Fort Rodd Armory and the Fisgard Lighthouse...

Soaked up a bit of history today with a stroll through the Fort Rodd Hill and Armory which was some kind of strategic base that protected Victoria and the harbour since  the 1800's representing the British Empire and Canada. It was manned until after WW2.. the BIG one and is now a National Historic Site.

By the looks of the gate above, I'd say that the defenders of the harbour were serious about keeping the invaders from scaling the gate - at least enough incentive to give it some second thought.  The wild animals below are in abundance in the area and the gates keep them from attacking as well.

The Fisgard Lighthouse was built in the mid 1800's and was the first lighthouse built on Canada's West Coast. The photo below that is the Esquimalt lagoon which is just west of the lighthouse.

A pretty area.. nice day... Life is Good.

A rainy day today...

So, I have time to sit at Serious Coffee and sip on my Americano while I plug into the internet.

Well, lo and behold I stumbled onto Facebook and some photos that my baby girl Jill posted from her recent trip to Inuvik... and ya know what... they are WONDERFUL!!!!!   So, I'll share some of them here.....

A photo of the midnight sun over the Mackenzie river... and a shot of the Dempster Highway which I feel is the most beautiful drive in Canada (although I haven't been to Newfie Land yet).

This one was taken in Edmonton where Uncle Jesse met the gang for a quick visit when they had a layover on the way north... nice photo!

This one brings a tear to my eyes... Jill and the kids with her biological family taken in Ft McPherson, NWT.  Jill, her sister Maribeth, her mom Diane, and although I don't know the names, Jills Grand Mother and her great Grand Parents... along with Maribeth's two children... love this pic!

Jill and the girls in a 5 generation photo...

Jill with her sister Maribeth, her brother Jason, and her sister Rebecca along with the Great Grand Parents...

The Great Grand Parents... I'll correct this later because I'm not sure but I believe the Gwitchen name for them (like Amma and Afi) is Ji-Ji and Jou-Jou.. What character in these photos...

The last one.. Jill's mom Diane with her husband Mike...

Life is Good...

Deja Vue...

Methinks that if one was to go back onto this blog and peek at the posts from a couple of summer's ago...

Well, what I'm thinking is that we would see duplicates of the above photos from the trip Jewels and I took west then... but what is a visit to the Queen's city if it doesn't includes photos of the harbour with it's lovely big boats.. the Parliament buildings, and of course, the classic Empress Hotel...

Life is Good.

Olympic View golf course ...

The 17th hole at Olympic View is the signature hole for the course with a pretty little waterfall just past the green... I know - I know - you're asking did he make the putt.. or if it's one of the Laven boys, you're probably wondering how much I missed it by - n'est ce pas?

Well, of course I missed the first one.. but on the second one I drained the ball into the heart of the hole...  Probably my only 2 putt of the day.. I tell ya' - if I could chip and putt, I'd turn pro.. but in spite of my stone hands....

Life is Good!

Thetus Lake Park...

Today, after vacuuming the house and watering the outside plants, I decided to kiss the cat so'long and head over to the Thetus Lake Park for a short hike.  Linda and Barron had taken me here before embarking on their trip and suggested it was a nice place, very close to their home, to experience some local hiking.

Turns out it was just one of your run of the mill strolls.. you know..pretty little lake, nice beaches, lots of hills, huge huge trees, scenic trail... tomorrow - Golfing??

Life is  Good!

House Sitting in Victoria BC...

Starting this out with a couple of photos taken from the deck of the house I'm looking after.  Similar to home in that there are a lot of trees that break up the view.. but the parts you can see are very scenic and special.  It's also a bit closer to the water as the lower deck is attached to the dock for sea access which is nice... if you're a boat person?

Today I took my bike out an hit the trail that is just a couple of blocks from the house.  Biking is big here and you can go right into town or even out to Swartz Bay on the trails that start close by.  I was particularly interested in taking a pic or two of the wonderful crop of black berries that are growing in abundance EVERYWHERE... so nice on the bike where you can stop in a multitude of places to pic a few berries for sustenance ... the plants grow as high as 15 feet and are loaded with berries.

Soooo.. what do you expect after a three hour trip (including berry picking time of course)... nothing like fresh berries, a good book, and a fine local ale while sitting on the deck, soaking up the sun, and enjoying the view.

Life is Good!

Driving west... again.

I always dread the 6-7 days it takes to drive through N Dakota and Montana... OK, it feels like 6-7 days but I guess the option of driving thru Saskatchewan and the flat part of Alberta is much the same... The nice part of N Dakota is the badlands.. it's such an awesome landscape with the many colors and buttes and rock formations....

And the nice part is the fact that I did some hard driving and in two days, have reached Spokane WA. The weather has been clear and dry and hot.. I was wondering about the fires that we keep hearing about in Idaho but I didn't see any signs of forest fires in the part I went through.

But... the highway was quite smokey in Montana approaching Missoula.  It was kind of funny coz when I arrived in Missoula, the smoke had dissipated and it was clear and hot in the city.  Then, on the way out of town, there was obvious smoke rising from the hills to the south west.

Nothing in the local news about Montana fires so I assume it is all under control.

Tomorrow I drive up to Vancouver and over to the island on Thursday.

Life... she's good!

pleasant evening in Duluth....

Tonite, we were having dinner on the deck - had a "Saltie" moored out on the lake when a big "Laker" floated by... so nice to have a great lake view off the deck..

Soooo, we decided to head out after dinner to the lake walk ....

There was a fair amount of activity on the lake tonite... I managed to get the Saltie in the background for a lot of my photos... plus some kayakers and Jewels, in a pensive moment.

We stopped at the Leif Eirikson rose gardens on the way back.. it was getting dark so we may stop in tomorrow to get some pics.. it's a lovely place named after a great Icelander!

Leif is Good...

Looking forward to seeing my kids...

Well, I'm off for a drive out west this weekend.  Leaving on Sunday and I have a lovely place to house sit in Victoria.  I'm really looking forward to this.. not only a nice place to stay but the people seem to be very nice as well...

After a couple of weeks, I'm heading out to Courtenay to see Jill and the kids..  I can't wait to see them.. sweet girls..

Life is
Great!!!!

Sometimes my hiking photos aren't just scenery....

These are some of my favorites taken the past couple of weeks...

yeah... Life is Good!