Life in the slow lane

Summer time and the livin’ is easy (and very slow). This is not because of the heat but because of the rain, most here are hunkered down inside, staying warm and dry. If you are where it is hot, you stay inside with the A/C on, here, the fireplace is king.

Folks around here are in no hurry to do anything, a bit like molasses in January. CB and I have recorded our best blood pressure readings in years, it is kinda like being in hibernation. It is so nice to crawl into a soft bed, pull up the down comforter and snuggle together. We have been sleeping like that for 8-9  hours every night, Cara too. The quiet here is total save for the rain drops tapping on the roof, such a soothing sound.

Temperatures here are in the 50’s at night and the 60’s during the day. All that rain makes for lots of green, and leaves the air smelling clean. It hasn’t rained so long that we can’t get out and walk, it is totally flat so it is perfect.

There are no fast food places anywhere, but lots of neat little places with great food. Downtown’s buildings are just as they were a century ago, only the wares have changed.

 Built along the ocean makes for a backdrop of sailboats hoisting brightly colored sails billowing in the wind, against the greenish blue of Admiralty Inlet, which is the inlet to Puget Sound. The MV Chetzemoka (named after an Indian Chief), is one of the new ferries in the Washington State Ferry System and can be seen coming and going not far away. If you are very lucky, you may get a glimpse of a monstrous black steel hull rising from the deep, one of the several nuclear submarines that call Puget Sound their home. The other black thing you may see rising from the deep would be killer whales, always an amazing sight. Many sightseeing boats take people out to view them up and close, the crew can tell the names of each whale due to their markings, and which pod (family group) they are with; we have been and will be going again.

our site

Our large lot, surrounded by nature.Perfect! Got fresh berries, carrots and focacia bread at the local farmer's market.  Let's eat!

Totem Pole

More pic's from the Escapees park.

A lucky Totem by the club house.

You can hear a pine cone drop.

Chimacum Escapee Park

Anyone like living in a garden in the middle of a forest? This is it, the Evergreen Coho Escapee park is about as perfect as I could ask for. The cost of staying here a month is about what the RV park in Creed, Colorado cost for just one week!  You can hear a toad fart, that's how quiet it is.
Tonight is hot dogs, popcorn, ice cream and Bingo! What's not to like?

Port Townsend

 

The Fountain Cafe, is one awesome eatery. Just a block off the main drag in downtown Port Townsend , always close to full, mostly with locals. This is my favorite town, bar none. They don't believe in tearing down the old to make room for the new and improved, they celebrate the old and the heritage it represents.
In the 1860’s it was a busy hub for commerce, the tall ships came here to load and unload. Today the seagoing vessels are pleasure craft and the Port Townsend to Coupeville Ferry, the one we took from Whidbey Island last Friday.

Upchuck

 

Upchuck

This was the name of a restaurant in Wisconsin, the UP stood for Upper Peninsula and that brings us to the Upper Peninsula of Washington, Sequim, Port Townsend and Port Angeles being the largest towns ( too small to be called cities).
This part of Washington is both cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, thanks to its proximity to the Pacific Ocean. This area is also in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, meaning substantially less rain. Sequim (skwim for you non-natives) averages only 17” of rainfall per year; I think Seattle can do that in one month. In fact, Sequimians  boast of 300 sunshiny days per year. The sailors of old called this area “the blue hole” as in the only blue sky out of a lot of gray. Cold, yes, in January the coldest month averages 44 for the high and 30 degrees for the low. I guess that is what wood stoves are for; besides, we would probably be off pillaging in the lower 48 for a few months.
If we lived here we would have a small boat to fish for Salmon and Halibut, both plentiful. On the way out we would set crab pots in 20 to 30 feet of water in hopes that on returning we would have several Dungeness crab, the chances are very good since Dungeness Bay surrounds Sequim. A short drive gets us to Quilcene and Quilcene Oysters. My favorite way to eat them is raw with a little hot sauce and a small chunk of lemon rind, my second favorite way is fried; my mother would poach them in milk and eat them with crackers. Vikings do love sea food, I am partial to crab, eaten while still hot and dipped in melted butter and lemon juice, num num. I almost never order fish in a restaurant; I have been spoiled by having it just out of the water. Halibut is like lobster, Salmon done in wine, onions and grapefruit slices on the barbeque is sublime. I love to smoke salmon; the Indians had a good idea there. Anybody hungry?

Aye, aye Captain, full speed ahead!

CB and I met Fran and JC in La Conner, browsing in all the myriad stores; artsy things from a few dollars to several thousand. We love to look at the latest creations of those fortunate enough to be able to envision and make such beauty. Some are local craftsmen; La Conner has been home to artisans since the thirties. The local arts committee just held an auction and collected over $400,000, Wow!

I thought the La in front of Conner was French; I am happy to say it is not! John Conner founded the town in 1869, just four years after the Civil War, and named it after his wife Louisa Ann Conner. Several of the buildings are over 100 years old and of historic significance.

