Customs inspection started at 9am for a 10:30am ferry departure from Victoria bound for Port Angeles. We were 10th in the standby line and among the last six cars to make it on board. Our journey today to the eastern slopes of the Cascades Mountain Range took us across Puget Sound on our fifth ferry ride in as many days. From the water we could see the Seattle skyline in front of the distant but enormous Mount Rainier.

We arrived late in the afternoon at Lake Wenatchee where we will spend the next two nights with great friends Cindy and Rob Shurtleff and their friend Ann. Cindy and I first met while I was attending Stanford and we have stayed in touch over the years. Rob is a venture capitalist in the high tech sector with whom I share a great many interests.

A delicious meal was followed by what Jeanine described as a sunset champagne cruise around the lake. Lake Wenatchee is glacier and snowmelt fed with the North Shore and South Shore state parks, separated by the Wenatchee River. The lake covers 2,480 acres and reaches a depth of 244 feet. The Shurtleff lake house has many attributes that Jeanine and I can see in our post-empty nest home and we thoroughly enjoyed the ambiance during our stay.

Jeanine and I are up at the crack of dawn to ensure we catch the 7:30am ferry from Vancouver to Vancouver Island where Victoria, the provincial capital of British Columbia, is located. The ferry is an essential mode of transportation in this neck of the woods where all things interesting seem to be separated by large bodies of water. I enjoy spending time on the deck while Jeanine reads a novel comfortably ensconced in the passenger lounge.

Our initial destination this morning is Butchart Gardens. Created by Jennie Butchart, wife of a Portland cement magnate who transformed an exhausted limestone quarry into a magnificent sunken garden which was completed in 1921. They named their home “Benvenuto” (“welcome” in Italian), and began to receive visitors to their gardens. In 1926, they replaced their tennis courts with an Italian garden and in 1929 they replaced their kitchen vegetable garden with a large rose garden. The gardens now attract more than a million visitors each year and it is easy to understand why. My favorite section was the Japanese style garden which was authentic in every way albeit difficult to photograph.

We lunched at the gardens before completing our journey to Victoria where we walked around a bit before taking a Hippo tour (very similar to Boston’s amphibious Duck Boat tours).

Victoria is ideally suited to an amphibious tour with the most prominent architecture facing the bay including the British Columbia Legislature Building and the Empress Hotel. The Edwardian, château-style hotel was designed by Francis Rattenbury for Canadian Pacific Hotels as a terminus hotel for Canadian Pacific’s steamship line, whose main terminal was just a block away. The hotel was to serve business people and visitors to Victoria, but later as Canadian Pacific ceased its passenger services to the city, the hotel was successfully remarketed as a resort to tourists in the mid-to-late 1920s.

Quite hungry by the end of our tour we enjoyed dinner at the famous Bard and Banker Scottish pub. Opened in 1862 as the Bank of British Columbia, the building remained a bank until 1988 under an array of different banking establishments’ control. Of all the bank employees to work at this location in the 126 years it was a bank, the most notable was the bard of the Yukon, Robert Service. These two elements of history led to the moniker for the pub. After parking our car in the standby line for tomorrow morning’s ferry, we made a final walking tour of the city as the sun set. Pictured here is one extremely relaxed and happy wife.

We venturing further north towards Pemberton this morning stopping at Nairn Falls Provincial Park. The falls were far less impressive than those we encountered yesterday and the long hike in would have been a bust if not for the opportunity to climb down to the Green River and dip our toes in the crystal clear water.

Our next stop was the trailhead for the Jofree Lakes (Lower, Middle, and Upper). Time did not permit a 5-hour excursion all the way to the Upper Jofree Lake so we had to limit our visit to the Lower Lake which is easily one of the most beautiful bodies of water I have ever laid eyes on. The picture here does not do justice to the turquoise water color or pale green grasses emerging from it. The position of the sun precluded shooting across the lake which would have included snow capped mountains in the background. We hiked around to the backside of the lake, Jeanine for the exercise, and I for a chance at a well lit photograph. My goal was largely thwarted by dense under growth which effectively made access to the shore impossible.

After returning to the car we decided to venture deeper into the mountains and shortly thereafter arrived at Duffey Lake, a long dark blue lake with a well established log jamb on one end. I teetered across the logs in search of the perfect foreground while Jeanine rested by the water’s edge just soaking in the serenity and beauty before us.

We returned to Whistler just in time to catch one of the last gondolas up the mountain where we switched to the glass bottomed Peak-to-Peak gondola from Whistler to Blackcomb Mountain. It is the first lift to join the two side-by-side mountains and holds world records for the longest free span between ropeway towers (1.88 miles) and highest point above the ground (1,430 feet).

