A rose bush & sweet pea seeds

"Honey, if you're going to produce cement I just need a few things to beautify the yard." That must have been what Jennie Butchart said to her husband in 1904 when she started turning the old limestone quarries into beautiful gardens. Her great granddaughter is the current owner of Butchart Gardens that sees almost a million visitors every year. (Peter, watch out. Now that Margaret's retired you never know what may happen with those gardens of hers.)

Of course The Johns also saw croquet possibilities.

Over a hundred acres and we saw less than 5 groundskeepers. Miracle workers they must be!

Trivia for the day... After Mr. Butchart quite making cement in 1916, what did his company start making?

Overcoming fear... or not...

Lucky again (although our waistlines may start to argue about that) this morning with The Cozy Nook. Not only was the food all homemade including the sausage and Sweet Nooky & Hot Nookie hot sauces, but it felt like you were eating with family. The locals around us had lots of suggestions for sightseeing and highly recommended the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. They made it sound so good that even John G. & Judy said okay. The photo is John as we started over the bridge. (He turned around about a third of the way across...)

The next photo is Judy who did make it to the other side but refused to go on the tree walk through the rain forest. She's the one you can just barely see on the right with a purple jacket that's waving.

This is John & Judy safely on the car side of the gorge, happy again (we hope)...

And this is where we're staying tonight and for the next few days. Sooke, British Columbia (Vancouver Island). Looked a little like Maine, doesn't it?

Trivia for the day... What's the largest island in North America?

Dam & dam

Leaving Spokane this morning, it was actually raining, something they've seen very little of all summer. Excitement was in the air. We headed north and west again. The Grand Coulee Dam was our first destination. Impressive! For many years it was the world's largest dam and still is North America's. John G's father (he worked for the Bureau of Reclamation) once made a large model of the dam to send east for government use. John's mother contributed her T shaped milliner's hat pins and thread to be used as the power lines. John helped string the lines. Now that's trivia!

 

Then it was on to the Chief Joseph Dam, our second largest electricity producing dam. (You don't really want to see another dam picture, do you?)

After an incredible lunch at the Breadline Cafe in Omak, Washington (everything made from scratch & most ingredients local including the flour in all their baked goods - don't ask me how we get so lucky!) we headed up the Okanagan Valley where much of our fruit is grown. Judy & I thought we should have packed our canners and jars. Peaches 20 lbs for $10 Canadian (yes, we're in Canada again), tomatoes 40 lbs for $5. But we made do with just buying peaches, pears and apples to eat fresh. It's really obvious what's irrigated and what's not. That big pile of crates in the photo is waiting to be filled with the apples in the orchard behind. And, yes, we did see smoke and drive through a couple areas burned by the wild fires. Scores of firefighters had also set up tents in the stadium area in Omak. Signs everywhere thanking them for their help.

Tonight we're in Chilliwack, British Columbia. The drive through the Cascade Mountains this afternoon was incredibly beautiful. It was also much more pleasurable doing it in a new Suburban rather than Tillie the VW! 

John G. is the trivia answer from yesterday. (Far too easy!) The question for today is what is now the world's largest dam?

Still dependable...

Okay folks. What do you know about Spokane? Ever heard of Bing Crosby? He grew up here so of course no visit would be complete without visiting the home where he grew up. Gonzaga U. owns the house and the bottom floor houses many of his awards and gold records including the platinum record for "White Christmas". That was the most popular record ever recorded and I should have made it your trivia question of the day. Instead I'll ask, what guy do you know was patted on the head when he was a small boy by Bing at the Little Dutch Garden in Boise?

Spokane also has Manito Park given to the city in 1904 and home to some of the most beautiful gardens I've seen. It's a real gem and something that's not mentioned much in the guidebooks.

