Earthquake Santa Cruz

Just felt my first earthquake here in Santa Cruz, California, a 4.1 M temblor NE of here.

Destruction leads to a very rough road
But it also breeds creation
And earthquakes are to a girl's guitar
That's just another good vibration

-- Red Hot Chili Peppers, Californication 

Details:
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc72906781#executive

Last earthquake we felt was in Sacramento, California

Mike Browne Photography

Mike Browne's Photography Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs4S07E5NC0R7pVuzBJ0e8Q

Really like his videos on focal length. For example, this one shot near Avebury:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3A3SnPFPk0

Vancouver Trip - Day 12

TIMELINE

• 8:30 a.m. Awake
• 9:15 a.m. Breakfast - Skwachays Healing Lodge cafeteria
• 10:15 a.m. Walked to Gastown area; at Hudson House Trading Company - Gifts
• 11:10 a.m. Checkout - Skwachays, depart for airport
• 12:15 p.m. Arrive via Canada Line to YVR
• 12:24 p.m. Lattimer Gallery Shop - Vancouver International Airport
• 1:41 p.m. Starbucks - Lunch
• 1:47 p.m. Skyway Sandwiches - Lunch 
• 2:30 p.m. Flight departs for San Jose
• 4:45 p.m. Arrive San Jose
• 5:00 p.m. Call Air Canada to report broken zipper on luggage
• 5:45 p.m. Exited YVR Economy Lot
• 7:00 p.m. Penny Ice Creamery - Dinner
• 7:30 p.m. Home - Unpacking, cleaning, laundry, and so forth
• 9:15 p.m. New Leaf - Groceries
• 9:45 p.m. Home - Blogging, receipts, more laundry
• Midnight - Asleep

NOTES

• Feeling better but body still producing phlegm so not out of the woods yet...but much improved
• Two random artists not sure I mentioned:
• Les Finnigan - Guitar player on Granville Island
• Kaori Kasai - artist
• Called Toyota of Vacaville twice and finally got a callback saying the car was ready for pickup
• Finished watching Guardians of the Galaxy 2 - Air Canada charged for the headphones this trip, but they didn't on the previous flight (?)
• Bittersweet to leave Vancouver
• Public transportation just so seamless: Expo line to Richmond–Brighouse line to YVR...very easy and fast
• Missed opportunity to eat Tim Horton's smores donut...found two Tim Horton's in the USA departures terminal but one closed and the other sold out of them
• Skwachays Healing Lodge
• Viewed Smudge room and Sweat lodge patio; staff member helpfully volunteered to let us see it
• Has 7th floor, but rooms accessed via door on the 6th floor...that is, 6th floor rooms stacked...room 606 on 6th floor, but room 607, with entrance door right next to room 606, requires walking up stairs to 7th floor
• Samsung in-room audio speakers paired perfectly with our S7 Galaxy phone...listened to RHCP a bit
• Staff super-helpful; wish we had the $30,000 to buy the beautiful wooden artwork in the gallery
• Food:
• Skwachays: mini quiche, sweet breads, fry bread and cinnamon sugar fry bread, coffee, fruit yogurt jars
• Skyway Sandwiches: Veggie sandwich
• Starbucks: Chocolate loaf, americano decaf
• Penny Ice Creamery: Chocolate sorbet, Verve Coffee with chocolate almond praline, in a bowl with crushed waffle cone on top
• Supper: at home, Boomerangs (Australian hand pies)

Vancouver Trip - Day 11

TIMELINE

• 9:00 a.m. Awake
• 9:45 a.m. Skwachays Healing Lodge - Breakfast
• 11:45 a.m. Bloedel Floral Conservatory
• 12:50 p.m. Began walk to VanDusen
• 1:30 p.m. Arrive VanDusen Botanical Garden
• 1:40 p.m. Truffles Fine Foods Cafe - Lunch
• 1:55 p.m. Enter VanDusen Botanical Garden
• 4:00 p.m. Leave VanDusen Botanical Garden
• 5:05 p.m. Capilano Suspension Bridge Park
• 6:55 p.m. Lonsdale Quay - boarded SeaBus
• 7:15 p.m. Elephant & Castle Pub and Restaurant - Dinner
• 8:45 p.m. Hotel

NOTES

• Skwachay's Healing Lodge
• Staff was very friendly, assisting us in getting to our first destination by public transit
• Gallery had original and certified Canadian artists, but we did not find anything in our price range
• Overall a very positive experience here, but it does exist in an area transitioning to a better place (we hope)
• For example, as we browsed, we overheard an artist describe an assault as she made her way to the hotel (apparently someone awoke on the sidewalk and swung at her and missed)
• Bloedel Floral Conservatory
• Overlook of Vancouver--can see many landmark buildings and Grouse Mountain
• Warm and humid
• Koi pond--learned some live to 200 years old
• Posed with many macaws
• During feeding time, many birds landed right in front of us, and some walked along path beside us
• VanDusen Botanical Garden
• 55 acres
• We wandered through the hedge maze for about five minutes--very nice
• Dawn found a Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides)! It was their tree of the month in July 2016
• Passed fountains, ducks, a sunning turtle, bridges, a Korean pavilion, a medicine wheel stone circle, totem poles, sculpture, and a lot of plants--they need 1,200 volunteers and six full-time gardeners plus interns to maintain it
• We really enjoyed the entire place--hastened to leave to overcome one final destination...
• Really cute kid in a stroller responded to smiley faces I made at him from across the bus; Dawn and I both enjoyed it
• Capilano Suspension Bridge
• Hustled to get there from VanDusen--Vancouver public transit just great
• Dawn successfully navigated the suspension bridge, the treetop adventure, and the cliff walk--even the scariest parts of the glass floor and open grating overhangs
• Rained on the reverse crossing of the suspension bridge and got pics of a rainbow
• Pumpkins out in celebration of fall
• SeaBus - Sunset crossing
• Food
• Skwachays breakfast: mini-quiche, muffins, coffee, maple syrup, sweet breads
• Truffles Fine Foods Cafe: 
• Classic roast turkey & brie with green apples, watercress, and mayo, on cranberry sourdough bread
• Dessert in Jar: Chocolate Mousse
• Pumpkin spice latte
• Really nice place, great food
• Elephant & Castle Pub and Restaurant - 
• Herbal tea, shepherd's pie: seasoned ground beef, lamb & vegetables, topped w/ garlic mashed potatoes, crisp onions & rich beef gravy. served w/ a mixed green salad
• Watched American football, no British flag in sight--food good though