Victoria – Streaming thru America

It’s a new year, and there has never been a better time for Leah and me to explore our world. We are always up for a challenge, so we’ve decided to begin 2024 with our most ambitious adventure yet. Not satisfied with returning to some of our favorite destinations–not that there’s anything wrong with familiar places—we booked a bucket list trip over a year ago that would literally take us out of our comfort zone.

We filled the waiting time by visiting friends and family across America (and a speck of Canada)–only some of which I memorialized during the past year in this blog. In fact, a large part of last year’s travels never made it past my unpublished thoughts and unprocessed SD cards, including: a trip to Israel (months before the October 7th massacre);

a Central American cruise to Costa Rica,

Panama City,

and Cartagena, Columbia;

as well as a relaxing siesta on the Riviera Maya in Mexico;

a flash visit to Victoria, BC;

and a southwestern tour of America in our silver bullet–

all worthy of sharing sooner than later.

But until then, I must fast forward to our most recent trip to Chile’s Atacama Desert before embarking aboard Viking’s Octantis to Patagonia and Antarctica–in search of whales, penguins and extraordinary landscapes.

We overnighted in Santiago, Chile,

followed by a morning flight to Copiapó, the region’s capital incorporating San Pedro de Atacama.

And set out to explore the highest, driest ecosystem on planet Earth.

Stay tuned for more of the southern hemisphere…

Forgive me; it’s been a while since my last confession.

Life happens and it’s been challenging at times to juggle travel with business affairs, personal affairs and blogging. And with the passage of each passing day, it’s become increasingly more difficult to return to summer events with the same vitality, and cobble a detailed timeline from 3 months ago. In fact, there are still stories from last year’s journey to Canada that have yet to be written and published.

While I could travel less to blog more often, or continue to travel without memorializing the occasion, neither option is an acceptable one. Perhaps, I’ll just have to find a better way to accomplish both without sacrificing one for the other. In the meantime, I’ll pick up where I left off, which is somewhere on the road between here and there.

First of all, a shout-out to our friends Dirk and Heather,

who allowed us to park the Airstream at their ranch in Fort Collins, assuring us peace of mind while we boarded a flight from Denver to Seattle to visit my son Nate.

Dollar for dollar and day for day, Leah and I figured that flying round-trip to Seattle probably saved us 2 weeks of driving 1,500 miles, at a proximate cost of $1300 in fuel.

After our arrival to Issaquah (suburban Seattle and Nate’s hometown), we ventured southeast along the I-90 corridor to hike Rattlesnake Ledge on Rattlesnake Mountain–

a demanding 2-mile ascent…

that gave us sweeping views of Rattlesnake Lake,

and the Cascade Range beyond the clouds.

Seattle was also our gateway to north of the border…

After a 2 hour and 45-minute cruise aboard the Victoria Clipper, we arrived at Victoria’s Inner Harbor,

where we would spend the weekend at the historic Pendray Inn and Tea House…

in the very pink, Executive Suite.

Victoria is well-known as a pedestrian town,

with a variety of landmarks and attractions within a few miles of our hotel. We were less than a half-mile from Parliament,

and Fairmont’s Empress Hotel,

and another half-mile further to Canada’s oldest Chinatown.

And strolling along the Lower Breakwater (adorned with First Nation symbols) with panoramic views to the south, afforded us a different perspective of the Cascade Range.