Roche Harbor, San Juan Island

September 22nd: Sailed (with wind!!) from Sidney to Roche Harbor, WA, about 12 miles across busy Haro Strait, which is a busy shipping channel. Roche Harbor dates to the 1880's, when it was a lime processing and shipping center. The original 1886 hotel has been restored, and is pictured above. It is now part of an extensive resort. By the way, Teddie Roosevelt, a longtime friend of the owner of the limestone plant, stayed at the hotel in 1906, and his signature in the guestbook is on display there.

John McMillan, the limestone industrialist, created an very elaborate mausoleum for himself and his family, which is situated on the resort's grounds. The ashes of family members are interred in the chairs surrounding the limestone table enclosed by columns pictured here. I think the guy may have had an ego.

Sidney, Vancouver Island

September 21st: Sailed from Brentwood to Sidney, which is located on the east side of the Saanich Peninsula on Vancouver Island. We navigated some treacherous waters with narrow passes, hidden rocks and strong currents. Thank heavens for GPS!!

Spent the afternoon exploring Sidney, with its very nice downtown which features many art galleries and bookstores.

Victoria

September 20th: Spent the day exploring beautiful and very English Victoria with Lorna and Norman. We enjoyed the flowers, the imposing architecture of the Empress Hotel and Parliament Buildings, as well as the waterfront. The Canadian Snowbirds jet were practicing above us for an upcoming airshow.

Visit with Lorna & her furry friends in Victoria

September 19th: Spent a very nice evening and day with Donna's cousin, Lorna, and her furry companions. Mairi, her golden retriever, is a sweet, fun-loving character. We all took a refreshing walk through a local provincial park. Sky and Quinn, Lorna's cats are exact opposites - Sky is engagingly social, and Quinn is very slow to warm up, but very vocal about it.

Donna and I want another dog even more now.

Afternoon Tea Butchart Gardens

September 18th: We decided to go for afternoon tea at Butchart Gardens. Somehow, we rated a wonderful table next to a window overlooking the Italian Garden. The savory and sweet delicacies were superb, and the specially blended tea was perfect, as well.

Butchart Gardens

September 18th: We dinghied to spectacular Butchart Gardens where we spent the entire day. We literally took time to smell the flowers!! This is what retirement is about. Donna took many, many pictures, of which these are just a sample.

Tod Inlet by Butchart Gardens

September 17th: After sailing/motoring to Mill Bay, we found the anchorage too deep, and the area too exposed to southwesterly winds. We decided to go on to Tod Inlet, which is very close to Butchart's Gardens. Tod Inlet is very narrow, with high, forested walls. We were able to anchor in a very protected area at the end of the cove. Even though it is situated next to the most popular tourist attraction on Vancouver Island, it felt like wilderness. About 100 years ago, the inlet was a busy port for two cement plants that were located next to it. The only evidence now is some old pilings, some concrete foundations and a few rusting pieces of machinery, all well hidden by dense forest. The inlet was abloom with thousands of translucent jelly fish - you can see them in one of the photos.

Tod Inlet has a family of resident otters. We snuck up on them in our dinghy and managed to take the picture you see here. About 5:00 a.m. we were awakened by a ruckus in our boat's cockpit - the rudder was swinging and the swim ladder was rattling, all accompanied by splashing sounds. I immediately went above and found nothing except some sea water in the cockpit. We suspect the otters were trying to board our boat.

The maple trees in the inlet were just starting to display their fall colors. The combination of the golden maples and the evergreens was truly beautiful.