VANCOUVER ISLAND and the PACIFIC NORTHWEST.
- Mandy Watson
- Jan 23
- 22 min read
More bears, mountains, baseball and horses, combined with a few catch ups
with some very special friends,
makes this part of our current nine week adventure so wonderful.
I am following straight on from my previous two blogs, Canada and Alaska.
Still travelling with my brother Tony and his partner Deb for a few more days as we explore the best of Victoria and Vancouver Island, before Trev and I hit the US of A for another epic road trip south from Seattle to the desert canyons and finally Vegas,
both of which will have their own blogs.
First, allow me show you what Vancouver Island has to offer!
We flew in from Fairbanks, in Northern Alaska, but still had to transit in Seattle first.
It was pretty late by the time we arrived in downtown Victoria,
particularly after a really long taxi ride from the airport.
I think we were eating dinner around 10pm, which is a bummer as we were hoping for more time in Victoria before we head out exploring tomorrow.
But lucky for us this gorgeous place was only a couple of blocks from our hotel.
The Bard and Banker Hotel was stunning!!!
---
Fortunately for us, (and a little good planning 😉),
we had our hotel only a few minutes walk from our car hire company.
After a wee wander around the gorgeous waterfront which was only a short walk away, we enjoyed the main sights here: the Parliament house and the outstanding Empress Hotel...
...it was back to pick up our hire car, and by mid morning
we were all loaded into our soccer mum mini van,
and headed off to our first stop; the world famous and utterly outstanding
An ABSOLUTE must see if you visit Victoria.
Don't miss it.
I think Trev was assuming it would be a bit of a yawn, but heck no!
He was as gobsmacked as the rest of us.
You don't have to be a gardening guru to appreciate how fabulous it all is.
See?
😱
Can you believe below is the 'before shot' of the previous photo.
Soooooo much work, planning and dedication.
And look at the very same garden, covered in snow, and Christmas lights!
W O W.
Photograph credits from the Butchart website.
Made me want to get a motor on around my own gardens when I eventually get home.
To be fair, I have five acres to maintain, but man, I found this so inspiring.
Even as I type this now, I feel I should get out there and pop some gloves on!
They have a multitude of sections, each with their own title and distinct look.
The Sunken Garden, The Rose Garden, Japanese Gardens, Italian Gardens, and fountains, as well as giant Sequoias and towering Redwoods, not to mention restaurants, a cafe and a delicious gelato bar.
The photo ops are endless.
And this is autumn! Imagine spring!!!
Butchart Gardens are only about a 30-40 minute drive from downtown Victoria,
and it also serves a nice stepping stone to heading out of the city life
and into more of Vancouver Island's wilderness.
Apparently there are an estimate of between 8000 and 12000 black bears here, as well as the most amount of cougars in North America, so I'm excited!
I actually have another thing on my wish list, and that it to have an Orca experience,
and I believe they are around. Just need to know where...
Hopefully I'll have more luck than I did seeing the Northern Lights recently!
😁
I'm much happier out of the cities.
🏞️
We headed towards our first night's destination, that of Campbell River.
Quite a long but pleasant and quiet drive to get there, once you've cleared the traffic heading out of Victoria.
Known as yet another 'Salmon Capital of the World' - didn't we just visit one in Alaska? 🤔
Anyhoo,
we headed straight to our accomodation, Painter's Lodge,
which looked AMAZING (and not expensive) when I booked it online back in Australia.
Once there, it was looking a tad tired and really needed a lick of paint, but it was located right on the river, was quaintly old fashioned, and the rooms were enormous and ours had a lovely balcony with water views.
I just read that it was a popular spot with old time Hollywood,
with John Wayne, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby often frequenting the place.
That really is old time Hollywood!
I wish I knew that at the time, as it would have had a different feeling as we sat by the roaring fireplace.
The whole 'if the walls could talk' situation!
It would be a great place to use as a base,
if you had plans to go hiking, fishing or whale watching.
We really only had time to explore the local town and eat a scrumptious dinner.
I thought it was cute to photograph our before and after dessert bowls,
seeing that all four of us ordered the same thing.
A refreshing wander along the docks in the twilight before retiring back to the fireplace and a game of cards over a nightcap.
---
We only had a few days to play here on Vancouver Island, so this morning we headed over the other side of the island, to the resort town of Torfino.
Now we're talkin', this place was awesome!
But first, we had to drive over some pretty amazing ranges, with dense forests and pristine lakes that kept us pulling over for scenic vistas that were hard to beat.
