View from our room the morning of checkout. The tide was out at this time of day. We were excited it was clear for the drive to Seattle.
As we were driving toward the interstate we were stunned to see Mt. Baker covered in snow. It's the first time all week that it showed up so clearly and with so much snow. All the other days the top of it was in the clouds, and most days we weren't even sure which one was Mt. Baker.
We drove from our resort in Birch Bay north five miles to Blaine, hoping to find our favorite coffee and pastry shop open, but it was closed. This is a view of the bay at Blaine, which is right on the border. The town you see is actually in the US but the only way to get to it by land is to go thru the border check station.
This was our last full day at our resort and the day was beautifully clear and sunny. We decided to take a scenic drive along the coast, south toward Seattle. The name of the road was Chuckanut Drive, an area of ritzy homes, but lots of dense woodland and parks too. We had to stop as two deer crossed the road right in front of us.
I think this was a home on the coast as there were no signs to indicate it was a museum or other public building. Sure would have liked to see the inside.
In one park we hiked down to the water's edge and were lucky to see a huge crab. 
Along the coast line with the Olympic mountains in the background.
A giant stump washed up on the rocky coast.
I was so happy to be in the sun. I just sat and drank it in for a while.
Because of all the moisture in the area, the trees are just spectacular. We saw so many that were incredibly tall and straight.
I don't know what this colorful tree is. At the same time we stopped, a photographer on a motorcycle stopped. He had a big fancy camera with a super duper telephoto lens and was taking shots of all the foliage. I asked him if he knew what kind of tree that was and he said no, he really wasn't that much into trees. Rather odd, considering that's what he was photographing.
Ignore the people on the rock. They just got in the way. Look at the bridge in the background. We came over that bridge and it's 180 feet in the air. And there are two sections to it. The bridge spans Deception Pass. We parked and walked back out onto the bridge and as we looked down we saw several seals playing below us. I tried to get a picture but my camera just couldn't capture them.
Seagulls are everywhere and perch on anything. 
This beach was strew with big logs, escapees from some logging effort I presume. The sand was gray, not white like a Flordia beach.
This is some type of seaweed that looked like a huge cable. Not something I would want to encounter in the water.
We had traveld quite a way down a peninsula, so the most expedient way to get back was to take a ferry. We had wanted to do that while we were there anyway, so welcomed the chance. This one held about 100 cars and was a 20 minute ride on the water. Upstairs there were two seating areas like the one in the picture below, plus a snack bar and bathrooms. 
Self portrait of us on the ferry ride.
View from our car, approaching land. We were one of the first ones off. The ride cost us $7.00 or was it less because we were seniors and the ticket taker didn't even ask us our ages? That happened more than once, so I guess we just have to accept the fact that we ARE seniors and look it.
Another rainy day, so we decided to brave the traffic and go back to Vancouver to the aquarium. You can skip this day if you are not into that type of thing. I mainly did this page for grandson Wally. He will surely be a biologist as an adult, with all his interest in nature and science.This is a sculpture at the entrance to the aquarium in Stanley Park. It reminded me of the totem poles in another part of the park.
Remember in the first day of our trip when Kirk found a baby Wolf eel on the beach? It looked like a worm. This is a fully grown Wolf eel and it is huge. That's his (or her) head and tail you see in the picture. You can see the mouth and eye if you use your imagination. They are unusual in that they mate for life and are very nurturing parents. Who knew?
This disgusting looking creature is a octopus. Yuck!
Seals, wishing for sun.
Dolphins at training time. The gull tried to steal their fish. The most amazing thing about the dolphins, besides how smart they are, is how fast they are. The trainer said they zip around the tank at 37 mph.
This is a beluga whale. There were four in the tank, two mamas and two babies. We could look at them from above or go below and look at them thru the glass, like this picture. 
This is a baby porpoise, about a year old, rescued from the sea. Read her story in the next picture.
We took a break for lunch and went to a nice restaurant in the park , called the Fish House. This unusual cedar tree was just outside the window where we were seated. I think it's about 100 years old and no telling how tall. It would make a great tree house tree. You could have a tree house close to the ground -- less dangerous that way.
Snake, green tree python. It could easily be camoflouged in a tropical rain forest.
Big turtle, about the size of a dinner plate.
Blue macaws. They had just a few birds on display in the Amazon forest.
Leopard manta?
Huge live clam, open, looking for dinner.
Tiny monkey, between the size of a guinea pig and a hamster.
Since Thursday was a rainy day we decided to make that our museum day. There are quite a few in the area but we picked one that was fairly close and located near a Dutch restaurant we wanted to try. This particular museum was a collection of all types of items depicting the history of the area, from Native American artifacts to Viet Nam war casualties. Danny, this picture is for you. I rang these bells as directed by the sign and believe me, they sounded nothing like yours. They were all unique in sound and had all been around the neck of some dairy cow.
This wagon represents the ultimate in irony to me. It is a horse drawn wagon used to deliver gasoline to the first service stations in the area. The collection of old buggies and wagons was extensive, maybe numbering as many 50, and all the property of one man. There were also lots of old vehicles and motorcycles. Very impressive museum for a little town.
Half a dozen old pianos were on display and I liked this one because of the attached candelabras. I don't know if that is common on old pianos.
This picture is in here for those of you who have been with Denis to a museum. For those of you who haven't, let me tell you that he reads EVERYTHING, or as much as I will let him. I admire his thirst for knowledge and love of history, but my legs can only take so much standing so at times I have to move him along.
We left the museum and headed toward home, marveling at the raspberry fields which are everywhere. These bushes have been pruned for next year. They tie them like this so the mechanical pickers can get to the berries more easily. I thought they looked very artistic, rather heart shaped.
Something else in abundance in that state are casinos. Indians can have casinos on there reservations and no one else can. This one was within a couple of miles of the border so most of the cars in the parking lot were from Canada. It was a small casino that had only slot machines and no card tables or roulette. I won $40 there so I was happy. The name of the tribe on this land is Nooksack. There is also a Nooksack River.
As we were driving toward the interstate we were stunned to see Mt. Baker covered in snow. It's the first time all week that it showed up so clearly and with so much snow. All the other days the top of it was in the clouds, and most days we weren't even sure which one was Mt. Baker.
We drove from our resort in Birch Bay north five miles to Blaine, hoping to find our favorite coffee and pastry shop open, but it was closed. This is a view of the bay at Blaine, which is right on the border. The town you see is actually in the US but the only way to get to it by land is to go thru the border check station.
