QC61-02 Out of Washington

May 10, 2016 (Tue) Edmonds, WA - At the base of the Space Needle in Seattle there is a garden. Not just any garden but one that combines the normal garden variety planting with unusual and whimsical glass sculptures. And inside the building is more glass of a wide variety of colors and shapes. A dazzling display of creativity. Dale Chihuly is the artist and his work is displayed around the world. The Seattle and Tacoma area is his home base. We went there to see it today and what a wondrous exhibit it was!

May 11, 2016 (Wed) Edmonds, WA to Victoria, BC (Canada) - We left Cigggy (our trusty steed) in Edmonds and traveled with Phil and Gail by car and ferry to Victoria with the mission to explore Butchart Gardens - another wondrous display of color and beauty - this time all natural. We have roamed several gardens in our travels. This is one of the most spectacular. We ended the day, tired and very foot weary, in an excellent Greek restaurant in Victoria.

May 12 2016 (Thur) Victoria, BC to Edmonds, WA - Before heading home Joy had to visit the local yarn shop. While she and Gail did that, Mark and Phil visited what was called "Miniature World". This was a collection of quite well made models build into many large dioramas depicting many events that contributed to the making of the world as it is today. There were many scenes of famous novels and fairy tales as well. The feature display was an operational lumber mill in 1 inch scale. It wasn't actually working at the time but videos showed how it did and had.

May 15, 2016  (Sun)  Edmonds, WA to McMinnville, OR (248/3449 miles) - We didn't do much of anything on Friday. It was a day to re-coop from our rigorous 2 day sojourn into Canada. Saturday it rained pretty much all day so Joy and Gail got out a jigsaw puzzle (of Butchart Gardens) and Mark and Phil caught up on their reading.

We chose Sunday to start our return trip east because we thought the traffic would be lighter down I-5 through Seattle. That worked, but further south, not so much. Add almost constant rain, heavy at times, and our trip to McMinnville was less than enjoyable. It was good we had a break in Lakewood (WA) to see Bob. He is there to help Kecia babysit three great grandchildren, all under five, and three dogs while their father is doing some military training in the desert. It was good to see Bob holding up so well. And we enjoyed seeing Kecia again.

After a delicious lunch we went on to McMinnville where we met up with nephew Jake. After dinner at a very nice Cajun restaurant, we walked a bit in town looking in the interesting shop windows. Ice cream for desert and then to bed.  

C006878 Guesthouse Vineyard Inn, McMinnville, OR
 
May 16, 2016  (Mon)  McMinnville, OR to Bend, OR (163/3617miles) 57/63° - When we went the the restaurant last night we just happened to park in front of Boersma's Sewing center. A Quilt shop. A big one, it turned out, four stories. Joy had to check it out, of course. we had plenty of time this morning before we were to meet Jake again at his place of work - Coelho Winery. Can't go to a winery without tasting the wine. Jake did a great job of explaining the background of each wine we tasted.

There is a very famous, to quilters, quilt shop in Sisters, Oregon. Sisters is very near Bend. our destination for the night. Of course we stopped and after lunch in what turned out to be a local hang-out "Restaurant & Bar" with an ambiance more bar than restaurant, Joy went off to buy some more fabric.

C007041 Holiday Motel, Bend, OR