Victoria, BC

James and Avery had been on some sort of trip (James-DC, Avery-Texas), so Briella wanted a turn. My mom was needing a Victoria fix so we planned a quick getaway with Chris and David. We had it all worked out but then timing changed a bit. David ended up needing to work in Norway and my parents had been offered a couple days at cabin in Whistler. The plan was, Chris, Briella and I would drive my dad's car to Seattle, pick up David from the airport and head to Port Angeles to catch the last ferry of the night. My parents would drive from Whistler to Victoria at the same time. My Dad would take the ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles, grab his car from us and head home. It seemed like it was all going to work out great.

We managed to get David just fine, checked the traffic and decided that we had time to stop and get something to eat. We ate quick and got back on the road. The GPS sent us to a ferry that would have cut our driving time down but the line was ridiculously long. We would have to go the long away around, we still had time though. We were making good time and were only 45 minutes away when we came to a complete standstill near a bridge. It was one of those bridges and that had to be raised for boats to go by. We sat and sat and sat, watching the time tick away. I was trying to stay positive but the longer we sat, the harder it got. At last we were finally free to go. We had a 45 minute drive and a ferry that was leaving in 20. This is where I was so grateful for my Porsche Sport Driving School experience, and the fact that I was driving my Dad's Cayenne. While David was trying to get a hold of my parents to see what our options were. I took advantage of that beautiful car. I have never driven so fast in my life. It handled like a dream and I had a blast, weaving in and out of cars, gunning it on straight-a-ways, hugging the curves. Briella was giggling in the back seat so I know she was loving it. I had made up some time but we were still cutting it extremely close. Finally my Dad called, the ferry was late getting into Port Angeles so we were totally fine! We made it with 5 minutes to spare. It was an exciting start to our mini vacation!

Since we didn't get there until late at night, we went straight to our hotel. We had a lot planned the next day!

My mom's staples

We went and got a really yummy breakfast in town and then headed to Butchart Gardens. Briella had been to Victoria before but only 1 day and we didn't do Butchart then. Chris and David had never been either so we decided to do high tea there and stay for the fireworks.

I let Briella have my phone to take pictures and she went to town.

Blown away by all her options. She couldn't even eat half of it.

All three Lorainnes!

Her favorite flower in the whole garden.

I let her pick one thing from the gift store and, of course, it was this weird thing. Just because it was purple.

Loved the fireworks.

The next day there was this cute tugboat ballet in the harbor, and an antique car show. We wandered around the town, sightseeing, shopping and eating. 

We spent an hour in this design store. We wanted to take almost everything home with us.

Briella REALLY wanted us to take this one home. We took the last ferry back to Port Angeles and drove home! Briella was a perfect travel companion. She didn't complain, she was super sweet and loved getting all the attention.