Entries by BVI Captains Log Blog

I actually had to look at my own blog to figure out where I left off I am so many days behind. Hard having such an active social life, not to mention that I think I have been traveling through every spot in the States that Verizon may have a signal but ATT sure don't...
We traveled down the Washington and Oregon Coast a bit, where our winter coats came out quite quickly. You will be able to tell quite easily where we needed to wear them in these pictures below.

I loved the amount of birds (bloody big seagulls) that were sitting on the beaches






Could not convince my husband to put even his toes in the water, even if we saw surfers....


My dad walking down the beach...


And more birdies...




This was on the Columbia River, just before we crossed into Oregon. There were literally thousands of boats out for the salmon run...


At least this seagull was smart enough to live on the sunny part of the coast!




Over all, we found we could see a lot more of the ocean going down the northern part of the Oregon Coast then when we went down last year and mostly did the southern Oregon Coast..






Yes, I made them pose for pictures....Yes, they hate me!


Although they seemed to be much happier posing for pictures when I put an ice cream cone in their hand at the Tillamook Factory! Had to laugh their going through their cheese sample line, some people thought they were at a full fledged dinner buffet never mind a sample. I did not know you could fit so many pieces of cheese on one little toothpick....


Even the seagulls here get ice cream cones. Must be why so many are around...


I love stopping to see my old high school friend from SHAPE, Belgium in Portland. She knows all these great little restaurants and swears that she is trying to eat her way through every single last one of them. Tonight we were even able to meet Beth's husband, John, who just finished climbing DENALI. You know for training they put on 75 lb packs and go to the gym and train with them on? Crazy stuff...


Tonight's restaurant did not dissapoint, although if I would have written the blog a week ago I might have remembered the name of it! I had an amazing pizza with garlic aioli, sweet corn, shallots, chicken and red onion...I barely restrained myself from eating it all...



The guys hamburgers with homemade pommes frites certainly looked spectacular though too. And the fries were good.


We dropped the RV before coming into town and just took the car. Bazza apparently thought that parking spaces would be a premium and pulled into the first one he saw which meant we did get to walk off the dinner calories getting there and back to the restaurant. I know I need it anyways. Holiday eating does play havoc with my smart calorie choices....


We drove down the freeway a bit after dinner just finding a rest stop to pull over at, as we had a fairly long hike so we could get down to Reno by dinner to visit ANOTHER old high school friend from Shape...Social butterfly now aren't I??




Our friend Brad, invited us over for a barbecue where he lives over looking Reno. Got to love a man who grills, unlike my Australian husband...


The view from his back yard was spectacular.... we saw quail, heard coyotes, saw rabbits and I understand that they even have wild horses that run down their road....


A great steak was had and all the fixings...


I have found my self missing my large camera about daily on this road trip. Using the point and shoot just is not the same...




We had great company with Brad and his wife Linette...


We felt like celebrities as Brad brought out his Louis X111 cognac, which, no matter how smooth it was, I was not going to drink it, but somehow in a moment that shows me my husband is still full of surprises, he happily drank his and mine down quite quickly!


My dad just enjoyed the cool evening. I think we slept well that night, and were hoping not to have such long drives the next day... I am keeping everyone on a need to know basis, including the driver, mostly because just like my charters, I am not sure what I am doing daily on this trip until just before!

Sunday dawned Gloomy and Misty in Edmonton. We went outside for a bit of a walk and to dust some of the cobwebs out of our brain from the late night out for us (and the 8 vodka's for me!)


I saw that in Edmonton they actually paddleboard too, and thought it was a good sport for Canada, as unless you fall off maybe you don't really have to get in the water? It still did not look that appealing to me though!


My brother showed up, and to all the males utter dismay I called them at 1015 AM to make sure they were up and coming to have brunch with us. Mother is here for 28 hours, YOU WILL NOT SLEEP!


They pretended they all felt fine....Chad and Christina...Christina looked great!


The other ones drank champagne and orange juice and pretended to be interested in what i was saying and the food. It was average, the buffet at the hotel there, I certainly did not really think it was worth $50.00 a person, but since i have not lived in Canada for a long time, not sure of their restaurant value prices....


Went to West Edmonton Mall and since the last time I was there they now have a china town with this humongous interesting Asian Supermarket...


All kinds of fresh seafood...


I think these clams speak for themselves now don't they?