British Colombia's beauty has no bounds.
First stop was a glorious lake, that sadly had suffered a bushfire on the other side only a few weeks back, but still offered interesting reflective photo ops.
We ran into some local fisherman here, who happily regaled their tales of enjoying their retired lives being nearby the forest as they fished for trout.
One of them said he just keeps taking selfies of himself fishing, and sending it to his mates who were still in the workforce.
He was quite the character!
When I asked them about bears, they laughed and remarked that the
place was crawling with them!
Not to mention all the cougars too...
And they laughed? 🤦♀️
Wow, still hard to fathom that you could be hunted as you strolled through the forest here.
And people say Australian animals are scary.
No way! At least we are on top of the food chain there.
Oh, except perhaps for sharks and crocs... 🤣
They did tell us that there was a must see stop along our way to Torfino,
and that was called 'Cathedral Grove'.
I did remember reading about this and was delighted to find out that
it was conveniently along our way.
We did manage to land the last car park on the side of the road, as it came up suddenly,
but its so very worth the visit.
To stroll amongst the ancient giant Sequoias and Redwoods was so very beautiful,
and quite the privilege.
Don't miss this if you are driving by.
Oh, and fun fact: It was the planetary home of the Ewoks in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
as well as being used as a location in Jurassic World Dominion.
Another thing I wish I knew at the time! 😀
From the glory of these ancient forests, we decended a fair way down to the coast,
arriving into the popular tourist spot of Torfino in time for lunch.
As we only had one night here, we went straight to the tour desks to try and get onto a bear spotting boat safari that afternoon.
Unfortunately, they were all booked up,
so we decided upon an early morning trip the next day.
You see, they can only offer the bear trips at low tide, as that's usually the best time to spot them, as the bears are known to forage amongst the exposed shoreline rocks
for shellfish and varied vegetation..
And to be perfectly honest, I do like the safety of being onboard a boat,
and watching from a distance!
We really had to leave by 11am the following day to ensure we arrived back in Victoria Harbour in time for our scheduled car hire return at 4pm, but after a quick phone call,
it was sorted that we could get back by 7pm and avoid another's day's car hire.
At first we thought it was worth getting stung the extra money,
as it would be totally worth it to see bears, seeing that Tony and Deb are still yet to see any after our Canada and Alaska jaunt.
Its all about being flexible to try to get to see what you really want.
After a great pub lunch, we now had a free afternoon to check this place out,
so Tony and Deb wandered off in search of the beach, and we ended up down at the pier, and before we knew it, we had booked our first ever flight together on a seaplane!
And...as it was the end of the day, we scored our own private flight.
SOOOO COOOOL!
We finally caught up with Tony and Deb at the end of a great day,
and we snagged an awesome table for a gorgeous sunset dinner by the wharf,
and it was just down the slope from our accommodation, so even better.
There even was a local seal, flapping around, ducking and weaving, making it impossible to photogragh. The playfulness was captivating, a real treat to savour at the end of a great day.
---
We had an early morning start to head down near the docks to get kitted up in our warm and waterproof clothing to go bear watching,
but unfortunately, Mother Nature had different plans, and we woke to a complete whiteout!
A thick, soupy sea fog was blanketing the entire little harbour, and I honestly thought our trip might have to be cancelled.
Nope! Not with an experienced skipper and great Sat Nav.
Off we went into the mist!
All our hopes were bolstered as the fog started to dissipate...
It's always a gorgeous day after a fog, as long as it lifts in time!
And then THIS happened! 🐻❤️
SUCCESS!
And just as we were about to leave, her cub appeared! I popped an arrow for you to see it.
It was very shy.
I peaked into the bridge, and grabbed a shot of where we went in search of bears.
Quite extensive!
We also got to see a grey whale, which was neat - I forgot to add that we saw a similar whale from our plane yesterday. 🐋
From here it was time to grab some coffees and pastries, and hit the road back to Victoria.
Very lucky we had called in earlier about our car hire drop off time,
as we got caught in the worst traffic imaginable!
This accident didn't help! We missed this by just a couple of minutes,
and managed to avoid even a lengthier delay.
The driver had just passed over a narrow river bridge too.
Phew, we were lucky.
Him? Not so much.
But it could've been disasterous!
Once in Victoria, we went back to the same hotel we were in a few days ago,
The Strathcona, and it proved an excellent location, as it is known as Victoria's Entertainment Hub, featuring the Hotel rooms, a British Pub, Nightclubs, Games Room, Hillbilly Bar, Rooftop Patio and a Liquor Store.
