Victoria and Tacoma

 

A great summer past-time in Victoria - hitting the patios for after dinner drinks.  This patio  overlooks the inner harbour.

 One Sunday, we went on a bike ride with Mark  along the "Galloping Goose" bikepath, which goes from downtown Victoria to Sooke -- the whole trail is about 60 km one way.  We cycled one of the most beautiful parts, which goes by the "Sooke Potholes" (big pools cut into the river--look at the people way down there at the pools)

 Of course, after the bike ride, we needed to refuel ourselves...

 The above picture is from a recent road trip to the Tacoma area (south of Seattle). We drove 4 miles up a mountain to this lookout point.  If you look really really carefully, you can see the stunning view of Mount Rainier in the background (the mountain looked a lot closer in person--honest!)

One reason for going to Tacoma was to watch a practice round of the US Open -- a major golf tournament.  Tony practices his swing at the opening gates, hoping to be discovered!

 

Here is an overview shot of the golf course, called Chambers Bay, with Puget Sound in the background. The course is a very open, links-style course that was built on the site of an old gravel and sand pit.

 
For those "in the know," here are Phil Mickleson, Ricky Fowler, and Brandt Snedeker. Truth be told, Tony was hoping to be invited for a foursome with these 3 heavy hitters.  Alas, he had to be content just watching them on the sidelines.

 Tony gets his cap signed by Jason Day!

 

After the day of golf, there was a night of camping, at Penrose Point, on a peninsula west of Tacoma.  After an extremely cold swim, we warmed up by playing a game of camp bocce ball.  Despite Tony's intense focus in this picture, Carolyn is victorious!

After camping, we drove back to Victoria, via Tsawwassen-Vancouver, where we had dinner with our friends  Jerry and Ann from St. Catharines, who happened to be visiting Whiterock (near Vancouver) at that time (unfortunately no pictures!)


Now, back to Victoria... When we want a long evening walk, we go down to Ogden point where the cruise ships dock; on this particular night, there were three of them sharing the pier.

  

Carolyn and her childhood chum,, Nicola - we haven't changed at all! 

We got together with Nicola and her son at a picnic, where they had excellent games for the kids, including the giant hamster balls in the background. We busted our way through the lineup of children to it a try ourselves (you get inside the ball and run in it like a hamster wheel - a surprisingly good, if not very graceful, workout!)

 Lots was going on this past Sunday in downtown Victoria, including a no-car festival (several blocks of the main street closed to traffic, with food, crafts, etc) , and the jazz festival.  Here we have a beer while listening to an awesome jazz band from one of the local high schools.

 

It was a warm day, so Tony and Carolyn cooled off afterwards at the giant watering-can splash pad in Beacon Hill Park, across the street from our apartment.

 Another photo from Beacon Hill Park--the rose garden, now in full bloom!
That's it for now -- only a few more weeks in Victoria, then we head north to Quesnel, BC (south of Prince George) to see Carolyn's younger brother, Stephen, and his partner Lauren, before starting the long drive home.
Love to everyone,
C & T