Another big post

So, again I've been slacking on my updating duties... here goes:
August 22nd Mom and KJ arrived in Bellingham for their annual summer visit. It was a bit later this year so they could attend the Boeing Family Day event. On the way home from the airport we took them the scenic route down Chuckanut Drive where we stopped along the way and talked to people, took pictures, etc. Once arriving at home we got a bbq underway and James, our neighbor, kindly brought over some crab he caught just hours ago. A few neighbors stopped by to join us and after the sun went down we did a backyard screening of the movie 'I Love You, Man'.

Sunday we got up bright and early to tour the Boeing plant in Everett, the largest building in the world by volume. From Boeing we went to downtown Seattle and feasted on our favorite chowder and mexican food before heading over to Pioneer Square for the Underground Tour.The gals in funky glasses @ Pike's Place
Daryl and KJ in our fave mexican restaurant
Monday it was a boat day! We braved some pretty thick fog but arrived safely in Port Townsend. We stopped at a great restaurant with an outside deck overlooking the bay, took the self guided walking tour of all the old Victorian homes, through the park overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca and back to the marina. From there we anchored in Mutiny Bay to soak up some rays and watch the salmon jumping on their way to the spawning grounds. Oh, and I pulled the boat up to the dock for the first time! Daryl has always done this, we figured it made sense for one person to learn all the boat handling techniques and then teach the other. Since Daryl has mastered docking, it's my turn to learn.Mom and KJ on the way back from P.T.
This was our lunch view
A large dock in Port Townsend
Tina Docked by herself!
Tuesday we visited Whatcom Falls Park in Bellingham - it was incredible! This 240+ acre heavily wooded park with creeks and waterfalls, beautiful bridges and diving ponds is right in the middle of the city! I've driven past the area a number of times and had no idea what was waiting inside... A beautiful bridge
Mom and KJ
Mom picking blackberries on the trail
Creek
Main waterfall
Wednesday, sadly, it was time to say goodbye. Another great summer visit; next year is the 'duck tour' and aquarium KJ! :-)

Most of Labor Day weekend we didn't have such great weather so we took some down time to enjoy being at home, reading books and watching movies. September 7th was a nice day so we went down to the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks in Ballard (aka Ballard Locks). This is essentially a 'boat elevator'. It allows boats to go from the Puget Sound into Lake Union and from there boats can continue to Lake Washington. The Puget Sound is lower than the lakes, the locks raise (or lower) them by about 25 feet. It was our first time here and I really enjoyed it! It was fun to watch all the boats come through... Once we left the locks we headed to Fisherman's Terminal on Lake Union. This is where the big fishing boats dock when not out working.Boats lined up in the large lock
This past weekend we had WONDERFUL weather - mid 80's and sunny - Friday we took the boat out, Daryl and I tried out a new spot for anchoring. We went up Saratoga Passage into Holmes Harbor and stopped at Honeymoon Bay. It was such a beautiful place and so quiet. Saturday Joan and Kevin joined us for boating, we went down to Seattle, skirted the waterfront and Alki Beach then found anchorage at Blake Island. Blake Island is a marine park only accessible by tour boat or private boat. We put out the dinghy and went to shore checking out the island. There are 15 miles of hiking trails on the island, next time we plan to spend the day and do a hike. On our way back in we caught up with departing cruise ships and waved to all the passengers on deck. Sunday we went for a hike on the Iron Goat Trail. This place has so much history, click the link to read about it.Joan enjoying the view of the Seattle skyline/waterfront by boat

In the words of Elmer Fudd: That's all Folks! Click photos to view them larger, enjoy!

Crabbing...

This past weekend we were invited to join our neighbor James on his boat to go crabbing. He's got quite the set up and we had a great time! On board were James, Bill, Daryl and I. We left from Camano Island State Park and dropped four pots on the north side of the island. After dropping the pots we headed over to Deception Pass - wow, it's so beautiful from the water!! From there we stopped at Oak Harbor for a bathroom break and then back to check on our pots. Once re-baited and moved slightly, we enjoyed a nice lunch in the sun. Our total catch was 15 crabs. James brought his big cooking pot over... I just could not be outside when they were being put into the pot, my heart goes out to all living things - ocean bugs included.