I think I landed the jackpot!
The main bar and restaurant is known asThe Sticky Wicket, which is Vancouver Island's largest bar and restaurant, but I just loved the Hillbilly Bar next door,
known as Big Bad John's.
The rooftop bar even had a beach volleyball court!
I wish we had more time here!
Another day would've given us time to try to locate some Orcas, but never mind.
Another quest, alongside the Northern Lights! 😄
Both have access from inside the hotel, which is convenient.
All good things must come to an end, and after nearly a month of travelling together,
it was time to bid our farewells.
Tony and Deb have an early start in the morning as they fly out to continue their holiday in Nashville, Memphis and New Orleans.
We on the other hand, start our next adventure and will be grabbing the ferry
to cross over to Seattle.
Thank you Vancouver Island, our short stay was very nice indeed.
---
I made a rookie error.
More like a 'I've been too busy' error.
I neglected to purchase our ferry crossing tickets earlier, and suddenly found ourselves in a bit of a pickle.
I couldn't get a ticket! 😬
Let me go back a bit.
Firstly, we were originally going to head back to Vancouver, not Seattle.
You see, I had bought tickets to a pre season Ice Hockey game playing in Vancouver,
before even leaving Australia, and we were super excited for this,
as it was a new experience for us.
We love local sporting events!
However, when we were in Vancouver a few weeks ago, before we boarded the cruise north to Alaska, we were quite shocked at how expensive the accommodation was there.
And now, we were going to have to travel across, stay two nights, try to get to and from the game venue, and all that was going to be in excess of $1000...
all for 2 x $64 ice hockey tickets.
It just wasn't worth it.
So not to go to waste, I messaged our friends who live just outside of the city
(and who we are going to stay with at the very end of this trip),
to see if they would like the tickets.
That was a solid 'YES PLEASE!' from them, so that was cool!
Happy to pass them on to fans.
🏒⛸️
That now left us needing to buy ferry tickets to Seattle instead, and I stupidly assumed we could just buy them easily.
Nope.
Even to buy online the day before was impossible, instead we had to wait for the ticket office to open in the morning, and hope for the best.
You have to remember that essentially we are travelling internationally,
and all that takes time and procedure.
We were lucky and eventually bought ourselves premium class tickets, which, seeing we had a fair bit of luggage, was better value.
It was super comfortable on board, and we were treaty royally during the crossing.
We had been to Seattle a few times before, and always enjoyed our stays,
so this time we were looking forward to seeing how it held up,
as its been nearly 30 years since we'd last visited.
Aside from obvious dangers many cities sadly offer these days , we still enjoyed being there.
Just exercise caution, and heed advise from taxi drivers for instance, when they say ;
"Don't walk in this or that area!"
First stop for us is always the Pike Place Markets. They are legendary!
Always crowded with locals and tourists alike, you can buy anything and everything here, and the fresher the better.
From entertaining fish mongers throwing huge fish around,
in front of consistently large and excited crowds...
...
... to stunning arrays of gorgeous flowers and fresh produce, leather ware and all the obvious souvenirs and food outlets.
Even the world's first Starbucks is here,
complete with a Disneyland length line outside just to get in!
We didn't think their latte's were worth the wait!
After meandering through the crowds, we eventually made our way down to
The Fisherman's Restaurant , right on the waterfront,
to scarf down their 'signature' seafood chowder in a bread bowl and salmon salad.
What a spot! It sure was the perfect loaction for its views, ambience and food!
From here we headed back to our hotel, (a loooong walk uphill, if you know Seattle)
and for the first time in ages - we had NO plans!
Just two nights and an open book.
Sometimes we go so hard, it's nice to just see what pops up.
So, luck had our hotel directly opposite Seattle's Independent Film Festival Theatre, yippee,
and tonight was the opening night of Leonardo DiCaprio's new film,
'One Battle After Another', so boom, in we went to the retro styled theatre,
and had just the best night.
Did someone say chocolate popcorn?
OMG, drool.
First time I think we've experienced the whole crowd applaud at the end of the film.
A great way to spend an evening, (aside from the tooth)
and we just had to walk across the street to get 'home'.
Win, win.
---
Day two in Seattle found us in a cafe for breakfast,
one I think the Hobbits from LOTR would be satisfied in.
See?
From here we took a taxi down to the old town, Pioneer Square:
... as I had booked tickets to the Underground!
We did a tour like this way back in the late '80's,
and loved it, so we thought we'd do it again,
as I don't think I took any photos last time.
