Thursday, September 3, 2009

Celebrating 42 Years

Yesterday was our 42nd wedding anniversary.  After discussing several plans for a day of celebration, we decided to share it with friends.  So, we made a plan and it started as

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the sun was rising over the water.  We left Chimacum with Jim and Ellie and headed to Port Angeles to meet up with Rod and Deb.  We were to meet them at the docks where we would board

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the COHO which is the

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ferry to Victoria, BC and our destination for the day.

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The ferry ride took about 90 minutes to cross and as

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the Victoria Harbor came into view, we saw….

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cruise ships…both big and

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small.  We saw

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these really cute little houses that lined the harbor…and

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the House of Parliament that stands grand at the end of the harbor.

While we are taking in all the sites,

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the ferry docked…and we are on our way, but first

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Mark and Rod stop to get a little local information.  This nice British lady directs us to the

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The Empress Hotel.  There we found

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the information about the tour to

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Butchart Gardens.  We purchased our tickets and it wasn’t long until our bus arrived.  After a short tour through the city we arrived at

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the gardens.  These gardens borders on Tod Inlet close to Brentwood Bay which is about 13 miles out of Victoria.  They cover 55 acres.  The Gardens began with an idea by Jennie Butchart to beautify a worked out limestone quarry which had supplied her husband’s nearby Portland Cement plant.  Through the skillful mixture of rare and exotic shrubs, trees, and flowers, often personally collected by the Butcharts during their extensive world travels, the now famous Sunken Garden was created.

Our walked started at

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The Blue Poppy Restaurant.  Mark, Jim and I had a wonderful seafood chowder while Ellie and Deb choose chicken and Rob had a pulled pork sandwich.  Okay…now we are really to tackle that 55 acres!

Mom…this tour is for you, enjoy!

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How beautiful all the flowers were and it is September.  I can’t imagine what this place looks like in the Spring and Summer.

When our time was up at the gardens and I couldn’t take one more picture, we boarded our bus back to Victoria.  We did a little shopping in town, enjoyed

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the street vendors by the harbor and of course it was time to think about dinner…and this time we chose

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this great little place where we had fish and chips.  It was YUMMY!   After a relaxing time here and a great anniversary dinner with friends, it was time to think about making our way back to

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the ferry as our boat would be waiting to take us back to Port Angeles.

As we pulled out of the harbor, the

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sun was setting and the

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moon was taking its place in the night sky while all things

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were coming to a close from a busy day in Victoria, BC.

What a fun day and what a great adventure not only today, but for the last 42 years!

13 comments:

  1. ♫♪♫♪ Happy Anniversary ♪♫♪♫

    Looks like it was the perfect day for you on your anniversary... I love Victoria and especially the Butchart Gardens... I am so glad that your day was wonderful with wonderful friends to help you celebrate... I wish you many more years to co me.

    Have Fun & Travel Safe
    Donna

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  2. It's been 32 years since I've been at Butchart Gardens. Thanks for the photos! Glad you guys had a great time in Canada even if it was only for one day!

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  3. Wow, what a beautiful place. Your pictures are fabulous. So glad you enjoyed your anniversary at such a great place with wonderful friends..

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  4. Happy anniversary!!42 years that is a longgggggg time. Congrats Beautiful pictures i am glad you enjoyed part of our gorgeous country.Happy trails

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  5. Congratulations I wish I could be married that long but not meant to be. I love the gardens and you should see it in the winter it is still so beautiful glad you made it to Canada for a bit. Again congrat to you you both

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  6. Wow, great trip I got to do with you guys. Thanks so much for posting great pictures which tells it all.
    Happy Anniversary!!!

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  7. Hi, Happy Anniversary and I wish you many, many more.
    Lovely pictures of a wonderful trip.
    So you even had a little RV-Dreamers GTG in Canada, I bet that's a first!
    Happy Trails, Penny, TX

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  8. I read your blog alot, but never post. My husband and My anniversary is today. We have been married 33 yrs. today. We long for the days of getting to do what you guys are doing. It will be awhile yet, but still thinking and planning. We have traveled a lot in the US but will look forward to being gone more than 2 weeks at a time.

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  9. Congratulations on 43 years! Ya got 2 years on us as we celebrated 41 on the 1st of September! Seems like only yesterday. LOL

    Rod & Loyce

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  10. OK its late and I thought it said 43 but now I see it is 42, so you only have one year on us. We were in 68, so you folks must have been 1967.
    Rod

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  11. Happy Anniversary to you both.!!

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  12. I'm a couple days late, but Happy Anniversary! Dortha, were you 12 when you got married? :) A child bride, I'm sure.

    Glad you were able to celebrate your special day in a unique way.

    Big hugs to both of you.

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