Lunch at Calico Cupboard was less than usual but still pretty good. We said our goodbyes and headed for Mt. Vernon, on the way we got a call from Dean and Diane; they had gotten a monthly spot at Chimacum, an SKP park second to none. Cb called the park and they said there was no one on the list and there were two sites available. Up early in the morning we headed to Coupeville on Whidbey Island, Deception Pass along the way was running fast and furious; white swirling froth had danger written all over it. My Dad and I went thru it with his boat on our way to the San Juan Islands, it can get very exciting; in the sailing ship days it was the cause of countless shipwrecks.

We were on standby for the 10:15 sailing, the best I could get on the phone was 1:30. Cara was on the dash of the motor home and the women in charge of loading the ferry took a shine to her, she let us on first. What a great ride, on the front row it was like we were driving across the water, Cara loved it, Harry was bored by it all.

Beauty to Boomer's

Drive from Burlington, Washington and you will be treated to flat farmland surrounded by majestic mountains, some capped with snow. The city of Bow has two cafe’s, if you take Bow-Edison Road for a mile, you will come to Edison that has a bakery (awesome) and a saloon, there used to be another café there but it is boarded up. Continue on Chuckanut Dr. and you will love the view, all the way to Bellingham; lucky people in homes with views to die for, high on a cliff overlooking Bellingham Bay all the way to emerald islands called the San Juans (they must have barrowed the name from California). We were driving down a street connecting a few waterfront homes when three deer posed for us alongside the road; these were bucks with large sets of antlers. I want to live here!
After we got our Trader Joe’s fix we went to Boomer’s, an institution here in Bellingham. Their combo is a cheese burger, waffle fries and a milk shake. CB and I both got combos with root-beer shakes. Suddenly we were teenagers again, hanging out at Mel’s; we hadn’t had root-beer shakes in forty years.

Happy Third of July

          I have seen my share of fireworks displays, but last night was the best I have seen; not bad for little La Conner Washington!

          We started the evening at my ex-Sister-in-law’s Skagit bay Hideaway. The consummate hosts, Kevin and Earlene, welcomed us to their stunning home on the water. Earlene, an architect, designed a masterpiece of stone, iron, concrete and whimsy. From the parking area you descend on a path that would be the envy of any landscaper; vivid green punctuated with dark lacey branches, among flowers of every description and hue. It almost makes you want to skip along. The house seems to appear out of nowhere, tucked into the hillside, reaching thru towering trees and resting some forty feet above the sparkling blue of Skagit Bay.

          Inside, high ceilings and walls of glass, take advantage of the breathtaking view. Walk out from the living room and you are suspended in mid-air by a wooden deck, itself a piece of art (built by my Nephew Tom). It took me back to my days of tree houses as you literally walk among the evergreens.

After Kevin made his basil martinis, we were ready for the Fresh crab, salad and crusty sourdough bread, all paired with a good white wine, or a cold coke.

It had started to get dark, so we drove in to La Conner. We had been invited to join friends on the deck of Hellam’s Winery Shop, on Swinomish Chanel. We were directly across the water from where they set off the fireworks. These were professional fireworks that were paid for by the local Chamber of Commerce and private donations. This was the best fireworks display I have ever seen; it went on and on with spectacular arrays of color and a cacophony of sound. The last one went off and covered the sky with a canopy of what I can best describe as flowing rivers of gold, it transported me out of my body and into that gold covered world; yea, it was that good!

As Connie and I drove home we remarked about how wonderful it was to have re-connected with someone who was so much a part of our lives, many, many years ago.  

Harry the Beast

While sitting here at our site in the Mt. Vernon TTN Preserve, the wild life here is fun to watch, especially the cute little cottontail rabbits.  You can imagine our horror when our cat Harry appeared at the screen door with one in his mouth, yes, our cat is a murderer. As old as Harry is, 15 years, and hampered by the fact we have put plastic covers over his claws, catching that rabbit must have been quite a feat. 

 All cats are the same, some are bigger than others but they are all, first and foremost, predators.  Cats don't want us to know just how smart they are, especially at getting out.  We named him Harry after Harry Houdini; he could get out of anything. At home we tried to keep him out of our bedroom by closing the door, it has a lever handle; he pulls down on it and he's in. Talk about a cat burglar, he’s perfect; black, quiet and sneaky. They are also known to keep slaves to take care of the more mundane things like cleaning the litter box, or putting food and water in nice little bowls for their convenience. They also like to have a warm lap to curl up in and “oh, by the way, scratch behind the ears and smooth out the fur, about fifty times ought to do it”.  

When Harry was younger he would scare the hell out of our dog Poco by jumping out from behind a door, we started to call him Kato (the housekeeper at Inspector Clousieu’s home, in the Pink Panther series). If you haven’t seen the series you absolutely must.  From then on Poco would growl at him whenever he walked by.  When we picked up Cara and brought her home in the Motor home, Harry would leap from one high spot to another; Cara wanted to play, Harry, not so much. When Harry goes we will miss him a lot, but the slave thing, no. 

Two V.I.P.'s contemplating the virtue of sculptures and the great outdoors.

The Seattle Space needle viewed thru an artist's panel at the Olympic Sculpture Park, Bill and Melinda Gates were major contributors. My own opinion is that I could have done at least as well and I am sure for a lot less $$$$$.