The Underground is a fascinating tour, as it is below the Historic Pioneer Square,
an area where, in 1889, Seattle suffered 'The GREAT FIRE' which levelled 25 blocks,
in just one day.
As Seattle was built as a logging town, and some of it below sea level, they suffered terrible conditions in those early years.
It is also where the term 'Skid Row' was coined.
Skid Road was a greased up road from high up in the hills by the sawmills down towards the docks, so the lumber company literally sent the log skidding down the steep road for export.
The area was a rough end part of town, hence the slang term these days being used to describe despot areas.
Fascinating!
As how most of the buildings were constructed primarily of timber,
it was a disaster waiting to happen.
Astonishingly, there was only one fatality, however,
the fire did cleanse the city of over a million rats!
The people of Seattle decided NOT to move their city,
but to rebuild it instead, this time with stone and brick.
Also, to raise it one whole level to avoid the water problems they had, one being the toilets would 'geyser' with the incoming tide, until Thomas Crapper (yes, Crapper)
invented the U-Bend toilet system.
So, the entire Pioneer district's original street level, became the basement,
and the first floor now faced the new elevated streets.
That's where the tours come in!
You can walk along the basement level, the same way people did back in the 19th century!
If the walls could talk!
(You can't access these areas on your own, you must go on a guided tour.)
One way of knowing what lies beneath you in that area, are blocks of purple glass tiles inlaid into the sidewalk.
Quite inoquious to the unknowing, but they were a genius
and very necessary new form of skylights!
Check it out!
And...as fortune was still with us, our tour guide made a comment to a
couple of tour guests, referring to the LA Dodgers jerseys they were wearing,
by asking them if they we attending tonight's game...
WAIT...WHAT???
There's a baseball game on?
YUP! - Seattle Mariners vs the LA Dodgers!
I couldn't get onto my phone fast enough once we finished our tour, and I think I snapped up pretty much the last two tickets. Well, of the cheap seats anyway.
Wait till you see. 🤣
If any of you read my NEW YORK CITY blog, you may remember we went to a Yankees game, and absolutely loved it!
They are so entertaining.
Game on baby, all we now needed was a jersey or two to look the deal.
At least we know what we are doing tonight!
We are going to see this local legend!
Carl Raleigh, the current all time leading home run hitter for a catcher.
And it was Trev's choice of jersey, due to his nickname, 'Big Dumper'!
So Trev! 🤣
Check out our awesome seats! Second to last row to the top!
Haha. At least we had fabulous city views over the arena!
And you CANNOT go to a game in this town, without wrapping your mouth around a 'Seattle Dog'. A mouth watering bratwurst sauage,
smothered in bechamel cheese sauce and onions.
A next level hot dog.
🌭🤤
And the best thing about the timing of this?
Our Canadian friends, Steve and Teresa, sent us photos of themselves
at the very same time, enjoying the Ice Hockey tickets we sent them.
SO GOOD!
Being in Seattle, we decided it was only fair to support the local boys.
Unfortunately, after a very exciting game, the Dodgers took home the win.
Never mind, we had the best time, and continued to follow the Seattle Mariners all the way to the play offs for the World Series.
What a great day!
---
Time to grab our next car rental, and head towards our next stage of this trip, and that is to catch up with three different sets of friends, over the coming ten days or so. Whilst these blogs are fun and informative, they are also great journals of our travels,
my 'Notebook' so to speak,
so I do want to include our dear friends.
First stop is only an hour or so out of the city, and it's a visit with two ex-pats from my Arabian horse industry, and we can't wait to catch up.
Matt and Jason are two of the most wonderful people you'd ever be lucky to call friends,
and more than a little handsome too!
Sorry Trev, I can say that, right? 🤔😄
Their combined love for beautiful things starts with their stunning Arabian horses,
and I'd definitely say their cute and funny Boxer dogs join them on that pedestal.
It was a treat to walk through their stunning home, exquisitely decorated with fine antiques, equestrian oil paintings and sculptures, let alone their magnificent gardens.
It all is a huge credit to them both.
OH, AND they are foodies!
Jackpot!
And when these snacks are your offerings in the guest room, wow.
Who doesn't love home baked chocolate chip cookies?
I definitely need to up my game for guests at our home in future!
And, luck following us still, the annual 'Beer and Bratz' festival was on just outside of town, so we spent a lovely couple of hours sampling various bratwurst, brisket and beers.
A charming way to spend an afternoon in the countryside with good friends.