But the real reason for our stop in Spokane was for John K. to visit a couple of buddies he was stationed with in the Air Force in the 60s. They all worked on planes. John K. on engines; Dee (right) on sheet metal; Tom (left) on inspection. They all have an insatiable interest in cars, car racing, old cars, sports cars, car engines, cars, cars, etc. (Don't ever let anyone try to tell you that women talk too much!) And, of course they're all champions and dependable with several sparks still left in them.

Crowsnest to Ruby

Baked oatmeal layered with peaches. Now that's the way I like to start my day. Best oatmeal I've ever had and our B&B host shared the recipe so beware those of you who are thinking ahead to an overnight with us.

Back on the road we took the Crowsnest Pass through the Rockies. I didn't include photos because you can find far more beautiful ones than I can take. However, we did stop in the little town of Sparwood. (Wouldn't you if the biggest truck in the world was there?!) It's a Titan and was used for coal mining. Pretty scary thing to look at! Can you imagine what a new tire costs?

Driving on we made our way to the other side of the mountains, British Columbia, the Pacific time zone, decent coffee, and crossed back into the U.S. north of Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Don't you love the looks of the U.S. Duty Free store in the photo below? Sightings of wildlife along the way included eagles, deer & bighorn sheep. (Moose & bears were not cooperating.) Crossing into Idaho we added elk and, strange but true, a zebra. We also passed the Happy Turnip Cafe in the middle of nowhere but it was closed.

Our final destination today - the Hotel Ruby in downtown Spokane. A very artsy hotel with ruby colored walls in the rooms. We'll be here two nights so you just may read more about it.

Trivia from yesterday... The Prince of Wales Hotel, unlike the other grand railroad hotels in Canada was built by the Great Northern Railroad and was and still is, U.S. owned. It's only open in the summer. This year it opened June 7th and will close September 18th to the general public. The entire hotel is booked for a wedding on the 19th & another on the 21st. Then all the windows and doors get boarded up. One man lives there all winter. Brrrr!

Trivia for today... We saw this sign this morning... "Sheds, garages & sea cans moved". What's a sea can?

The Rockies at last...

But first... Mac the Moose (the most photographed roadside attraction in Canada so I'm just adding one more).

And then there was Medicine Hat with the world's largest teepee...

Finally the Rockies! We're staying just outside Canada's Waterton Lakes National Park that's joined at the border to Glacier National Park. In fact, if you take a boat trip across the lake behind the Prince of Wales Hotel to hike back, you need to take your passport. We decided since it was almost dark, windy and 12C/53F, the better plan was simply to eat and drink, modestly, at the hotel. 

Trivia... How many months is the hotel open each year and who owns it?

From yesterday, it was Al Capone and his bootlegging buddies who used to hide out in Moose Jaw.

Into the prairie...

You may think that because we were in International Falls and only a half mile from the border, that we would go directly into Canada. But... We weren't quite done with what northern Minnesota had to offer. First stop, Baudette, Walleye Capital of the world and home to Willie, the largest, I suspect, fake walleye in the world. (Joe - you might want to give up on Montana & Wyoming and come a bit further east to fish instead.)

If that isn't enough to excite you, the next stop was Warroad. Home construction or reconstruction folks take note. This is where Marvin windows and doors are made especially for you. We did take time to go through their beautiful new museum but not their huge home store. The prairie was calling and even JG couldn't justify spending more time here.

On the road again. And on. And on. And on. Long naps were possible without missing a change in scenery. A bit more interesting than the lower plains but not much. More canola & wheat fields but otherwise... The big event in the back seat was, after only a year and a half of owning the vehicle, Judy discovered a nifty little clip built in that keeps you from being strangled by the seat belt. Judy & I had thought our necks would be permanently marked by the time we got back. She kindly agreed to "model" the new feature before she resumed napping.

And finally Moose Jaw! We read it has the world's largest fake moose but we have yet to find it. Tomorrow is another day.

Trivia... What province and time zone is Moose Jaw in? Extra points if you discover who used to hang out here.