This year’s summer cruise is coming to an end here in Port Ludlow, about 3 hours north of Seattle. Our visit to Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC was as enchanting as usual, filling our senses with the color and smells of the magical gardens. Some of the dahlias were as big as my head! I included a picture of the bark of the 100 year-old Alders lining the walk down to the sunken gardens.

What a legacy Jennie Butchart left for all of us. Interestingly, the gardens are still run by their Great-Granddaughter, representing the 5th generation of a successful family business. Something to aspire to as we work to steward Dick’s Drive-Ins for our future generations.

Butchart not only has the wonderful gardens, but also a lovely restaurant and delightful summer concerts almost every night.

We loved our time anchored in Tod Inlet next to Butchart Gardens and enjoyed an easy crossing of The Strait of Juan de Fuca as we returned to the USA. As usual we anchored at the almost empty Fort Flagler state park across from Port Townsend, then took our dinghy into town the next day and enjoyed a yummy lunch and an hour of hot tubbing at Soak On The Sound. That night, we even saw some phosphorescence in the water again although the light from nearby Port Townsend diminished the glow.

Now we are finishing up in Port Ludlow at the hotel/marina there, about an hour south of Port Townsend. We haven’t stopped here in almost 10 years. Needless to say, it has grown quite a bit in the last 10 years, but it’s still a pretty little bay. It gave us an opportunity to relax at the dock, do some more kayaking, eat a yummy meal at the hotel restaurant and plug into shore power to recharge our batteries. Usually we can recharge our batteries with our generator, but yesterday when we left Fort Flagler our generator failed. Good timing for us since our need for a generator is over for now! We can just “plug in” the boat at the dock today and when we’re back in Seattle. Our mechanic has been notified and will meet us at our marina in Seattle on Wednesday morning.

One nice surprise: we learned from a facebook post that two of our very special friends, Carrie and Troy Shaw, were in the neighborhood on a vacation of their own, so they drove over and met us for breakfast before heading to the coast. What a treat to get to see them!

After they left we took advantage a “boat & golf” package at the marina and played nine holes. The air today is heavy with smoke from the forest fires in BC, Washington and Oregon, but we still enjoyed getting back into the golf swing of things.

Tomorrow we will leave early, refuel in Kingston and return to our slip at the Elliott Bay Marina by 2pm so the First Mate can get to her seriously needed haircut appointment. It’s time to clean up a bit! And we will get to visit the grandkids for dinner!

So our voyage ends with us relaxed and inspired. We’ve seen humpbacks, orcas, fishing sea lions, eagles, kingfishers, herons, raccoons, seals and otters. We’ve met new friends, enjoyed beautiful sunsets, shooting stars and amazing phosphorescence. We’ve discovered new gunk holes, rivers and docks. We were able to visit Princess Louisa twice in one summer and are excited to plan a longer voyage next year when we’re officially “retired.” We’ve improved our chess game, learned to paddle board and had some great philosophical discussions.

Thanks again for sharing it all with us!

Tata for now!

The Captain and The First Mate of the True Love.