The Long and Winding Road

The San Juan Islands lie north of Puget Sound and west of Bellingham, WA. A non-aggressive border dispute between the U.S. and Great Britain called the "Pig War" was eventually settled in 1871 by Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany (don't ask me how he got involved) in favor of the U.S., which then led to the islands' exploitation for minerals and timber. Directions and distances to everywhere from San Juan Island! Of course, native Salish tribes had been living on the islands for mill

Victoria is the capital of British Columbia, located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. It is, quite simply, perhaps the most wonderful place we have visited so far on this trip. The weather is usually very pleasant, especially when compared to Vancouver or Seattle. Victoria sits in a "rain shadow" caused by the Olympic Mountains to its south, meaning it gets about 60% less rain than Vancouver (at least that's what one of our tour guides said). And although several of t

The Salish Sea encompasses a large area of the far northwest border between the continental United States and Canada. It is home to several variety of whales, seals, birds, humans and other wildlife. It includes Puget Sound, where Seattle is, along with several US naval facilities. It incudes the Straight of Georgia, on which Vancouver, BC lies. It includes the San Juan Islands in the US and the Gulf Islands in Canada, which are spectacular. There are more than 6 million peop