B wants me to update

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"Let's Go To, Victoria..."

Ok, no Princes Marguerite cruise, but Julie and I did make it to Victoria via the Tsawwassen Ferry. We had a blast. Tons of pictures, mostly in three settings; Craigdarroch Castle, Butchart Gardens, and the city of Victoria. Lots of fun at all the spots. We had two great dinners at two different Tapas places, and high tea at Butchart Gardens. The gardens were spectacular.

A couple of pictures you'll see are a marmot and Julie with some bees. There's a small garden by the Empress Hotel, right in the heart of the city, complete with their own bees. Nobody is positive how "Roger the Marmot" got there, but 4 different environmental groups have been unsuccessful in catching him and relocating him. So he's made his home in the garden.

Enjoy the full album here (96 pics). A few of my favorites are below.

Granville Island

I took a solo trip up to Vancouver, spending most of my time around Granville Island. Here's some snaps from my 40d!

Also, I'm doing my pics slightly differently. The whole album is embedded below (the slide-show). Or if you prefer, you can still click on the link below to see all that pics.

Click here for the full album (60+ pics) or just hit "play" below to see all the pics.

Holidays in Bellingham

Ok - it's been a long time. Here are pics from our December and a sledding day to kick off the new year. Be forewarned - there's 298 images if you dare. The events, in order are

• Children's "mini-musical" at Northlake
• His Kindergarten class at school doing a little Christmas song
• Christmas Day (a couple of pics at our house, a huge chunk of pics at Auntie Biz's house, and a few more at Grandma and Grandpa's house)
• Christmas at Whidbey
• A few pics from our deep freeze (no, that's not snow, just heavy frost)
• Sledding day from yesterday (Jan 1st)

Here's the link to the full album.

Never did figure out what was so funny

Uncle Derrick got a Kinect for Christmas

Me and Ellie

Family "Brunch" at the Farm

The force is strong with this one

A lot of fun with this "balance game" from Uncle Dave

Summer Fun!

Lots of pics from Boulevard Park, The Fair, Seattle Trip, and Whidbey Island. All that in 1 week!

Here's a link to the full album...

The bridge at Boulevard Park

The original Picture...

And having a little fun with the colors...

B and M watching the trains go by

Brennan and the gum wall!

A Mike Hike: Boundary Bay, Cowap Peak, and Excelsior Pass

Yesterday was spent in my favorite place...the mountains. I did a few short hikes that added up to about 10 miles...it was fantastic. These were hikes I hadn't done before, mostly due to the fact that Canyon Creek Rd. had been closed for most of the time we'd lived here.

Skip the reading and just to to all the pics, (click here).

The hiking was great. I started at the Damfino Lakes Trailhead, but took the spur to the left and followed the Boundary Way trail. At another junction I headed left and went to Cowap Peak, (5658'). The views were fantastic - you could see Baker, Shuksan, and all the peaks surrounding...360 degree panorama.

I was mesmerized by something I wasn't expecting to see - the smoke from the big fire in British Columbia. I watched this for awhile, and every few seconds the patterns in the smoke would change. On the way down from the peak I did a short jaunt on the Boundary Way trail, and then headed back to the Damfino Lakes junction, spotting first a big marmot sunning himself on a rock, and then a bunch of Pikas who were also out in the later afternoon sun.

Then it was Damfino Lakes, (er "Damfino Ponds might be more apt), and on to Excelsior Pass. At the top of the pass is another gorgeous view of Baker. I was tempted to push on to Excelsior Peak, but my knee was hurting and after consulting my map, realized I had a full 3 miles back to the car. So I stopped for my dinner, (beef stick, yogurt raisins, trail mix and a tiger's milk bar), enjoyed the view, and started the painful walk down...(whatever is wrong with my knee, it only hurt on the descent).

If you're looking for a good day hike, this area is fun. I see why it's not quite as popular as some of the other areas, (Skyline Divide, Heliotrope Ridge, Bagley Lakes, Artist Point, Lake Ann - all are more popular). The 15 miles on Canyon Creek Road to reach the trailhead takes a solid 45 minutes. Still, the trade off is it wasn't nearly as crowded, and the views were great. Enjoy the pics!

Full Album here (56 photos)

Smoke from the B.C. Fires

Big Marmot enjoying the sun

A Pika - small and skittish, you have to be sneaky