Sunday, 6/5

Sunday: buffet breakfast and church service at the Edgewater. Dr. Porcher spoke.

Bus trip to the Ballard Locks - very cool. The Locks were amazing. We saw a large ship at the lower level, and later we saw the Lock filled to the upper level. Amazing amount of flowers and trees. We saw also that there was a smaller lock and there were several boats in there. We saw the fish ladders where the Salmon can get back up the river and there were 4 chutes to help the small fish go down through the locks. We were running late, so didn’t get to go into the Visitor’s Center, but we were at the front of our crowd leaving, so we ran in and got some postcards.

We called the girls on the way to the Locks and got to talk to each of them. They are excited, having lots of fun. Marilyn took Jenny and Kathy with her to the store, but they walked back in as we were finished talking with Sarah, so we got all of them! Everyone sounds excited and like they are having a good time.

Lunch at Space Needle.  We ate at the Skyline Restaurant that is 100 feet up. The food was okay, but the salmon was much overdone compared to Saturday night’s meal at the Edgewater. Very nice greens salad, Salmon, potatoes, asparagus, and ice cream w/cookie and fruit for dessert. We celebrated Anthony’s birthday, and he got a special dessert. There is the observation deck at the 500 ft level, which has phenomenal views. We could not see back to the Locks as they were over a mountain. We could see our hotel and the waterfront. There is another restaurant above that called the Sky City Restaurant, that has a rotating section. We didn't go there. We found a card in the lobby gift shop to send to the Hortons. Amy suggested we could send postcards along the way back to them.

After lunch we headed back to the waterfront to catch the Victoria Clipper - three hours of monotony and sea-sickness. There was some spectacular views, but the land was pretty far away. Our boat was completely packed w/several hundred people, so it took us a while to get onboard and then off again in Victoria- since we had to get our bags to go through customs. They served drinks and snacks - at a price. We had a protein bar and some water - then we got a drink from them. We had a really sweet worker, Molly, who didn’t look very friendly at first, but when she smiled or spoke, it changed her whole appearance. She was very helpful.

Arrival in Victoria was welcomed by all. Many had become seasick in the last hour, but it was calming down toward the end of the trip. We loved seeing the Inner Harbor and the first glimpse of our hotel, Hotel Grand Pacific. We had to wait in line to go through Customs/Immigration. All of our luggage had been placed in shelves inside the Customs building and we had to collect it from the shelves and wheel it through Customs - went in groups of 4. The Customs officials were serious and unfriendly. There wasn’t much to the process. After we got through that process, we took our luggage out to a bus, which transported it to the hotel. Many of us rode the bus, but some walked up to the hotel. We went in right away to dinner buffet - many choices - biggest meal buffet we have had. We ate with the Wasses, Sharps, & Jim Thompson (Marie went straight to the room to go to bed).

Our room is luxurious, but not as nice as the Edgewater. We have two double beds, nice bathroom. We changed and went down to the workout room and did the treadmill and circuit equipment, but the place closed at 10pm, so we didn’t get to try the elliptical. Watched Best in Smoke TV show - first time we had seen this. Nice view of the waterfront from our window.