and got the lowdown on the state of the coffee industry. Hold on to your wallets – the price of a cup of coffee is going through the roof. And, it is not all due to tariffs. The Brazilian crop is in trouble, supply ships have to go around the Cape of Good Hope and there are a number of other supply issues. And, yes, tariffs.

Today we visited the tulip fields in Skagit Valley, they are truly spectacular. We started the day with a wonderful breakfast at Kveta and Jim’s farm. They then guided us through the tulip fields. We are catching the last of the peak of the tulips. We joined by our friends, Kveta and her husband Jim. They are both involved in agriculture here and know the best places and a lot of the background of the tulip industry here. I will let the photos tell the story, there is not much I can add.

No, we are not in Holland. Factoid: many bulbs are shipped from Skagit Valley to Holland, repackaged as Dutch bulbs and sent back to the USA.

Next we had a delightful lunch in La Conner, a picturesque town on the Skagit River near where it enters Puget Sound.

Tina and I returned to our lodging and took a walk. Many of the houses here are architecturally modern.

Well, we made it to the airport in plenty of time. We checked our bags and made it to the plane to Atlanta. We have a little over an hour layover. This should give us plenty of time. They did mark our bags with a note that said rush. The plane was packed.

Made it to Atlanta, looks like another packed flight. This one will be over five hours.

Noted that the Roman Catholic Pope has passed. A few years ago we were visiting Jim who was doing a semester abroad in Rome. It was Easter. Tina finagled passes to the Easter service in St Peter’s Square from a Swiss Guard. We were really close to him when he made a round of the square in the Pope mobile. Since I am not Catholic, I cannot say plus or minus about his papacy but, he seemed like a decent person with a tough job at a challenging time.

The flight to Seattle was without issues and arrived early.

We are now waiting for the shuttle bus to Bellingham where we will pick up our rental car. As the flight was early, we were able to get on an earlier bus.

It has always interested me that the people at the Seattle airport dress in dark colors. Mostly black and dark blue and grey. I’m not in Savannah anymore.

Well, we made it.

This area, adjacent to Puget Sound, has a lot of recreational activities. We stopped to chat with some friends at their farm. Adjacent to their property is an area where parachutists land. They don’t jump from airplanes but from a ridge on an adjacent mountain. The wind currents keep them aloft for some 45 minutes. We saw as many as 4 in the short time we were there but there are as many as 25 in the air at one time.

We are starting an adventure to the West Coast. We have a number of goals for this trip:

• Attend the Tulip Festival in Skagit Valley. Although tulip farming was happening when I lived in the area as a lad, there was no festival. When we had the summer place on Samish Island, we were never there in the early spring when tulips were in bloom. This trip will allow us to experience one of the highlights of the area I was born. Acres of tulips in bloom will certainly be spectacular.
• We’ll visit my aunt Georgia, the last living relative from my Mother’s generation. Her daughter, cousin Nancy, is putting together a family gathering. Nancy’s husband is editing a copy of the 8 mm family films that my father took and I had digitized.
• I will spend some time sprucing up my parents gravesite. This may be my last opportunity to do so.
• We plan to visit a number of friends in the area as well. People we became close to when we had the Samish Island place.
• After Skagit Valley, we will travel to Vancouver BC and take the Rocky Mountaineer over the Canadian Rockies to Banff, Lake Louise then Calgary.

The challenge will be to get to the Savannah Airport in time for our 5:30 am flight.