Daryl ended up with the task of getting them cooked since James had to leave. Mishelle and Ryan came over to eat some of it though - and thankfully so - we didn't know what to do with them!

Click the photos to view them larger, enjoy!

Floating Picnics

This is what we call a day on the boat where we don't find a marina to dock at. Instead we find a nice quiet bay somewhere and drop anchor, turn on the music, have lunch, sip a few beers and lay in the sun. The boat rocks gently with the waves, the sea air smells so nice and occasionally we see a little wildlife. This past weekend we took the boat out Saturday and Sunday. Our friend Joan came along on Saturday; Sunday we had Ryan, Mishelle and their kids Kennedy and Connor. Good times.....

Big Four Ice Caves

Daryl had Friday off work so we wanted to get the boys out and do something fun; it's been blazing hot the last few weeks (it even reached 105 degrees at our house!). My ankle wasn't quite ready for a long or difficult hike so we settled on the Big Four Ice Caves. It's a nice stroll through the forest, 2 miles round trip. The trail is very well maintained and fairly level. It was beautiful all the way through, but the end was stunning. There were many waterfalls on the face of the mountain, a huge pile of snow at the bottom caused by avalances, the caves just starting to form and wildflowers in bloom.

The ice caves are caused by wind that comes over the mountain (Big Four Mountain) and blows down the face, under the avalanche. As the air blows through and the snow starts to melt a cave is formed. They collapse easily so walking inside or on them is not recommended. Standing at the mouth of a cave you are treated to a nice cold blast of air. It was soooo refreshing! The ranger said September/October they get quite big. There is a snow cave about 3/4 mile away and he said it's the biggest he's ever seen it. We didn't hike to it, but I did get a picture.

On our way out Daryl took the boys down to the Stillaguamish River to play in the water for a bit. CJ was hesitant about getting in, but not Storm! There was a log sticking out of the water and both boys swam out to it and pulled as hard as they could - never able to unearth it. When Daryl was ready to get going again, he called CJ to him... CJ started to come, saw the leash and went running for the river. NOW he wants to get in. It was quite funny watching this happen a few times before Daryl finally starting walking off without him. CJ must have realized Daryl really meant it, so he sulked back to his leash. Click the photos to view a larger size... enjoy!The Ice Caves
The Ice Caves - Storm
The Ice Caves - CJ
CJ retrieving the stick
Storm retrieving the stick
Base of snow and wildflowers
Beautiful Scenery
Snow cave with waterfall above
Waterfalls on the side of the mountain
Boys playing in the Stilly river

Mt Baker Hwy

Since I sprained my ankle a week ago we weren't able to take the boat out this weekend... I just can't jump from the boat to the dock on approach and I haven't learned to gracefully pull up to the dock yet. So, what to do on a really warm Friday? Head North! We decided to drive the Mt. Baker Scenic Byway - oh wow! It was beautiful! The place we stopped for our picnic lunch offered views in every direction. The dogs had a great time too! They just enjoy being on car rides so being able to get out to play in the river and snow were just a big bonus for them. That's another thing - playing in snow and it's 80 degrees outside - how is that?? The rivers were all a gorgeous blue green color, it was just an amazing day. I can't believe we've lived here 2.5 years and this was our first time doing the drive. We WILL be camping in this area and exploring it more in the hopefully somewhat near future.Daryl took the boys down to the river
On their way back up from the river
Mountains along the drive
Nooksak Falls
Mt. Shuksan behind Picture Lake
It was breezy so we couldn't get the reflection shots this lake is famous for
My Boys!
This was one of the views from our picnic table
The end of the road - Artist Point, the boys took off to play in the snow

Baseball, Baseball, Baseball!

