Bainbridge Island

Tuesday
“Nature can do without man, but man cannot do without nature”
Prentice Bloedel
Today we escaped the heat of the city, and headed to Bainbridge Island for the day, 35 minutes by ferry. Roger walked directly to the ferry port to get the tickets, while Laura and I made a detour to buy us coffees and a doughnut - Seattle and Portland are known for their doughnuts, so we had to try some!
Once on the island we took a bus to the Bloedel Reserve, a 150 acre reserve and botanical garden, created over their 30 year residency by Virginia and Prentice Bloedel, the vice chairman of the lumber company MacMillan Bloedel Limited, influenced by the conservation movement and Asian Philosophy. Their French Chateau-style home, including many furnishings is preserved as a visitor centre, but unfortunately wasn’t currently open. The Reserve encompasses various different “gardens”, including a beautiful Japanese garden, twice named one of the top ten Japanese Gardens in the country by the Journal of Japanese Gardening, a striking Moss garden, a reflection pool, a wonderful prairie area in full bloom, and busy with bees and butterflies, and of course, equally important, areas of the native forest. We spent several hours there, happily exploring, and of course taking numerous photographs! We then took the bus back into town, where we got a bit of lunch from a popular bakers shop, then walked some of the coastal path before taking the ferry back to the mainland and our hotel. Jen joined us about an hour later, flying in from Salt Lake City - she has already visited Seattle and Portland, so was joining us for the in between section. She is also taking another trip in a couple of weeks with her husband Jason, celebrating her birthday and their anniversary. We then went out for a nice dinner overlooking the waterfront.
Tomorrow, it’s off to Mount Rainier National Park
Step count: 26,643