We woke up in another bed. This time in Seattle where we visited dear friends who had once lived in Winnipeg.

Orion made us this stack of waffles

and then picked blueberries from their garden to accompany them. Delish!

They reside in a cozy home with a ravine/trail which runs behind it. When you looked off their back balcony, you couldn’t see anything but forest. Interestingly, there was a busy street that ran adjacent to the ravine and you would never know.

We were there to catch up with them and their four amazing kids, all with an art of their own. Here is a watercolour of the siblings, painted by our Goddaughter Anna Lynn.

We also got to see Seth on the cello at a rehearsal with the Seattle Youth Orchestra. I used to babysit for the family while Rebecca accompanied him to cello lessons. He is so posed and a natural with his cello.

D and their youngest -Theo, playing frisbee. D always finds something to engage the kids in our midst. They would run ahead and throw the frisbee until we caught up with them. D said it was a great work out.

We spent the afternoon strolling and catching up as we walked through an exquisite arboretum.

En route home, guess where we stopped? At a wonderful craft brewery of course!

Burke Gilman, had a great indoor and outdoor tasting room and was right around the corner from their home. D and Theo walked home, throwing their frisbee as they walked.

Kath’s quote: “In the book of life, old friends are the chapters we turn to again and again.” — Unknown

Love never fails.

We started the day in Vancouver. While D was finishing his work for the long weekend, I packed, cleaned and made lunches for our travel day.

We walked along our familiar pathway to the train station, even though it was a bus that we were taking.

When you travel on the “Connector” you board in Vancouver. The bus drives to Tsawwassen and right onto the ferry. The views were lovely as the ferry travels closer to the shore than when we journeyed to the Sunshine Coast. And our bus was first on AND first off!

Upon arriving in Swartz Bay, Vancouver Island, the Connector whisks you right to the beautiful harbour of Victoria. It was a short walk to the dock of the “Clipper”, a person only ferry, that would take us to Seattle. The Clipper docks right across from the historic Pendray Inn & Tea House, pictured above. I was glad for the short distance as we were pulling our luggage behind us (and remember that we were travelling for over three weeks)!

We had some hassles about our luggage as the Clipper wanted to charge us $100 for the privilege of bringing it along. D decided to book us VIP seating to satisfy the luggage cost, so we had front row seats and a glass of prosecco to boot!

D had his heart set on seeing a whale en route. As the sun had started setting early, we didn’t get a clear view of the water ahead,

but we enjoyed the sunset AND a double rainbow.

By the time we arrived, it was total darkness, but what better way to enjoy the Seattle skyline. I took this pic from the boat and had to crop and enlarge it. I love the abstract feeling of it with square blocks of colour instead of round images.

We were met by our lovely friends and we were as they say “tired but happy!”

Kath’s quote: “Take only memories, leave only footprints.” – Chief Seattle

Love never fails.

It was only a matter of time that we found the ginormous Craft Beer Market for Happy Hour.

D was delighted to try a couple of craft beers that he wasn’t familiar with. Thank heavens many craft beer places also serve wines now. I enjoyed a robust merlot.

We noticed that just about everywhere that we visited in BC served truffle fries with parmesan. Of course, we had to try them everywhere to declare our favourite. These were pretty darn good!

Our Home Exchangers also recommended Gusto for a light supper. It was the real deal for chilled Orvieto Classico and ham, mushroom and burrata pizza! We first started drinking Orvieto Classico together when we were first married. Since we were celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary, it seemed fitting, to celebrate with this delicious white wine.

We loved watching the families picking up their daycare kids in the vacinity. Many of them came in for a quick treat or a light supper. We felt like we had been inaugurated into the community and toasted each other with amazingly gelato in a waffle cone of course.

Upon leaving the restaurant, we noticed the pinkish mountains to the north.

It was a sensational evening for a walk along the False Creek trail.

We were delighted with the view of BC Place which we knew were going to host this year’s Grey Cup Game. Little did we know at that time, that it would be a bittersweet game for us Winnipeggers..

Vancouver’s city planners inserted a little bit of green space along the trail so that you felt like you got to enjoy a bit of scenic privacy, right smack in the middle of a bustling city.

This was one of my favourite pics from our time on the creek.

The sun was setting on a especially wonderful night, but also on our time in Vancouver. We had wonderful times ahead but didn’t know so at that time.

Kath’s quote: “Anticipation of pleasure is, in itself, a very considerable pleasure.“-David Hume

Love never fails.

Even though we were three provinces away, it was the home opening of the Winnipeg Jets. Wherever we go, we are Jets fans. This is In spite of the fact that when we met our Home Exchange hosts, they showed us the Canuck jersey hanging proudly in their front hall closet. The Jets won that evening and as I write this, they have set a record winning 14 out of 15 games at the beginning of this NHL season.

We were really feeling like locals that day. Doug was hard at work but when done for the day, we collected more provisions to enjoy the game with.

That evening as we were settling in, I notice pinks in the sky to the north. I hustled downstairs as fast as I could in my flip flops and Jets pajamas, to this glorious sunset!

We imagined what fun it would be to stay for longer visits at our fabulous home exchange condo.

Kath’s quote: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Wayne Gretzky

Love never fails.

On this day we really felt like locals. D took a break from work so we could walk to get additional groceries in the rain.

The dinner table was all set.

The place looked really comfy and cozy in the rain.

Of the fifty plus people in my immediate family (that is my siblings, their partners and their children), very few do not live in Winnipeg or at Lester Beach. But Eric and Meg knew that they could work from anywhere and had an adventurous spirit when they moved to Vancouver a number of years ago. They have a place just across from where we stayed, in Yaletown. They love the neighbourhood and have made many friends.

For most of the rest of the that day, I got ready for their arrival. Turned out that they really like charcuterie. This course was a big hit.

D and I are a pretty good cooking team. He grilled shrimp and asparagus for us to stack onto a plate of fresh pasta. We publicly joke that our timing in the kitchen/grill is often off. Typically D Yells “10 minutes” to me when I have everything already on the table. This night though, I was the guilty party. Everything was done on the grill but because I was in an unfamiliar kitchen, when I pulled out a pot large enough for pasta, it turned out to be a cast iron one. The water took no less than 20 minutes to boil! But all was well in the end.

Meg and I enjoyed our processco and the guys their craft beer. We were content.

We had splurged and purchased an apple tart (so big that I would call it a pie). We all enjoyed a little treat and then I thought, what am I going to do with the rest of this pie? I asked Eric and Meg and Meg declined saying that they had lots of treats in the house. I have to tell you, that sending leftovers home with my family is a love language for me. I think this is acquired from Sister #2 who often feeds as many people the second day, as when she invites people over for dinner. After a slight hesitation, Eric said that he would love to take the tart home. Yahoo, my heart sang!

Our families all connected for Thanksgiving dinner that weekend, so it was lovely to have a beautiful thanksgiving of our own. I was thankful for so many things- a loving family and delicious food being the top of my list!

Kath’s quote: “Our homes may be far apart, but our hearts are as close as always.”– Authour unknown

Love never fails.