WHOLE live Ling Cods...fairly ugly!


And very large prawns that did look amazing....


Of course the vegetable section, with all kinds of things I did not recognize....


We walked the rest of the mall, and then it was time for us to head back to the airport for our flight back to Victoria. Short visit, but hey, saw my boys, went to the opening, had good food, went to the Bakery and West Edmonton Mall, seemed to be sufficient. I don't think I could imagine living their again....


Just before going through security I spied a Harvey's Hamburgers...which are about my favorite! All thought of any healthy eating quickly went out the window when I realized it would probably be a year before I saw one of these again and soon a double original bacon cheeseburger was heading its way to my mouth. Yes, it tasted divine. And yes, backing away from the food trough and eating healthy the next day was a struggle.


Our view flying into Victoria of the islands and water....




A day of quick typing on my keyboard to get some work done and a day of packing up "things" and parents in the RV and we were on the road again. This time taking the RV over on the ferry to Port Angeles in Washington.

I could take pictures of scenery, but really, Bazza's fish and chips looked MUCH better...


This was mine and once I threw away the dressing, took a tablespoon of the parmesan only, well the chicken and romaine tasted wonderful....


These are just pictures of the beautiful day we had pulling out of Victoria Harbor...









And this is coming into Port Angeles on the other side and the Coast Guard Station. Pretty flat water!







We decided to go down the coast a bit, until Portland at least..and I really missed having my large camera here. The little point and shoot just cannot take the pictures how I would like to frame them in these gorgeous spots....






We hired a windshield wiper for the trip, but truthfully he needs some practice!



He had to have a nap after this tough job and I think my mother was just napping in sympathy along with him!


Thats it for today, time to get dressed and go play..I think I am only about 2-3 days behind on this darn blog now....

Guess I better get on the ball with catching up on this blog before I am a month behind...

Saturday morning we arose fairly early and made our way to the airport to get a flight to Edmonton. There has been forest fires in BC and the smoke had all came Edmonton Way...






Old habits die hard, I remembered decades ago when I lived here that we used to go to the Italian Bakery on 97th st about every weekend to get Crusty Buns..You can tell my priorities when this was the first place I headed to even before seeing my boys...



We walked in and my non observant husband said "You took me here last time" and of course he remembered, I bought buns and Mortadella and he bought a box of pastries...




The other thing Bazza seemed to remember was being at Princess Auto. a favorite store apparently, and he wanted to go back. I dropped him off. Apparently while there, in the 40 minutes which was about 39 more minutes then what I needed in there, he only made it through 10% of the store!



While he bonded with Princess Auto I went to the Mayfield Inn where I spent a lot of time DECADES ago working. Was it always that small? I doubt it! Strange to wander around these places after 25 years...



We then made our way over to where my two oldest sons live, Chris and Chad for a bit...







And since this is a quick 28 hour trip to Edmonton, it was about time to go check into the Hotel MacDonald where we were staying for the night, which is across the street from the bar/nightclub that Chad was involved with opening. It too looks way smaller...I worked here too, probably about 35 years ago doing banquets!
The view looks about the same...



Soon enough Chris showed up and we walked over to the Treasury for an early dinner.





Bazza and I with the two boys



The flowers I sent for opening somehow ended up in the girls washroom...what do you think that means?



AND the men's washrooms had TV's on each urinal...



Restaurant area...



Kitchen line...



Myself with the Chef Paul



And FOOD! They had a very limited menu so they did not overwhelm the kitchen during opening, which consisted of 3 starters, 3 entrees (lamb, beef and ahi tuna) and two desserts. We about tried one if not more of everything. Some was "ok" some was outstanding...

This is the Beef Capriccio, with white truffle oil, red onion, and smoked capers...



Caesar Salad




This shrimp appetizer was amazing. It had garlic and onion sauteed, then white wine, cook the shrimp, then put in sambucca, basil, heavy cream, feta cheese, a bit of salt and pepper and served on top of toast points. I think I ordered several of these and truthfully could have all night long....



This is a duck and prawn confit Spring Roll, with Wasabi glaze.... which was also excellent (although not as good as the shrimp!)



My son Chris...



And my brother Danny



The lamb was espresso rubbed...



The medallions, I am not sure I remember what they were but the potato pancakes with them were wonderful...



The ahi tuna was spiced a bit and tasted very good, although a bit spicy for my liking...



