Hey there! I hope Monday has been good to you, and that you had a great weekend. Mine went by way too fast, so I am already on the count down to this weekend. :) When are they going to change the norm, and make the week only 2 days and the weekend 5 days?! #iwish Anyway, I'm excited you're back, I'm going to share more on our weekend trip to Victoria, BC. It's going to be a short and sweet post, but I think you'll enjoy it!


Today's post is on Thunderbird Park near the harbor in Victoria. This sweet little park is chock full of beautiful totem poles to peruse. I spent about an hour walking around the beautiful grounds admiring the artwork and taking photos. It was a great stop along the way to many spots such as the harbor, dinner, or the Empress Hotel. If Victoria is on your vacation list, hopefully you can catch some great weather to look around Thunderbird Park!

Hey y'all! I hope Monday was good to you and Tuesday was kind. We are nearly half way through the week already, and as much as I've accomplished, it feels like it should at least be next week by now! Ha! Anyway, I am excited you are here today. Like yesterday's post, I'm including this with Seattle + Victoria, because you can take this tour from both locations. Today's post is all about my absolutely favorite bit of our Seattle + Victoria trip--orca whale watching!


Yes, you read that right, we went killer whale watching! And NOT at Sea World, but in the wild! Along with whale watching in Maui, Orca Whale watching in the San Juan Islands was one of the most amazing experiences I've had in my life. To see these majestic animals in their natural habitat is nothing short of magical, and a true pinch me moment.

For our whale watching excursion, we left from Victoria shortly after arriving on our ferry, so from one boat to another. Like I mentioned earlier, this is also something you can do from Seattle as well. The San Juan Islands are accessible by car and boat from both Seattle and Victoria, so you could even elect to drive to the island and whale watch from there.

Five Star Whale Watching and their wonderful guides took us on a wonderful excursion filled with wildlife sightings. For weeks before our trip, I had been praying that we would see these elusive whales. Then our guide told us that there had been no sightings in the last several days of any whales of any species. I amped up the prayers right away! And, boy, did God bring his A-Game, as he always does. We saw a large pod of 27 including males, females, and even babies. It was absolutely breathtaking! You'll also notice some kayakers in the distance with the whales along side them--yes, you can kayak with the orca whales! Can you even imagine!? Adding that to my bucket list! ;) Along with the whales, we had the pleasure of seeing puffins, a bald eagle, and harbor seals that looked like little bananas huddled up on their little island. :)

You'll notice that my photos of the whales are not the greatest. I elected to focus my eyes on the prize per-say. Rather than miss out on seeing them with my own eyes, I just snapped the camera without paying too much attention to it. Yes, capturing photos was important to me, but I also did not want to regret only seeing them through the camera lens. I think we miss out on so much of life by doing that. Focusing on the perfect shot, we miss out on what is actually happening in front of us. Though I hate the photos aren't perfect, I LOVE that I experienced this and saw these beautiful creatures with my own eyes even more!

Hey there! I hope y'all had a great weekend! Mine was the perfect mix of work (travel to do list & house work), relaxation, and a little fun. We visited a super neat store in Fort Worth, which I'll be blogging about later, that was jam packed with antique furniture and old home goodness! Great little last minute addition to the weekend. Of course it could have been longer, but alas it is Monday again. Anyway, I'm excited to start transitioning to sharing a new city today. Let's take a journey from Seattle to Victoria aboard a ferry.


During one of my weekend stays in Seattle, we decided to take a journey to Canada. I rushed my passport a few weeks ahead, and we hopped on a boat for Canada! We could have driven, but decided on a passenger ferry instead. We took the Clipper Ferry to the beautiful town of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The ferry was a passenger ferry that left Seattle for Victoria early in the morning. We elected to go to Victoria, then return to Seattle later the next day, but there is an option to go there and back. However, there is way too much goodness in Victoria to not spend at least one night there, but more on that later!

Anyway, more on the ferry itself. Like I mentioned, it is a passenger ferry, so no cars, but we were able to reserve a rental car while on the boat! The attendants can reserve rental cars and book excursions/tours, which is a very nice feature! Along with that, it was really nice to not have to do the 5 hour drive it takes to get to Victoria from Seattle. With the ferry we were able to sit back, relax, and enjoy the scenery. The ride was less than 3 hours, but we enjoyed beautiful sights along the way. Not to mention, we saw the city of Port Angeles and the Olympic peninsula in the distance. Any Twilight fans out there!? We also enjoyed talking about our time in Seattle, plans for Victoria, and napping a bit. The ferry also serves light refreshments to keep you held over until you reach your destination.

We booked a ferry cruise & hotel stay package with Clipper Ferry, and were incredibly pleased with the entire process and trip. This was a wonderful addition to our Seattle stay, and I would definitely do this again! If you're on the fence about adding this to your Seattle or Victoria (to venture to Seattle) vacation, hopefully this will help you decide!