Vancouver and home again

After seeing our friends Ken and Dianne at their place in Edmonds near Seattle and having a great brunch the next morning, we headed to Vancouver to visit sons Bill and Matt. Surprisingly it was sunny and almost clear as soon as we crossed the border but we did have a couple of sleet showers later on. Spring is late in coming this year and the trees weren't flowering there yet.

We made it home on Monday after exactly six weeks on the road and driving 8015 km. This doesn't include our side trip to Washington DC! We had a great time everywhere.

Stay tuned for our next big trip - to Denmark in June before a Baltic cruise at the beginning of July.

Seattle

On the way north after we left California we thought it would be fun to stop in Seattle for the night. It had been raining during the day but it started to clear as we arrived and by the time we figured out where our hotel was (down a steep street near the waterfront) the sun was shining and the sky was blue. We had enough time to walk around the neighbourhood and go to the Pike Place Market. Although vendors were starting to close up, it was still a bustling scene with flowers, produce, fish and crafts. The small stores opposite the market were interesting too. The rooftops on both sides of the street were lined with beautiful daffodils, a wonderful sight.
We had a drink in the hotel's Bookstore Bar, which was full of the Friday night crowd, and had dinner later at the Pike Pub (a brewery, restaurant and beer museum). The whole place was full of fascinating beer memorabilia. Some of the beer they make has names like Naughty Nellie and Kilt Lifter and most of the menu items include beer in some form.
A great way to spend the evening!

Ferndale, California

We drove north from Santa Cruz along the coast, through San Francisco and over the Golden Gate Bridge. It was pretty scenic, especially with the heavy surf from the storm which had been hovering for a couple of days. We were glad we had also seen most of this coast in the sunshine. As we got close to Eureka we needed a place to stop and saw a billboard for Ferndale. This reminded us that we had made a mental note to stop there last time we came this way. It's only about 5 miles off the highway and is an amazingly well-preserved Victoria town. The downtown area is almost like a movie set.
We spent an hour walking around the streets admiring the architecture and it was a lovely break.

More California cousins

After we left Santa Clarita we drove north to Boulder Creek which is near Santa Cruz in the mountains south of San Francisco. We stayed with another cousin Patty and her husband who we hadn't met before but had been in touch with by email and Facebook over the last couple of years.
We had a great time talking, visiting some of the small coastal villages, stopping at various overlooks to admire the scenery and several lighthouses, walking out on the wharf in Santa Cruz, watching the surfers, doing a wine tasting at Bargetto Winery and having a great dinner on our last night at a special restaurant on the river. We also met Patty's brother and his wife, who live locally too.
So that makes four cousins we have seen on this trip, all of the California ones except one (who now lives in Georgia).

California cousins

We drove from Tucson to Yuma on Friday, then to Santa Clarita California, just north of LA. We are on our way home but decided to come back up the coast so we could stop and see a few friends and relatives along the way.

Three years ago when we did the same thing we met my cousin Stephanie and her husband for the first time. Her grandmother and mine were sisters, so we are second cousins. I found her when I was doing research on my mother's family history and we have stayed in touch since.

It was nice to see them again and catch up and this time her sister Karen was there as well. She had memories of growing up with her grandmother that she shared with us and was anxious to hear what we knew about the family's early days as well. It was a fun evening.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

After returning from our visit to Washington DC, we picked up our car in Tucson and headed in the direction of California. The last time we did this we took a direct highway route but this time we made a bit of a detour and visited Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in a remote part of SW Arizona. Not exactly on the way to anywhere except Yuma, where we were spending the night. The park protects a large area of the Sonoran Desert and its many plants and animals and has been designated an International Biosphere Reserve by the UN.

We had seen examples of organ pipe cactus at both the Desert Botanical Gardens in Scottsdale and the Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, but it is quite rare and most of the US ones are found in this park. It is also home to 27 other cactus species, including many saguaro (the emblem of Arizona).

We spent some time at the visitor centre with its information short film and displays, walked through the cactus garden, and then drove the shorter of two scenic trails and had a picnic at the end. There were lots of wildflowers in bloom, a few small cacti with purple flowers, and ocotillo bushes with bright red flowers at the end of each stem. Sometime we would like to see the full effect of the desert in bloom but this happens later in the year so we may never do it. However, what we saw here was a pretty good substitute.

Smithsonians and the National Art Gallery

I wonder how many people know that the Smithsonian Institution and all its museums began with a bequest about $500,000 by Briton James Smithson when he died in 1829? He never visited the US but after he died and was buried in Italy his remains were later brought to Washington and now rest in a special room in the Smithsonian "Castle", the original building.

It would take much more time than we had to even scratch the surface of every Smithsonian museum, but we did make it to the Museum of American History where we enjoyed the Star Spangled Banner exhibit (the original flag which flew over Fort McHenry and inspired the writing of the national anthem) and the display of First Ladies dresses and their history, among other things. We also went to the Museum of Natural History where we saw the Hope Diamond and a number of other impressive gems, an interesting mummy display and talked to one of the staff in the insect exhibit who showed us a large Florida grashopper and a Madagascar hissing cockroach.

Later we walked through the Sculpture Garden in front of the National Archives where people were still skating on the frozen pond, although the trees are starting to bloom and it was quite warm that day. We had a brief visit to the National Art Gallery with its lovely display of azaleas in the rotunda. We saw some wonderful Turners and Constables and walked through the French Impressionists on our way to the American galleries.

On our way out we took the path from the West to the East building of the gallery and enjoyed the skylights by IM Pei similar to those at the Louvre in Paris, the illuminated moving walkway and views of the waterfall and fountains outside in the courtyard from underneath.

By the way, all the Smithsonian museums are free to enter which makes a big difference when one has limited time. It's possible to sample several without feeling that hours must be spent to get one's money's worth.

Washington is a beautiful city - lovely streets, gorgeous architecture, great places to eat. We were so glad we had a chance to be able to visit while Sarah was living here.