From "Eew!" (last post) to "Ooh!" (this post) - Final #3 P*S*C

Visiting Butchart Gardens in Victoria was one of the highlights of our entire trip. I think of it as paradise on earth. Now for a little garden history:

Robert Pim Butchart began maufacturing Portland cement in 1888, moving to the West Coast of Canada for the rich limestone deposits there vital to cement production. By 1904, wife Jennie had had enough of the ugly quarry pit! She formed an unprecedented plan to refurbish the bleak pit by having tons of topsoil transported to the site. This began the Sunken Garden area. Four years later, a Japanese Garden was completed. Eventually, a Rose Garden and an Italian Garden were planted. By the 1920's more than 50,000 people had come to see Jennie's garden creations! By now the number of visitors far surpasses that count.

I took so many pictures at the gardens that no blog could handle the count. Instead, I opted to go to Snapfish.com and created this personalized poster of our favorite shots and surprised Wes with it for his recent birthday. If you click on it to make it larger, perhaps you willl find us there amongst the flowers!

As a farewell to this P*S*C Number Three, I leave you with a parting shot of Mt. Ranier. We saw "her" nearly every day on our trip and she's one majestic "lady." If you should ever get the chance to visit this part of the country my only tip is to say, whole-heartedly, "YES!"