Vancouver, BC, to Mukilteo, WA : April 26

April 26

Vancouver, BC, to Mukilteo, WA (just north of Seattle)

This morning was the clearest yet in Vancouver—not clear, just clearer. From the balcony of our room, we could see more snow-capped peaks, appearing for the first time to us, behind the closer mountains.

One thing I forgot to mention are the many roof top gardens in Vancouver. We could only see one from our balcony,

but they are scattered throughout the city. They contain not just flowers, but full sized flowering trees as well—quite spectacular on some buildings. Other high rises have terrace gardens near ground level or part way up with shrubs, flowers and trailing vines that hang down the building. Some of them also have fountains.

Many of the new high rise condo buildings on the water have beautiful gardens and pocket parks. By law they must be available to the public. The coast belongs to the people of Vancouver, not the developers.

We started today with a walk on the seawall around Stanley Park. It was a lovely way to begin the day. As we were walking several sea planes took off right over our heads, which was really neat to see, after we got over being startled by the first one. Tom got some good pictures I think. There were several large commercial ships in the harbor, and we saw some sail boats setting out.

We had been told, but it is unverified, that the rip currents around Lionsgate Bridge are so strong and unpredictable that sailboats cannot leave the harbor under the bridge while under sail, but are required to use power. The sailboats we saw heading out were all under power, so it may be true, or the wind may have been from the wrong direction.

We walked the seawall until we reached---the lighthouse! This one is Brockton Point Light Station, maintained by the Canadian Coast Guard.

We had seen it from the trolley and now had an opportunity to see it up close.

We walked back to the totem pole park and took some more pictures there. I wanted to get the snowy peaks behind one.

The park is erecting new posts at the entrance of the totem pole exhibit that will look like totem poles when finished. Two of them are partly assembled.

Along the way we passed a tour trolley like we had ridden for the last two days.

Tom wanted to try to get a better picture of “Girl in a Wetsuit” so we drove around to her rocky seat. It was low tide again. We never did see her with the water high up on the rock.

Then on to the old hollow tree:

The tree has been in several films. This is the tree that was used as the lair for the headless horseman in the Johnny Depp movie, “Sleepy Hollow”—where the evil stepmother met her well deserved fate at the end. The tree is dead and is now dangerous, so it is fenced off and will be cut down soon. The schoolchildren of Vancouver wrote a song about the tree and how sad they are that it must go. Some of them sang it on local television.

After we left the park we headed back through Vancouver one last time on our way back to the States. We had heard horror stories about how long it can take to get through US customs now, but we were fortunate. We were in line about an hour, but it took us less than a minute to go through the process ourselves. We must look trustworthy.

To amuse ourselves while waiting, we took pictures of the Peace Arch and the border marker, since we didn’t have a dog to walk like most of the others in line for customs.

Instead of heading straight to the horel, we thought it might be fun to see some more Washington scenery. We took Chuckanut Drive (we loved the name) from Bellingham on south. The drive runs along Samish Bay on one side and Chuckanut Mountain on the other. For a brief while we were in Larrabee State Park, which is the oldest state park in the state of Washington.

We stopped at several pullouts and overlooks to see different views of the bay and the islands.

At one stop we chatted with a couple from Anacortes, who had driven the Chuckanut drive for the scenery and to admire their home area from across Samish Bay. It was obvious that they feel they live in the best place on Earth. I love to hear people talk about their hometowns with pride. They told us that the water temperature in the bay never gets much above 50 degrees, so is a bit chilly for swimming any time of the year. They were curious about North Carolina’s shoreline and beaches. Neither had ever been to the East Coast, so we were good ambassadors and talked it up, which is easy. Who wouldn't love our Outer Banks and Maine coast?

A couple of kayakers were unloading their kayaks but did not launch before we left. One kayaker’s dog was ready to join him, complete with life jacket. The little terrier whined and begged to get in the kayak, so apparently he enjoys the rides.

We watched some children playing in tidal pools and some other folks digging clams.

From one lookout we saw oyster farming. When I saw the grids in the mud flats, I asked Tom what they were and he told me “ocean drains”. That is what they resembled.

A closer look:

They are actually rope lines of seeded oysters. I found an informational sign that explained the process.

According to the information provided, they have had a terrible time with water pollution in the areas where they grow the oysters and clams but have had some success with a massive clean up effort, including new sewage systems in that county and with efforts to stop runoff of chemicals from the farms. Even without the seafood allergies I think that might have made me think twice about trying one of the many oyster houses or seafood cafes all along the highway.

After we left the bay and mountain, we drove through Chuckanut Valley. Besides oysters and clams,

this is also a farming region, known for its potatoes.

We debated driving out to one of the islands on a bridge and taking the ferry back to the mainland, but voted against it, two to none.

Our hotel was next to a huge Boeing facility. From our window we could see many different huge, colorfully painted planes--kind of interesting. The hangers are immense. I think everyone in Fuquay Varina could fit inside them with plenty of room left over.