When we travelled to Australia in January we did not purchase a round trip ticket.  Our  visa had a time limit so we knew our departure would be sometime in early May.  Originally we considered a round the world tour through Dubai and Amsterdam but we stayed a bit longer in Australia than anticipated and decided on an alternate route.  After some research we found some well priced one way flights to Vancouver on Air Canada.  This would allow us to see a few more “bucket list” items including Butchart Gardens, Olympic National Park and a visit to our daughter in Portland, Oregon before our return to Minnesota.

Seven years ago I visited Butchart Gardens and always wanted to return with Stephen. It is a reclaimed quarry that was transformed into a stunning year-round garden.  We spent a day walking the grounds and soaking in the beauty before catching the ferry to Port Angeles.

Port Angeles, located on the Olympic Peninsula is the gateway to Olympic National Park.  We took the 90 minute ferry ride from Victoria B.C. and finally returned to the U.S.  It’s nice to be home!  We intended to visit Olympic National Park in our Vistabule last year but it is so remote that we bypassed it.  This year instead of camping we stayed in an Airbnb and explored for a few days.  Velvet green moss is abundant and beautifully covers all the fallen logs and trees. Despite the rain we hiked through some beautiful rainforests.

Olympic National Park

A unexpected side trip to Seattle via the ferry took us to a Mariners vs Twins baseball game.  Who knew the Twins would be in town just for Stephen?

Mariners vs Twins in Seattle

And finally a stop in Portland to visit our daughter Abby.  Together we explored the Columbia River Gorge and Mount Hood.

And now we are home.  

It’s time to pull out the bicycles and reconnect with friends.  No more airplanes for awhile.  We need to pull the Vistabule from storage and resume travel in our queen bed and a kitchen.

For those of you interested, the TravelPro Maxlite luggage was a great purchase.  It held up well and carried everything we needed for six months.