Almost Border Crossing, Part 2: Seattle to Blaine

After my meeting adjourned sometime around 5:30 pm, my Skamania buddies delivered me to Dave and Nancy's house about 2.5 miles away, where I met up with Lloyd. He drove up on Saturday for a little break from the house. We've known Dave and Nancy since Rhode Island days, over 30 years, so it's always fun to catch up. They had some great pictures of their recent trip to Paris, and we'll look forward to the next batch from Japan, where they are heading in a few days.

Sunday we drove an hour and a half or so north to Blaine, which is right on the US-Canadian border. Our friends Tom and Leila recently retired from Chevron, and landed there right before Christmas after leaving their last posting, Bangkok. Talk about a big change of scenery! We had a several mile hike around their neck of the woods, in Semiahmoo, sat on Leila's sister's sailboat in the harbor (the one on the left with the green cover) and pretended it was summer happy hour time.

Monday we walked around Peace Arch Park. The Olympic torch came through the other day so it's been on the news lately. You can see the line of cars waiting to come into the US. Leila says they're all on their way to Costco in Bellingham. And Trader Joe's, I'll bet!


Here are some pictures of the 12th Annual Peace Arch Park International Sculpture Exhibition, which will be there through April 1. Follow the link for details on pieces (and prices!). I've only posted a few. There were many more. See them all on at the website.

I just loved this Humpback Whale Tail, made of mahogany reclaimed from a landfill. My fave.


I like this one, too. "My Foolish Heart" is a life-sized version of a 4” maquette made of horse-shoe nails.

This guy is the "Dancing Fool", who spins around on his base.


Here is "Eagle Eye", very totem-like.

"On the Upside Down" was very cool. It reminded me of Cirque du Soleil acrobats.

The Midnight Stomp series imagines birds having a private party in the moonlight, with one bird choosing the Electric Slide and the others choose a Midnight Serenade.

This piece is called "Overture", with the boy representing Canada and the girl, the USA, reaching out to each other to be strengthened by togetherness.

Okay, this one's pretty cool. "Monarch Butterfly" looks really pretty from far away. Wait til you see how the artist created it.

The artist is from Fort Worth, Texas. I'm thinking he was inspired by high school athletic booster clubs. Who hasn't seen styrofoam cups stuck into the local high school chain link fence spelling out the message of the week???? I have to say, these translucent plastic pieces are much prettier than styrofoam cups, though.

I hope we go back up that way in warmer weather. I'll bet the gardens are just beautiful in spring and summer. Next time we'll bring our passports!