The view from the top was spectacular as was the open air ride down the Blackcomb side on a chair lift. We treated ourselves to a fine Italian meal in the Whistler Village before driving back to Vancouver. En route we paused for a nice sunset.

An unconventional and eclectic community, Robert’s Creek is home to quiet beaches, rambling gardens, superb hiking and biking trails, and many talented artisans. After a very nice breakfast at the locally famous Gumboot Cafe, Sarah and Kerith took as on a walking tour which included the Robert’s Creek Pier where local artists create a unique Mandala style painting each year. We then drove to SideStix headquarters for a tour of the facility where Nicolai will be working during his internship this fall. The small shop is very well organized around material flow and Nico’s experience here should leave him thoroughly skilled in crutch building and repair. Before returning us to the ferry we were treated to what is easily the best sorbet Jeanine or I have ever sampled. Unfortunately, Nico will arrive too late in the season to enjoy this treat.

Acclaimed as one of the top three scenic drives in Canada, the Sea to Sky Highway, a 100 mile portion of Highway 99 North that connects Horseshoe Bay in Vancouver to just past Whistler, B.C. lived up to its reputation. Stunning views of lakes, mountains, fjords, inlets, and waterfalls are incomparable. We stopped frequently for photos and to take short hikes to both Shannon Falls (1000 feet) and Brandywine Falls (210 feet).

Our destination for the evening was the resort town of Whistler where most of the alpine, Nordic, luge, skeleton, bobsled, freestyle skiing and all snowboarding events were hosted during the 2010 Winter Olympics. It has a permanent population of approximately 10,000, plus a larger but rotating “transient” population of workers. Over two million people visit Whistler annually, primarily for alpine skiing and snowboarding and, in summer, mountain biking.

With the aid of our smart phones we selected a border crossing into Canada with the least wait time as we drove from Seattle to Vancouver. The start of a Gay Pride Parade in the vicinity of Stanley Park, our destination for the afternoon, made parking a hassle but we were soon on our rented tandem bicycle for a riding tour of the park.

I thought the tandem would allow me to shoot photographs from the rear position while Jeanine navigated from the front. For various reasons we soon switched positions and decided a subsequent tandem rental would not be good for our marriage. During our circumnavigation of the park we came across a game of cricket which we paused to observe. I am still not clear on the scoring of runs but I finally understand the basic tenants of the game now. When the teams paused for tea we continued on our tour.

Our final destination for the day was Robert’s Creek on the Sunshine Coast where we stayed with SideStix founders Sarah and Kerith who own a beautiful home overlooking Georgia Bay. We left our rental car in Horseshoe Bay and took the ferry to Langdale where we were met by our hosts. Kerith, the mechanical engineer and head of operations for the company proved that he was equally skilled as a chef, preparing an exquisite meal which we thoroughly enjoyed.

Nicolai will be doing an internship with SideStix this fall and we were shown the small cabin that Sarah and Kerith are renovating for Nico to live in while he is here.

The new deck and railing are now officially complete. I put the finishing touches on the later this morning. Still remaining are some repairs to the siding of the sun porch. I will complete that work when Jeanine and I return from vacation. We leave this evening for 10 days in the Seattle/Vancouver area. The trip is anchored by a wedding next Sunday and we will use the opportunity to visit with friends and explore the outdoors of the great Northwest.

Kyle left this morning for NYC where he is meeting friends who will drive together to Toronto for a weekend music festival. To be young and fancy-free. Kyle completed his accounting internship in far less time than his boss expected. I like the fact that Kyle worked at full pace rather than drag out the assignment so he could earn more money. This particular internship was about the experience rather than the pay so it was a win-win outcome. Meanwhile, Jeanine returned from her writer’s retreat having done a lot of editing of her existing material but no new writing. It sounds like she had a very relaxing and enjoyable time.

Catching up at work today consumed the entire day and most of my evening leaving no time for photography. I made this image earlier in the week at the top of my 700 foot climb to the ridge over Avila Beach. I am pictured next to a cell phone tower building/graffiti canvas. Jeanine has been on a writer’s retreat in New Hampshire all week enjoying the solitude and recreational outlets of a friends lake house to work on finishing her memoir cookbook. It occurs to me as I complete this, my 5182nd post in as many days, that I have become something of a writer myself. Assuming an average of 200 words per post that makes a total of 1 million words. According to Amazon’s great Text Stats feature, the median length for all books is about 64,000 words. The figure was found through looking at a number of books’ text stats, until “Brave New World”‘s 64,531 word count landed in the exact center of all books–50% of books have fewer words and 50% of books have more words. This means that I should be reaching the end of my 16th book any day now. I think my father, the author of two books himself, would have been both impressed and amused by this statistic. I suspect it is true what they say though; even a monkey at a typewriter can produce a novel given enough time.

