Day 7–Flowers Galore!!

 

It's the last day at sea and our last port of call!

We stopped in Beautiful Victoria, BC (Canada)!

 

Anyone we asked–before our trip or on the ship–said the place we HAD to see was the Butchart Gardens.

 

Since we didn't book an excursion in advance, we took our time getting off the ship this time, to avoid the crowds–at the elevators and going through security.

 

I was elevator girl, but you can ask Todd how many flights of stairs he climbed on our trip.

 

He'd rather wait for ME after taking the stairs than wait for the elevators to take him there.

 

Nope. Not gonna do it.

 

 

So IN VICTORIA, of all places, is where we saw the only moose of the trip!

 

 

Haha! I SO wanted to see a moose!!

But this was the best I could do.

 

We took a taxi into the city and booked a tour to the Butchart Gardens–which also included a stop at the Butterfly Gardens.

 

 

We could take our time and pick up another shuttle that stopped regularly.

 

 

Before we were even into the butterflies, there was an insect exhibit.

 

Leaf cutter ants (I didn't even wanna touch the glass case!!)…

Giant Katydid…

Caucasus Rhino Beetle…

 

I had absolutely NO DESIRE to have bug pics in my phone!

NONE.

 

But then I thought of Antonio (one of my nephews) and his brothers and sister.

 

They would love them!

 

SO.

I have bug pics in my phone. 😉

 

Here's a couple cool ones.

 

Giant Katydid

 

Caucasus Rhino Beetle

 

But that's it.

No more bug talk.

(I already sent them to the kids, and it turns out the Rhino one is one of Antonio's faves.)

 

 

The butterflies were pretty.

 

However, I feel like they're more of a [gotta see it in person] thing.

 

BUT–I need to show you the Blue Morpho.

 

He kept attracting my attention–maybe because he was playing hard to get!

 

He was good-lookin' and he KNEW it!

 

 

This is him at rest–the outside.

And this is him opened up–the inside.

Yes–it's a different "him."

You had to be quick to catch him opened up!

 

And I JUST learned going through my pics (from a "did you know?" I took in the bathroom–haha!) that his wings "have no blue pigment in them. The iridescent blue colour is due to the way that light refracts off each scale."

 

Interesting!

Did you catch that Canadian spelling? 😉

 

AMAZING how different his 2 sides were!

 

 

On to the Butchart (flower) Gardens…

It was UNbelievable.

Massive.

Gorgeous.

Immaculately manicured.

 

How did God come up with all these different flowers??

And colors???

 

 

Todd & I are PRETTY SURE we DID NOT see everything.

 

There were always 2 ways to turn.

We'd walk down a huge flight of stairs and never find where we'd have to walk back up them again! (THANK YOU, LORD!!)

 

 

All we've seen on this trip of God's creation has blown me away!

 

Our God is an Awesome God!

 

 

But I have to say…after a few hours of exploring these gardens, we were hot, tired, hungry, thirsty and were just plain DONE with flowers! 😉

 

 

But we did have one more sight to see before we left:

 

 

There were 2 of these little guys–about 6 inches long–just hiding in the flowers.

 

They were my last item on my wildlife list–whales, bald eagles, porcupine, sockeye salmon, sea lions (did I mention them? They hid from me–never got a pic) and lizards.

 

 

 

We headed back to the ship for a quick, light lunch and a nap–and our last dinner with our cruise family!

 

We also had to prep our checked bags and have them ready by 10pm that night.

 

We wouldn't see them again until we landed in GR.

 

We were very thankful for Port Valet–totally the way to go if you're heading home after your cruise.

 

I received my last pillow gift fairly early that day, so we could pack it in our checked bags if desired:

 

 

It was the Dashing Deer bundle and a scratch off map to keep track of everywhere we've traveled.

 

Very unique!

The map is probably 3' x 4'.

 

 

Our last dinner was as wonderful as always.

 

I mentioned this early in the week, but Todd tried the escargot our last night!

 

I couldn't make myself do it.

 

Parker (grandson of one of the demos) said it tasted just like the bay scallops we'd had early on. But I just couldn't get over the fact that they were black.

 

Todd said they were OK.

I applaud him for trying them!

 

 

Before we left dinner, we said we needed to get a pic of our cruise family.

 

Bernardo, our head waiter, jumped right to it!

He grabbed another waiter to take pics, and somehow another passenger we didn't know got involved, too.

 

There were 4 cameras going, and Bernardo was in rare form!

 

He was hamming it up–and had us all cracking up!!

 

back: Chuck, Lisa Marie, Steph, Todd, Parker, Carl

front: Shirish, Bernardo, Peter, Cheryl

 

 

 

Chuck & Lisa Marie are from Florida; Peter & Cheryl are from Milwaukee; Carl & Parker live 45 min from Peter & Cheryl.

 

We were very thankful to have dinner with this group for our first ever cruise.

 

They helped make it so special and taught us the ropes. 😉

 

 

Lisa Marie and Cheryl already earned Greece, too!

Can't wait!

 

 

One last event before bed–a late night dessert buffet provided by Stampin' Up!

 

I forgot to take pics of the welcome reception the first night.

But I took a few pics of the farewell dessert spread.

 

Shelli Gardner waiting to enter Studio B with the rest of us:

I dropped this pic from Shelli's blog! 😀

 

 

 

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Stampin' Up! knows how to spoil us!

 

Side note on the spoiling; Todd asked someone from corporate SU!, JUST HOW MUCH STUFF do you guys have to bring on the ship to do all this???…prizes, candy, pillow gifts, decor, displays, equipment. The answer was they loaded about 20 SKIDS of stuff onto the ship! Todd & my dad are both in trucking; they said that's a tractor trailer full!!!

 

 

This was an incredible, unforgettable trip!

 

 

I AM posting one more day, because before we headed home, we spent a few hours in Seattle (Day 8)–and this post was long enough!

 

 

Todd & I thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for helping provide us with this experience of a lifetime!

 

(And thank you, Stampin' Up! for your amazing generosity!)

 

 

We appreciate you!

 

**Truth in advertising: less than 1% of all Stampin' Up! Demonstrators earn the incentive trip each year.