This was a deep fried ice cream dish, which I did not think really worked too well...



The nightclub became very packed, and was operating way past the witching hour for me, but I managed to hang out until 11 PM. I think Chad was ready to get rid of us then as he was pretty busy and had all the usual opening weekend schmozzles and wrinkles to work out.

This is an unusual picture though, for those who know Chad. This is his father and his wife Val, I have not seen them in about 20 years so it was nice to visit a bit....Can you tell how much Chad looks like his father?



And one of my favorite pictures is my buns from the bakery and the meat..



Long day for us and we were happy to find bed!

I am still working on Thursday on the blog, but in actual fact I am in Edmonton for a quick overnight visit for my son Chad's opening of the Treasury Vodka Bar and Restaurant. That will be next entry. I will finish up Thursday's adventure first...
We were up earlyish for a trip out to the airport to pick up a van for the day to fit everyone in. It was a full size Suburban, and just for the record, I don't want one. The guests were all bright and perky waiting outside the hotel for their 10 AM Pick up...


Dad was tour guide and we started with the city and shoreline portion..






Followed by the "holy crap there are deer EVERYWHERE in the city limit tour" Mostly eating flowers in yards.


We went to see the Seals down at the wharf...


And was reminded one more time that I could feed my charter guests poultry for years and have plenty of leftovers with the size of these here on the island...


But back to the seals, mom and Nancy fed them and we took pictures.


There was a mom and baby wandering around....


And then George bought me my very own seal. I don't even have to clean up after it, although I would think a live one would work fine for me, after all it would not stray to far from the back of Promenade cuz we have lots of lovely charter food left over and it would be an unique marketing opportunity in the charter market I would think....


Had to laugh, dad took us to see one of the most expensive waterfront properties up for sale and we noticed that it has now been sold...


...To the government of Saint Kitts and Nevis for a consulate! OK...I am just going to not say anything at all here.


My obligatory one flower picture...


This is a much better flower picture. More deer eating more flowers...


He does not care at all if I film him and very quickly ignores us to go back to his lunch. He is having to start to reach higher for flowers.


A random scenery and people shot...


There are many good captions for this below picture, but if dad was JUST lean a bit more......If it was someone I did not like or if there was water underneath instead of blackberry bushes, I might be tempted to trip....


Out to My Chosen Cafe at Mechosin for lunch, always a nice spot to visit...and I made them hurry taking the picture as I was STARVING. Everyone laughed at my carrots in the car but I think by the time we hit lunch Don was looking longingly at them! THe guys had a open faced meatloaf sandwich on top of a piece of garlic bread, with fried onions and mushrooms on top and covered with gravy served with fries. Unfortunately, it did not fit into my calories allotted for the day, but it did look amazing....


And some random scenery shots.


And the tour ended up at the Empress Hotel, where we left our friends to have scones, tea and probably beer for some. It was nice to share some time with everyone who over and we think we were very lucky to have so many friends in Victoria the same time as us...


Friday it was off up to Duncan. (I know, the life of a social butterfly never stops now does it?) In another meal that looked amazing was Bazza's hamburger. I had a veggie burger and plain salad. Enough said about that. Sigh.


We met up with a couple that we had met down in Tortola at the May Boat Show. They are in the process of chucking it all away to go sail for a living, and we had updates on courses they are completing etc, just in case you need a good crew they are ready to go! We had a great couple hours gabbing with Cam and Rhonda. They have started a blog to share their adventures, and once (and if I suppose!) I get permission to share that link I will pass it on cuz I know many who read this like following those types of journeys...



That covers Friday, up early Saturday AM to get out to the airport to fly to Edmonton, so until next entry....

We had a treat this week as our friend Margot was over making bank life's miserable doing her job so she came for dinner and a visit at the house. She brought nice flowers, which, yes Sydney, mother loved! I would have preferred frozen blended bushwackers personally!! We had a nice visit though and she already has some of her trips planned to the boat for next season. She already knows how to sort and fold the laundry on the boat and put it away, next we will be working on teaching her how to do DISHES!!!!



Bazza woke up with a totally seized shoulder, which entailed a trip to the acupuncturist and the doctor. First time I had seen this procedure, not sure what I think about it. Not sure what is happening with it, but Bazza is not a whinger so I know it was painful.


I loved this flyer though in the doctors office for prostrate checks....



