The theory was that in late April Calgary would still be cold and snowy, and we would go off to sunny warm BC to say hello to the flowers in Butchart Gardens. Give Linda a flower fix to hold her over the last dregs of winter.
As it turns out, it's been summer in Calgary for the last several months. Here in Sidney BC, it's been sunny and light jacket cool for most of the time here. The flowers have been glorious. I have something like 900 photos to look through. There are a couple real winners in there, I know that already. There's one that I'm amazed at the colour and detail. I think I got everything right for that one. Other's are ok, and some are throw aways. A few I might try to process in Snapseed to improve. I'm not going to bury you in photos.
We did Butchart Gardens and Abkhazi Gardens, of the two of them, I liked Abkhazi gardens better. Much better. Yes, I know that's heresy for some people, but I have an objective measure. I took way more photos there. I'd happily go back again. Both places serve a very nice high tea.
I got to visit a cousin living in Victoria, as far as I know he's my only relative on the Island. We also got a chance to visit friends that moved here a while ago. On the map it looks like a long way to go, but it was only an hour drive from here, probably a bit less if you know the twisty turny roads. Even into Victoria was only about a half hour. I tried to think of it as driving from one end of Calgary to the other.
The food was amazing! Normally we like to get a place with a basic kitchen, and this was more like a hotel room with a kitchen sink, baby fridge, and microwave. We had to suffer with this view.
No stove or oven. We ate out a lot and didn't regret it. The choices for coffee and treats were endless. We found a place with a great all day breakfast, and did that several days. The Sea Glass Waterfront grill was a short walk from the room, and was quite a bit upscale with wonderful food. We wandered into one place almost by accident since where we wanted to go at the end of the pier was closed, and were astonished at how crispy the fish and chips were.
I guess key fobs have been getting bigger. We were speculating what could possibly be in it. The chip is tiny, and the battery is the size of a dime. And yet it's this big.
Even though there is a nice looking pool only 10 minutes away, I didn't swim. Trying to get from bed to the pool seemed like a lot of work when I was snuggled in. I did get two nice 5 K runs, one fast, one not so fast but 2 K of it was on a gravelly beach. Plus a 10 K walk along the waterfront in Victoria, plus lots of other walking.
All in all a lovely vacation. Stay tuned for flower and other vacation photos.
Sounds wonderful, Keith! Look forward to more photos!
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