Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Girls' Wild Weekend! (25)

Or - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Or - well - any excuse for a girls' weekend will do ...

February 14 to 18

I had a couple of vacation days left for 2007 that I didn't take in NZ. So I added them to the Family Day weekend and took a little trip to Abbotsford to see my good friend, Pam. We try to get together once a year for our girls' weekend. And as usual, we had "an agenda."

I raced home after work on Wednesday (actually, I left early - at 16:00), threw the last few things in my suitcase and got in the cab that arrived exactly on time at 17:00. Off to the airport, the plane was late (well, what do you expect? - there's always a hitch somewhere along the way), got on the plane, flew over the mountains to Abbotsford. The good thing about this flight is that it's FAST! One hour on the plane and you're there! No 25-30 hour marathon of airports, planes, security, waiting for luggage that doesn't show up, etc.

Thursday: massage in the afternoon, and later dinner with a group of Pam's friends.

Friday: pedicure, and then dinner with my elderly friends in Surrey - Amy and Ralph - they are doing great! Both in their late 80s, very active and "sharp as tacks" - in fact, since Amy has had a couple of hip and knee replacements - she's even better than the last time I saw her before her surgeries.

Saturday: off on an overnight road trip to almost Seattle - Pam wanted to check out Rick Steve's travel store in Edmonds and there's plenty of great west coast scenery along the way - we had a great time!

Sunday: more west coast - then back to Abbotsford (with a little shopping on the way).

Monday: some more shopping for stuff for Pam's new-to-her condo. Then dinner and back on the plane - home!

A few pix with comments follow.

My first comment is that I had a "stupid day" on Sunday and deleted all the pix I took up until that point. Live and learn. When you accidentally take a video with your camera, when it asks "do you want to delete all frames?" it doesn't mean "all frames of the video" - it actually means "all frames on the camera" - I was so disappointed because I had some great shots. I console myself by saying we'll be back, but still - be careful with that delete button!!!! Pam sent me the shots she got so some of them are hers (the one's with the yellow date - the date is wrong, by the way).


Chuckanut Drive


For a beautiful and slow paced alternative to Interstate 5 that connects Bellingham to Skagit Valley, you really should take Chuckanut Drive (Route 11).


This is beautiful west coast scenery. Washington State.




Mary.



Pam.



Rick Steve's travel store. This was the destination. The store is located in Edmonds, Washington. The store is full of travel books and travel paraphernalia.


We ate at Arnies. It was good!


Crocodile Dundee. Ok - it's really just me, but I sort of look like a crocodile, I suppose....

Actually - the point here was FLOWERS IN FEBRUARY! Don't see that in Calgary! This was in front of the hotel where we stayed on Saturday night - the Edmonds Harbour Inn.

Following are from the waterfront in Edmonds.




We thought these should be called "fish sticks." :)
I expect these are intended to be coho salmon as it seems there is a major coho derby held here.






We stopped at an outlet mall on the way back. We actually didn't buy too much, considering all the hype about the improved Canadian dollar, etc. We found the prices weren't exceptional and just didn't see anything that really grabbed us. I did pick up a salt shaker/pepper grinder set like a set I'd seen in Denver a few years ago, but didn't buy. I wished I had - so now I have them! But really - if I'd made the trip to go shopping in an outlet mall, I'd have been rather grumpy about wasting my time.


This is on the way home.


La Conner. There was a bunch of bikers - it was a great day for a ride!


La Conner.

Pam.







We stopped at Pam's favorite Mexican restaurant in Bellingham - Los Padres. Then we found our way back to Pam's place.

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