I left California at 6:30 am and arrived at Logan at 5:30 pm, not the best way to spend a day. My flight connected through Phoenix and flew over the Great Sand Dunes National Park which the pilot called to our attention. Naturally, it was only visible from the other side of the plane. My disappointment of missing that photo was somewhat offset by this shot of Castle Island and Fort Independence which I took on our approach into Logan.

A suggestion from a colleague had me hiking the Sycamore Crest Trail overlooking Avila Beach after work today. With the sun still above the horizon after 8 pm, I had plenty of time to reach the peak of this trail which affords expansive views of the California coast and foothills. It was a nice way to end an otherwise stressful day.

Work took me to San Luis Obispo this morning and as is often the case when flying cross country I noticed some very interesting features on the ground. My only theory on these multi-colored pools is that they are being used to grow algae or bacteria from which dyes are made. If anyone knows the answer to this mystery I would love to hear from you. UPDATE: A follower of this blog at work assigned solving this mystery to the iRobot intern pool in his regular Pop Quiz series. These are actually evaporation ponds at a potash mining facility near Moab, Utah. Potash is, essentially, a generic name for several different potassium-laden salts. It’s most commonly used as an ingredient in fertilizer, as potassium (along with nitrogen and phosphorous) is one of the three key nutrients plants need to grow. The second image, I am fairly sure, is of three solar farms used to generate electricity by reflecting sunlight off an array of thousands of mirrors to a centrally located collection tower. Looking out the window for these sorts of things makes a long flight pass quickly.

After work I drove 15 minutes up the coast to Morro Bay where I have come frequently in the past to photograph Morro Rock. One of nine volcanic plugs in the immediate vicinity it is sometimes called the “Gibraltar of the Pacific” and stands 581-foot above the ocean which surrounds it except for a causeway connecting it to the shore. A volcanic plug is created when magma hardens within a vent on an active volcano. Erosion over the millennium can lead to exposure of the plug as the softer surrounding rock is removed. It was named El Morro, meaning Crown, by the Portuguese explorer Juan Cabrillo in 1542. Visitors who take the time to investigate the base will no doubt encounter a virtual army of ground squirrels who live among the rocks.

Farm & Wilderness Camp has no electricity. The cabins are more roof than walls and there is a strict “no candy” policy. Rather than sending his sister a letter, Kyle will be adding a small stuffed animal to the care package Jeanine is preparing. He has carefully opened a seem and removed some of the original stuffing and replaced it with Skittles, a favorite of Maya’s. He plans to send her a coded message informing her of the treat within. I am very impressed by this act of brotherly love and I hope Maya appreciates the gesture.

I will be travelling to California on business and will probably not post again until Thursday.

I took a break from work on the deck to capture this photo of a dragonfly who seemed very enamored with the ends of freshly cut composite post sleeves (used for the railings). He was so engrossed that I was able to approach to within a few inches for the shot. I took a much longer break at noon to attend the iRobot summer picnic at Kimball Farms, one of our favorite family outing destinations. Earlier in the week I had been asked to captain one of the volleyball teams that would vie for the coveted iRobot Cup in tournament play. Unfortunately, team member assignments were random and I did not get to play on the same team with Nicolai. My attempt to influence the officials with a $100 bribe proved fruitless. Instead, I was forced to face Nicolai and his team in the final match. His team won the cup and my team had to settle for second place. I am hoping someone at the picnic took photos of the volleyball action and will add to the post if I can obtain one.

Normally I try to take advantage of iRobot’s summer half day Friday benefit but today had too much work on my plate to leave early. Light rain when I did return made it difficult to lay the final deck boards which I was determined to do this evening. Eventually I managed to complete the work and was very pleased with the results. We received a wonderful letter from Maya who seems to have lucked into a great set of bunk mates, wonderful cabin, and got her first choice of activities which includes a 30 mile, multi-day canoe/camping trip and assignment to a construction team that will be completing several new structures over the next few weeks. As the sun was setting the sky took on some very unusual colors so I went out on the newly completed deck and snapped this shot. I am trying to decide if I should fabricate one of the railing posts into a surrogate tripod platform given how often I shoot images from this location. I will have to think of a way to do this in a way which can be converted back to a normal configuration so as not to impact resale value.