Visit to Victoria

Last week I went to Victoria, B.C. for a conference, but here's the city's prime attraction.

 

I didn't actually go inside. I like the idea of a bug zoo; I don't like bugs, not even butterflies. (Don't let those pretty wings fool you. Butterflies still have crawly feet!)

 

Living in Seattle, we don't think of Victoria as being very far away; but it's a schlep to get there if you drive and take a ferry, especially if you drive north in I-5 where the Skagit River bridge collapsed. I took the 3-hr Clipper ride, which is actually a 5-hr trip when you factor in the drive to the pier and the hour wait to get on the boat. Before going to the conference and meeting up with friends after, I focused on the important stuff.

Cute ducklings resting on lily pads in the ornamental pool in front of a hotel.

 

 

After the conference, spectacular views were de rigueur.

 

 

But look at this view. I visited Joanne Helm and her husband Jon, who gave me Alanis nearly five years ago.

 

Airedale Mary, Irish Kelly and Cairn whose-name-I forget.

 

Spree. Alanis' granddaughter (if I've kept them properly sorted out).

Dazzle.

Gypsy, my most admired. Sired by Joanne Helm's  Harry Potter from a bitch in Romania, she has that indefinable Airedale presence. Some refer to it as Airedale mind-meld because you only have to look at the dog for her to take over your brain. I took the photo from a distance because Gypsy insisted on staying on her rock.

 

As an anti-climax, Blogger is refusing to load any other photos. There's also Mary, she-who-must-be-obeyed, lounging with her Armadillo stuffie. I was amazed to see a stuffie that still had all its guts intact.