I actually kept my phone off for a change. No photos, no distractions,
just good old fashioned proper company.
Same when we enjoyed a meal out later as well.
The following morning however, the breakfast spread laid out for us
was very much open for snapping!
What a delight:
Eggs benedict, fresh pastries, awesome coffee and fresh juice,
and home made sour dough bread.
YUM!
We were in heaven dining al fresco in the pretty courtyard garden on a balmy autumn morning, with Mount Rainier looming ominously in the distance.
Apparently, they say, she's starting to wake up.
We saw Mt St Helens after the blast, and even nine years (at the time) after the eruption,
the devastation was still astonishing.
I hope this one holds her breath.
So sad that we have to head off again so soon, we would've loved to have stayed longer.
We could all talk underwater with a mouthful of marbles!
Next time guys!
And I hope you visit us soon too. 😘
With the stunning Mount Rainier punched into sat nav,
off we headed to visit this glorious mountain.
Or so we thought.
I'll get to that, but first I get to indulge myself a wee bit.
Seeing that its only a month or so before Halloween, I was keen to find a 'Pumpkin Patch'
to take some cute photos.
In Australia, whilst Halloween is huge these days, fields of pumpkins are not,
so I was on the hunt.
Luckily, Matt and Jase told me of one that was just nearby.
Even though its a pay to enter kind of 'hay-ride-petting zoo-collect your own pumpkin' place...I managed to be allowed in just to take some pics, for free.
Boom! Thank you, I'm in.
Trev, I'll be right back!
Pumpkin heaven!
Now, back on the road to Mount Rainier, but as we are really in between seasons,
when we arrived at a place to catch a chair lift, they were closed.
The other direction was closed due to a landslide.
Bummer!
So we just drove for a while,
enjoying the magnificent scenery that this Olympia Range has to offer.
I would love to climb this mountain, to be honest!
If I can do Kilimanjaro, I can do this!
On the list.
🥾💪
From here, it was time to head to the Pacific Coast, to our next stop, that of Olympia,
where we were catching up with the kids of friends we made here back in 1989.
We did see them last in the year 2000, and thanks to Facebook,
have regained contact in recent years.
They both have families of their own now, so it was a lovely meet up,
and for us all to enjoy a walk down memory lane.
I circled Shelby and Ashley, as this was the last time we saw them back in 2000.
Trev and I haven't changed much either, hey? 😂
---
Next stop on our road trip itinerary, is the gorgeous coastal town of Astoria,
right on the Washington/Oregon border.
In fact, this bridge, The Astoria bridge takes you between the two states.
It was also the view from our hotel balcony.
There is a good reason why we have always wanted to visit.
It is the location of the classic 1985 film 'The Goonies',
and seeing that it's always been a firm family favourite,
we really wanted to see the town where they filmed it.
I did a little 'recon' to find out that the 'Goonies House' is still there, and the latest owners have restored it to how it looked like in the film - right down to a little contraption to open the gate, and a 'Walsh' sign out the front.
Apparently the previous owners were fed up with the constant stream of fans making pilgrames to their place, and they would call the police.
They actually celebrated the 40th anniversary of the film here just a few months before our visit, and there were thousands of fans crowding around.
Today, on the other hand, we had the place to ourselves.
So good.
So, if you know the film, you'll remember the classic 'Truffle Shuffle'
that Chunk was told to perform in order to be let into the house...
Guess what Trev did?
Of course he did, bless him.
I'll only show you the version I filmed from behind him, for modesty's sake! 😂
He really did a full on cracking job for the front version - that was for our family's eyes only! 😳
It at least shows the house in the same shot anyway!
So we popped a few dollars in the donations box, ticked that off our Goonies fan list,
and we were on our way.
About half an hour from Astoria, is the gorgeous seaside township of Cannon Beach -
itself a bit of a hidden gem, but we Goonies were there for one reason.
The famous rock outcrop known as, Haystack Rock.
This is where they filmed the famous beach scene as the 4 x 4 car driven by the Fratelli's,
joined the car rally along the shoreline.
Tempted as we were to drive our 2WD rental down to recreate it, 🤭
I'm pretty sure there were bollards preventing such lunacy...😉
Leaving Haystack Rock, I had read that there was a cool lighthouse nearby, and if any of you have read my previous blogs, you'll remember I'm on a mission to photograph these iconic structures, as I'm compiling my 'Lighthouses Around The World' coffee table book.
I'm sure it will be one book, just for our coffee table, but I'm always on the hunt. We are even planning a trip around Ireland, staying in some!
