Butchart Gardens: 2nd Day

We woke up at 6:00 to bad news. Dennis said mom had been sick during the night and vomited three times. This was a shock! I've never heard of mom being sick to her stomach before.

We discussed our options for the day and decided to forgo a second day at Butchart. Instead we opted to catch an earlier ferry to Port Angeles, Washington.

When we told mom, her face drooped.

"But I feel fine now," she said.  "The fish was just too greasy for me.  I was reading the flyer (written in Japanese) and it mentioned the Himalayan blue poppy. It's supposed to be rare. I really wanted to see it again for a better look."

The rest of us looked at each other and despite our misgivings agreed to go back to Butchart.

It was pretty cold so we dressed mom with a headband, gloves and DJan's Pashmina scarf. She was very toasty warm.

We hadn't paid attention the day before and didn't notice that the other restaurant was even named for the blue poppy.

I asked the docent where the blue poppy was and she directed us to the Japanese garden. She said the Himalayan blue poppies were not scheduled to bloom until June; the earliest was mid May. Ah well... Mom got to see the bud anyway.  She'd mistaken the Pasque flower of the day before for the blue poppy.

We met a very friendly couple from China who took this photo for us at the Sunken Garden.

Art told mom and me to wait while he and Dennis sprinted over to that hill with the red arrow.

"Let's test out your new camera," he said. "See if you can take our photo."

My son-in-law and daughter had bought me a new Canon PowerShot SX50HS this past Christmas.

I took the top photo (with the red arrow) of Art and Dennis without using my telephoto.

I took the bottom photo with the telephoto. If I had a tripod, it would have been clearer. It's amazing what a point and shoot can do.

Pretty wonderful, I'd say.

I took more photos of flowers.  I couldn't help myself.

Art couldn't resist buying this mug with the Himalayan blue poppy on it for mom. He also bought her the calendar so she could have the memory of this wonderful trip whenever she goes into the kitchen next year.

On the road to the ferry, we saw several grafted trees that had both white and pink cherry blossoms. I've never seen this before.

Lunch was at Wendy's.  And no, the Free Frosty tag does not work in Canada but they did give free Senior drinks. 

Back in Victoria we bought our tickets for our ferry crossing and went through the customs questions. 

In Port Angeles we stayed at the Super 8 Motel.

Yes, there were more cherry blossoms there.

Our dinner was at Pho Saigon. We thought that would be the best thing for mom's stomach.

We always love going to Canada, but it was nice to be back in the U.S. so I could take my cellphone off the airplane mode.