Team Tully Does the Pacific Northwest and Canada! Volume 2

We spent the day in Victoria.  On Vancouver Island, British Columbia.  Oh, Canada!  We had an awesome and full day.  We took the first ferry over and the last ferry back.  A day well spent! 

Arriving in Victoria, the Canadian flag welcoming us. :-)  Such friendly people!  I LOVED this city.  It is a city and the capital of British Columbia but it has more of a small town feel and it is coastal.  You can't beat it. 

A neighborhood of houseboats!  Despite my tendency for "dock rock" I had some serious real estate envy!  How cool would this life be?!

Beacon Hill Park greeted us with peacocks.  Lots of peacocks, just wandering around like they own the place. 

Amazing!

Another reminder of my youth...we stopped at a tiny Canadian grocery store...bought a hunk of fresh bread, a block of cheese, and some carrots and grapes.  A wanderer's favorite lunch!  And much easier on the budget.  We did this most everyday whether we were hiking in the woods or doing some urban hiking.  A hotel with a continental breakfast and a poor man's lunch.  Dinner out.  Another Team Tully travel tip! (learned from my many camping and hiking experiences as a kid!  and that one time at Old Faithful with Melanie.)

Everywhere

A free petting zoo.  Luke and his new best friend!

A Pacific Northwest staple and a scavenger hunt item. :-)

L and I found out that Victoria has a bug zoo!  We kept it a surprise for our bug loving kid and he was THRILLED!  He touched and held everything they would let him and we stayed over an hour more than I thought we would.  It is not a huge place (bugs don't take up too much room) but we were there for HOURS!  The guides were amazing and Luke loved it!  This is some sort of thorny devil...comforting name.  Speaking of comforting... I held a tarantula. That experience was only open to the over 18 crowd.  Luke has never been so proud of me.  Ha! 

Heaven on Earth

Chinatown.  We used Shesh's "very old, very very old" Canadian money here.  

The parliament building in the background.

We could not have picked a better time of year!  The weather was AMAZING and everything was in bloom! Lucky us.

Dinner in downtown Victoria, overlooking the street below. Luke is dining on seafood chowder and a fresh salmon and broccoli pasta dish.  We were in the PACNW for 9 dinners and I think for all but 3 this kid ate fish!  When in Rome!  

Back to the US for the next installment.....Bye, Canada!