That's later.
Right now, its a trip across that amazing Astoria Bridge...
see the tiny wee arches right at the end?
I have a pic of them just coming up.
It's the most diverse bridge I've ever seen!
You can see the road part just seems to skip over a really shallow part of the river.
...back into Washington State, to North Head Lighthouse,
located at an aptly named place known as, Cape Disappointment.
That river we crossed, the Colombia River,
is quite infamous for the amount of shipwrecks it has caused,
and to this day, its considered possibly the most dangerous bar crossing in the world.
In the nine weeks of this entire holiday, it will be the only lighthouse we visit.
She's a beaut.
And it's closed for the year, we missed it literally by one day. 😢
Never mind, it's the outside that interests me the most anyway, but it's always cool if you can get to walk inside to the top.
You can rent these lighthouse keeper houses out - how cool!
Back now to cross this extraordinary bridge again - Its actually 4 miles long!
And these arches are at the start from the Washington side.
Its now time to bid farewell to the quaint Astoria, and head inland, towards 'Sisters', in central Oregon, to where we stayed with our friends last year,
at a time when the annual rodeo and town parade was on.
We had such a hoot with great company, and we were able to use it as a base to head off on our road trip through Yellowstone, Mt Rushmore and beyond.
This year, we were looking forward to a few days of 'down time' to relax,
and consolidate these fabulous friendships we have formed, and realise we are certainly blessed to be here visiting two years in a row.
From here we will be heading south via Salt Lake City
to the Canyons and National Parks of Utah, Arizona and Nevada, before hitting Vegas - ironically, for our next 'rest'!
Those will be in the next blog.
But now, its time to meander our way through the local highways, through pristine forests, lakes and dams, for a good half day, before arriving in this ridiculously gorgeous town,
that sits at the base of three snow capped peaks know as - 'The Sisters'.
But before we arrive, it's time to swing by a store for supplies.
Did someone say, Tequila???
Trev may be a tad partial to the occasional agave cocktail.
Time to unwind with the most amazing folk, one of which had just had a full knee replacement only weeks before our visit - but seeing that Trev and I have both suffered the same fate, we were definitely there to offer our support!
Maybe it was time for some of this, to prepare us for Vegas perhaps? 😂
Or maybe this???
Yes please!
So lucky Kristy is a horse owner and lover like me. ❤️🐴
Two gals + two Arabian horses = heaven.
Before we head south to explore the desert canyons, I had a look to see what scenic attractions were around here, day trip wise, and found that Crater Lake was an easy drive from Sisters, so our friend Libby came for the ride with us.
Libby has driven all the way from Sacramento to see us, (about 8hrs) - we are so lucky.
Lucky she has also introduced us to Kristy and Dan, who now are firmly attached to our 'Travel Family Tree'.
Also, Lib is a very talented and experienced photographer and was keen to once again get to photograph this gorgeous lake inside a collapsed volcano.
I'll often see a perfect photo opportunity, only to see Libby standing right there already capturing the shot!
With its soaring craggy cliffs, deep sapphire blue water, and a rim road that is buried under snow and ice for many months of the year,
Crater Lake is quite the anomaly.
It has quite a fascinating description, as this is the deepest lake in all of the United States and the seventh deepest lake in the entire world!
It also has a volcano in the middle of the volcano,
as well it also has no water source feeding into it, or leaving it.
Quite extraordinary.
Just run off from the winter snow and ice.
A quick stop at the Visitor's Centre, which was surprisingly open seeing that we are just at the beginning of a lengthy government shutdown - something that we were quite worried about as we were planning our tours of the Canyon National Parks.
Another moment on this journey when 'all good things eventually must come to an end',
it was time now to bid farewell to these beautiful people, as Libby had an early departure this morning, so no full group shot.
We are so blessed and grateful to have these meaningful relationships with people
from around the world.
That's the only bummer about living in Australia - we are so far away from them all!
Before we left, I gifted Kristy with a painting I did for her from a photo of a ride we went on together when we visited last year.
It was a super ride, with magnificent scenery, it wasn't hard to capture the beauty!
Time now for the last stage of this epic holiday, so stay tuned for the my next blog which will feature some glorious photos as we hit:
Monument Valley, Moab, Arches National Park,
Canyonlands NP, Dead Horse Park, Horse Shoe Bend,
The Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Zion.
Then Vegas, and back to Canada before we head home.
Phew.
It's gonna be a ride!
It ain't over yet.
Until then, its
CIAO
Mx
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