<%@Language=VBScript%> Travels with Jenny & Harry
Travels with Jenny & Harry
Back in the HOT summer of August 2007, after we had suffered more than 30 days of temperatures above 110 degrees, I called Jenny over in North Carolina and said, "Jenny, How about going out to Tea with me?" Jenny, always the one to "GO," said, "I'd love to!" I told her to meet me in Seattle on September 5. And, she did!

I flew up early on that Wednesday to get a car and the Hotel ready for her arrival a few hours later. The Auto Rental Company had said they would have a Buick Lucerne ready for me. I have wanted to drive that car to see if it is really as quiet as it is reported to be. But, they gave me the keys to a Dodge Charger! I told them I wansn't in the mood for 'charging', and they did a little more research and came up with a nice Cadillac DTS. It served our need very well.

We stayed in Quality Inn Suites, both in Seattle and in Victoria, BC, in Canada. This was a fairly nice arrangement. I got the private King bedroom and Jenny slept on the Couch in the living room. Now this may sound unfair, but, after all I am older and Jenny sleeps half the time on her sofa at home!

But back to the Tea Party. We decided to go up to Victoria where we, the entire family, had Tea in 1989. That was the summer that Grace, Jenny and Frances and Vic took an apartment just two doors down from Erin and me in Rexburg, Idaho. We had a great time traveling the Northwest and ended the season with an excursion to Victoria and Tea at the Blethering Place. Jenny and I wanted to see if the place was still there and if it was still as exciting and tasty as before.

We drove up to Anacortes, WA, to take the ferry over to Sydney on Vancouver Island. This is a nice small town which depends on the Ferry traffic for most of its activity. They have hanging baskets of flowers on the main street. You have to be in line a least an hour before departure.

There are some beautiful old homes there with wonderful views of the waterway which is the Inland Passage to Alaska.

I took some 'through the windshield' views that gave a reflection of the dashboard of the car. But that is what happens when you get old and can't move around for good camera views.

This is a beautiful three hour trip on a large ferry, bigger and more comfortable than the Fort Fisher-Southport Ferry. I took some pictures of the trip over, but I, as usual, forgot that I had a camera for most of the trip. I hope you will enjoy some of these photos.
The Ferry makes two stops on the trip . They stop on Orcas Island and at another Island whose name I think is Friday Harbor, although it was only Wednesday when we crossed over!

The stay in Victoria was great, except for the food! The Canadians do not understand seasonings even though they claim to be half French! The Tea at the Blethering Place was disappointing. The atmosphere was not the same. The waitress was snippy, cold and indifferent! We had lunch insead of Tea. Jenny had a sandwich and I had a Quiche. And I forgot to take a picture of the place, although the camera was on the table throughout lunch!

We traveled around the Island and wanted to make the drive up to the North end of the Island. It turns out that the map I was using was only a map of the peninsula up to Sydney. We saw every little nook and cranny of that area, but we still have not seen the North end of the Island. Then I leaned that the Island is really 500 KM from North to South. We couldn't have done that in one day anyhow! We will plan that for the next trip - with a proper map!

We had a fairly good lunch in a Marina on the south end of Victoria.
We also drove out to the Heritage Museum - just a drive through!
We decided to return to the Seattle area on Monday so that we could do the Boeing Tour. There is a family of Wettigs in Vancouver, BC, and I tried to make contact with them, but they did not respond. The trip back across to Anacortes was very nice. I toook a couple of pictures that I am very proud of and will probably turn into wall hangings on canvas, like my famous Buffalo and Mount Moran in Wyoming.
It isn't often that you get to see a ship in full sail!
Mount Baker, WA
Of course we couldn't go to Seattle without a visit to Pike's Place Market. Jenny walked around while I stood and watched the people. We had a nice lunch there overlooking the waterfront - very dirty! And we had a great visit to the Boeing Assembly plant in Everett where they put together the mammoth 777 and the new 787 - scheduled for its first flight in November or December. It was a great visit!
There were no pictures from the Boeing Tour. Cameras not permitted! they took very good care of me with a wheelchair and an elevator up to the viewing deck.

Jenny came back to Arizona with me. The change from the 72 degrees of the Seattle area to the 105 degrees here in Arizona was too much for us. We spent the next week inside the house in the Air Conditioning and drank lots of water! It was a very nice trip. I only wish that the whole family could have been there. I hope that you enjoyed it with us.

Write a Note to MacWettig@aol.com.

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