Watched the neighborhood cats in the back yard. They sit very calmly pursuing their buffet options...


Why do I say buffet options because this is what they sit under. They must be waiting for one to fall from the sky!


We were getting dressed to go out for dinner and my mother and I actually took a decent picture, so I thought I would put it up. The weight loss is starting to show on me now I think.


It was out for dinner at Vic Steak House tonight...I was teasing Margot that she was ordering a caesar to drink so it would look like a salad on her expense accounts! She assured me that it was not so!


We had more friends in town tonight. Dan and Nancy and George and Jane, also known as the "old folks from St Marys" just came off a wonderful cruise up to Alaska with perfect weather (it must be only the BVI they bring shitty weather too..) So along with my parents and Margot, we all had a nice visit. George mentioned that he did not think he had ever seen me before with Make up on. Probably true!


It is MUCH MUCH more fun to visit when I don't have to cook the meal and do the dishes let me tell you. I could see a theme for that happening on the boat...I truly think that Bazza could throw out the long tables in the cockpit and put in round ones as well as it is so much easier to visit that way.


steak....


hamburgers...


pork chops...


and fish and chips were on the menu tonight. The food was "ok" The restaurant was short staffed and you could sure tell that. Service was slow and lacking. Really do you guys have cocktails up here with only 1 oz in them? What in the world is the point of that? That 1 oz does not seem to last very well when it takes you 20 minutes to get the next oz! We had a great visit though and sat and talked for a few hours...


I was not ultra crazy about the public swimming pools with the bandaids floating in them, so opted for a walk the next morning, which apparently I should do more often as it got my heart rate up higher then the swimming does...but I enjoyed it....




My niece will hate me, but doesn't she look cute in her cheerleading outfit? She looks more like my sister every day! And obviously more of a girl then Sydney and I were with being in cheerleading...


In the other big news in our world, my oldest son Chad's new Restaurant and vodka bar opened last night in Edmonton. The Treasury. I am sure it was a schmozzle as those kind of openings always are, in my experience. I still remember my first ever charter I did not being able to get dinner out until 1130 at night! I just kept on giving them more liquor......


This is Chad and his girlfriend Christina, I wish them all the luck in the world...


Once I get new pictures of the opening weekend I will post them.


That is it for today's online diary, time to get ready as we are heading up to Duncan to have lunch with a couple we met at the spring boat show in Tortola, Cam and Rhonda. Cam and Rhonda are a bit younger then us and have done the proverbial sell their worldly possessions, quit their jobs, train for chartering and are planning on doing charters in the BVI. I feel so old, it seems like such a long time ago that we did that!

In Canadian Speak the temperature here in Victoria was 32 degrees. I did not know it ever got to that temperature out here! Apparently the Inland Empire back home is in the triple digits too, so there is heat everywhere..
My dad went to march in that heat in a parade. I cannot even tell you what it was for! He mentioned something about old uniforms not fitting...Go figure!


We made the Saturday afternoon trek with the parents to the Legion...


One of their friends brought their grandson who was visiting from Australia, who brought his voting papers with him for Bazza to countersign (In Australia if you don't vote you get a $200.00 fine! Bazza has been gone ten years.....Yikes!

In Australia you don't just put a X beside the one you want, you also have to RANK them all in the order you want them in, it is all very complex. What was not complex was some of the names of the parties...The sex party (apparently they promote escort services) the fishers and shooters party ( I hope they hunt and fish but i am not sure!) Some were more understandable, the aboriginals, the greens...but I did not see the Pot Party!


Bazza drank vodka (i think he was trying to work up the courage to ask me to dance but he never did!) and it was pretty warm in the building too...


i am not sure what I was up to here, being a bit loopy I think!


Sunday we went over to look at the car show at Oak Bay...Nice and early in the morning before it was hot and busy. You can see Bazza still happily found fresh donuts to munch on....


We saw shiny cars, which don't interest me too much but it was a nice walk...


License Plate...


After that it was off to see Eat. Pray. Love. The boys went whether they wanted to or not. ONe second before I snapped this photo my father was fast asleep! He obviously was in self preservation mode and sensed when I was close with a camera...I think the girls liked it better then the boys..


Then cuz it was hot as can be we decided to heat up the kitchen to bake potatoes in the oven for an hour (just like being on the boat..) But steak and potatoes was yummy...



And so ends the weekend up on Vancouver Island