This was our first time at the baseball stadium in Seattle and what a great experience. We parked the car at Everett Station, about 15 minutes from our house, and took the train into Seattle for a Sunday game (on Father's Day). The train runs right along the water most of the way and crosses over the Ballard Locks. The locks allow boats to go from Puget Sound into Lake Union and from there even to Lake Washington.
The Diamondbacks were visiting and that is Daryl's favorite team. They did lose, but not until the very end of the game - so it was a good one to watch. Everyone was really nice, considering we were dressed in 'enemy attire'. We had great seats - twice fly balls were caught by people right around us.

Lots to tell....

Ok, things have been so harried around here I haven't had time to unload pictures and write about what we've had going on. So, bear with me as I put it all into one big post:

End of April Daryl went on a guys fishing trip to Wapato Lake. They left Friday at lunchtime and got back Monday. Everyone had a great time! Here are Daryl's photos: Fishing Trip. Daryl caught a video of disaster in the making of an overloaded fishing boat with windy conditions and the motor wasn't starting, it almost tips and Ryan gets whacked in the head with an oar:
May 16th Daryl and two of his friends went on a beach hike from Fort Ebey to Fort Casey on Whidbey Island. I wasn't too interested in 7-8 miles of sand walking so I dropped them at the starting point and picked them up when finished. My plan was to find a spot near the water and have a picnic/read a book. I forgot my book at home and the only bookstore (in Coupeville) opened at 11am. I wandered the farmer's market and waterfront festival until then... didn't end up finding any book I wanted to read (think small town bookstore) so I headed to Fort Casey. After narrowly escaping a speeding ticket (thank you officer) through a campground I found a place to park and started making my way to the water. The wildflowers were in bloom and it was beautiful! About 10 minutes into my walk I got the call that the boys were back. We checked out the Fort a bit and headed back to the ferry for home. Once back on the mainland we stopped at Diamond Knot Brewery for beers and grub.
Our first outing with the boat was 5/22... Daryl and I took it out just to clear out the cobwebs and try the electric motor for the small inflatable. Last year we used oars and sometimes the current/tides/wind could make it quite difficult. We had lunch, listened to some tunes and soaked up the sun.
The next day we went out in Bill and Crystal's boat to Whatcom Lake. This is the same place we went tubing last September where I took a spill into the drink. No tubing this time though, it was just a day to cast out fishing poles and soak up some rays.
Daryl left for Arizona on 5/30 to meet up with a group of guys that he'd be hiking Paria River with. They did a 4 day backpacking trip covering the river from Lee's Ferry to the Whitehouse trailhead, about 42 miles. In the day before and after the hike they also checked out Horseshoe Bend, the Toadstools and Antelope Canyon. I left for AZ on 6/3 ... Daryl got back to Phx from his hike on 6/5. It was a whirlwind trip where we didn't get to see nearly the people we wanted to but enjoyed a bbq, a few dinner's out and a huge birthday bash for Mom. We got back home on 6/8 - tired and ready to leave the AZ heat. Here are some photos from Day 1 of the hike: Day 1. He took about 700 photos so it will take time to get through the other days... I will try to remember to post the other links when he gets them done.
This past weekend was a busy one as well. Daryl went hiking on Saturday and I worked in the yard. Got the weeds pulled from all the beds, front and back. Watered all the plants/trees/containers and did a little trimming. Saturday evening we went to roller derby, which a friend of ours competes in, and then had (a late) dinner at a Mexican restaurant in downtown Everett.
Sunday we took the boat out. Even though the clouds didn't burn off like we expected, it was still a great day! Maybe seeing the gray whale on our way back to the marina had something to do with that?? :-)
So, here's the video of the whale. As soon as you start the video, look closely at the center of the screen to see what's left of the mist from his blowhole, then you'll see his back and then what's left of the tail.
Finally, a quick update on CJ. He's been doing VERY well. He's got a ton of energy and he's back to his old self. He plays for hours and hours and is ready for more. He did an 8 mile walk with Daryl and wanted to play as soon as he got home. He's still on the anti-fungal meds and doing well. YAY CJ! :-)

Ok, I think that covers it... I'll try to be better about posting more often so you don't have to read something this long again! :-) Hope you enjoyed our 1.5 month long update!