Victoria's Butchart Gardens, Part 6: More Begonias, Hummingbirds and the Butchart Wharf! (+11 insets)

(+11 insets!) (Please scroll down to "Today's Pictures" for image information)

Trip Talk: OMG We Bought a Brand New RV, Are We Certifiable???!
Yep. We did it. I am the first person to tell you that buying a new vehicle is a total waste of money because the second you drive off the lot, it's worth a lot less…and it only plummets from there. So WHY in the world would we drop such a chunk of change for a new trailer, when we know full-well that we're throwing crazy amounts of money into the wind?

We did it mostly because the RV industry is notorious for hiding damage, flaws, problems and issues. It is nearly impossible to find these faults and everything that comes up must be repaired by the owner or by a shop. It's expensive and time-consuming no matter how the issue is fixed. If you buy a new RV with a good warranty, it's not our problem. It's theirs.

What I haven't told you is that on our Vancouver Island trip, we suffered an extremely frightening and potentially dangerous frame failure while on the road. When we were arriving at Campbell River--exactly two weeks into our six-week trip--Steve noticed with great concern that the trailer was leaning to the left.

We pulled into a Walmart parking lot to take a closer look. Crawling under the trailer revealed a badly bent frame that was so warped and crumpled that both of us thought our trip was over right there. I'll talk more about this on a later post but long story-short, a local welding shop saved the day and allowed us to continue our trip and get home safely. That being said, the underlying worry of developing more structural damage made an indelible impact that was never far from our minds. Every "travel day", where we drove from one camp spot to the next, was filled with worry and tension because we could no longer trust our trailer.

We were so relieved when we finally got home without any incidents! And yet, our trailer had totally let us down. We initially thought the build-quality was good enough for at least a year of use while we wrapped our heads around long-time RV travel. Instead, we got a serious reality check about the difference between a "weekender" RV and a "full-time" RV. Thinking about what might have happened in a worst-case scenario made us realize that we needed to get away from that trailer as soon as we could. Truthfully, our plans were to upgrade to a full-time trailer within a year or two. We were going to use our Grey Wolf for at least another six months or so but our narrowly avoided disaster changed everything for us. What price do you assign to the lives of you and your family? What's that? "Priceless" is your answer? Exactly. And THAT is the real reason why we bought a new trailer.

Today's Pictures

Today's main picture showcases one of my favorite things to photograph: shadows. I am forever stopping to gaze dreamily at dappled shadows on trails we walk on, and leaves captivate me when I see shadows creating lovely shapes on them. As Steve and I slowly made our way along one of the many explosively colorful paths of Butchart Gardens, my eye was immediately drawn to the shadows of a fern cast upon a richly-colored peach geranium (Thanks to Neira-Dan for identifying the species!) I don't know about you, but I find it very difficult to capture nhe magical quality of shadows because I think you need to see them in person to get the diaphanous effect that's happening. I was able to capture some of what I saw, though the reality was even more spectacular!

Inset 1: this is my last lucky hummingbird picture, and it's feeding on gorgeous blue penstemon blossoms. Be still my beating heart you pretty little thing!

Inset 2: I used to think that "ordinary" wax begonias were so boring. These dazzling red flowers which resemble coins to me, totally vindicate themselves of a description of blasé!

Inset 3: how is it that I've never realized that begonias have such incredible foliage?! I've noticed their pretty leaves in the past but Butchart Gardens knocked me to the ground. This picture is just one example of the outrageously gorgeous leaves these plants can have. The park was overflowing with countless shapes, sizes and color combinations of leaves…I couldn't believe the variety!

Inset 4: what a gorgeous group of fiery orange impatiens! This group was part of a huge plot completely covered with blossoms!

Inset 5: here's another picture of a punch-drunk bee pigging out on flowers and not caring at all about the huge black thing hovering so close to it!

Inset 6: this enormous pair of Elephant Ears was growing within a massive planting at the Mediterranean Garden. I just love the wonderful shape and texture of the leaves!

Inset 6a: I made another version of the Elephant Ears with a darker background. It's more dramatic but maybe too distracting? Which version appeals to you more?

Inset 7: I think this lovely blossom must be a white begonia, as there is a crimson one in the background and there are plenty of white begonias that look just like this one!

Inset 8: in addition to having a staggering garden, Butchart also has their own little harbor! In fact, half of the park is surrounded by waters from Brentwood Bay, called the Tod Inlet. This is a view of the Butchart Cove harbor through a natural window created through a thick hedge!

Inset 9: this is a view of Butchart's dock. If you can believe it, the docking area that leads out to the bay is designed for the pickup and drop-off of sea plane passengers!

Inset 10: this is Butchart's little fleet of cute little tour boats. They offer 45-minute ecological trips around the Tod Inlet during the summer and if lucky, passengers might get to spot sea otters and many kinds of birds and other wildlife.

Pam, one of the things I most admire about you is your creativity. Seeing the shadows cast upon the begonia in the main image makes me think about you because I'm sure you would have gone crazy if you'd seen the lovely shadows on these flowers! I sure do hope that you're able to get back to the point where you can once again create the marvelous artwork that comes from your heart, because it's part of what makes you complete. Maybe you'll need to change how you do things but I have a feeling that it will be possible! *BIG HUGS FROM SOUTHERN OREGON*

Explored on 10/12/19; highest placement #1.