My
first view of "Birch Bay". Beautiful hues of greens and
grays. Cool and cloudy.
Fellow
hostellers ready to hit the road on bikes.
Gunter
from Germany
This
hostel used to be part of a military base. The rooms are the
old barracks. Every two rooms shares a bathroom. There's
often enough unoccupied rooms that it's quite possible to end up
with your own private room.
Right:
The kitchen. Plenty of coffee and Pancake breakfasts here!
Right:
The den. Wayne's friend brought over slides of his past
trips. We enjoyed watching slides about Italy and Alaska.
During
my stay at the hostel, Wayne showed me the sights around
Blaine.
Above:
The "Peace Arch" between Canada and the US.
It
reads "Children of a Common Mother
Above:
The gate under the Peace Arch. It reads:
"MAY
THESE GATES NEVER BE CLOSED"
Right:
Peace
Arch State Park plaque reads:
"This
park and international Peach Arch were conceived to commemorate 100
years of "open border" between the United States and Canada:
1814-1914.
It is a
joint venture between the two countries. Samual Hill, one of
Washington's citizens was the founder of the Peace Arch
idea. The park surrounding the arch was initially developed
from funds donated by school children of both the State of
Washington and the Province of British Columbia.
The Arch
spans the International Border in such a manner that passage
controlled inbetween the two gates each hinged in a separate country
can be closed only by mutual consent.
The Arch
contains metal caskets in which are pieces of the pilgrim ship
'Mayflower' and the Canadian steam vessel 'Beaver.'"
