Sequim, Washington August, 2012

Happy Labor Day!  Well, at least I'm a lot closer this time.  When I was thinking about the August blog I wasn't sure what I was going to put in it. I was thinking that we have seemed to slow down in our travels, but I was wrong.  I did include some stuff from Labor Day weekend but I figured it started on the last day of Aug. so it all counts for Aug. We took a trip to see Point Wilson Light which is located by the town of Port Townsend. The Coast Guard Aux. is working at restoring it so it is only open on Saturday afternoon. It is still a work in progress.

John and Sue

 We had some new visitors this month. One of Holly's high school friends came out to spend a couple of days. Sue and her husband Jon have a motor home and they camped two spaces down from us (didn't want them too close, we weren't sure if they snored too loud) and we had a great visit. Holly and Sue had a chance to talk about things from the past and we took them out touring. That's right, we ended up at Rialto Beach (see the July blog if you forgot about visiting us). We also went to the HOH Rain Forest. Sue and Jon had some questions about full timing and being campground hosts. We told them about what

Sue and Holly on a very windy Rialto Beach.

we have done and how we find places to host. We also told them how great a time we've been having. The big thing about being a host is that you have to like talking to people and enjoy having a good time. I think if they decide to host at some time that won't be a problem for them. As it always seems, time flew by and they had to leave (that darn work thing). It was a great visit and we were sorry to see them go. This month we've made a few more side trips up forest service roads and had some fun in the mountains. Almost went in a ditch on one adventure, but it wasn't my fault and I'm sticking to it.

On Labor Day weekend we took the Kingston to Edmonds ferry to pick up Holly's sister Debbie and her dog Chester and headed over to Plain in Eastern Washington. Holly's brother Greg has a cabin there on the Wenatchee River. As you can see it's just a little shack, set in a very quite and peaceful setting right on the river. Well, it was peaceful until we showed up with us and three dogs. Greg has one dog and his daughter Courtney and her boy friend Matt came with two more. It wasn't too bad except for Brutus. The brute kept picking on Greg's dog Lucy. He had that poor dog scared to death of him. Oh that's right, if you didn't know, Brutus is a dachshund and Lucy is a Weimaraner. Every time she came into a room or outside she was looking to see where that little brown dog was, poor thing.

On Saturday Holly, Debbie and Courtney were able to talk Matt into taking them into the town of Leavenworth. This is a little town that is built to resemble a town in Germany. It's sister town is Frankenmuth, Michigan. They did a little shopping and walking and talking and let poor Matt follow with their two dogs while Greg and I stayed behind to watch the other four (I think Greg and I came out ahead on that one).

There were a lot of tubers on the river and Courtney and Matt went out in front of the cabin and got a little cool down. Courtney more then Matt due to the fact that Matt was in a little boat and had to keep rowing to stay in front of the cabin because of the current. He didn't last long and had to come back into shore. They both went up river Sunday with tubes to float down and as far as I know they made it back but I bet their butts were cold.  That mountain water is freezing!

Debbie and Holly

We all had a great time and some great food. On Saturday Greg smoked a whole bunch of ribs (He still has a bunch left). Holly brought potato salad, Courtney brought a delicious Asian salad and Debbie brought two homemade pies. With all the food, it was my kind of holiday weekend.

Debbie, Greg and Holly

Matt and Courtney

Greg and Lucy

Jason Glenn

Now the important part of August...On August 31st our daughter Beckie presented us with our 7th grandchild. Jason Glenn was 8 lbs. and 19 inches. He had a rough start due to the fact he didn't think it was time to leave his cozy little abode.  Thank goodness mother and son are doing fine and are home with daddy John and big brother Cameron. We are excited about getting home in October to see him as well as the rest of the family. That's all for now.  It won't be long and we'll be headed home and then on to our next host job (more on that next month).  Everyone take care and join us on our next adventure....on the road...

Sequim Washington July 2012

 Happy July 4th. Ok so I'm a little late but the blog is almost on time. It has been another busy month even though we have not been on the road as much as May and June. My sister Debby and her husband David were able to take some time off work (sorry about that four letter word) and spend some time with us. We went to Port Angeles for fire works which were pretty, but the time between shots was so long even the little kids wanted to go home before they were done.

 On Thursday we drove down to Hoodsport for a street fair. The best part was the funnel cakes and deep fried Twinkies. The drive was pleasant and it was a nice day to be out. We stopped at Mt. Walker and took in the view.  On Friday we took them out to La Push and to Rialto Beach. Just remember, if you come to visit and don't have any ideas about what you want to see you are going to end up at Rialto Beach sooner or later. We love it there.  It was great to be able to spend time with them. It has been a long time since we have been able to just sit and talk.

David and Debby

 One of the campers here said that the road at Hurricane Ridge was open all the way to the end so off we went. The last time we went up there in May there was still 10 feet of snow. This time there were a few piles here and there but it was just a very nice summer day. The road where the picture of the Jeep was taken had 10 feet of snow in May. As usual, we didn't plan ahead so we drove all the way back to the visitor center and bought lunch and drove all the way back out to have a picnic. We were joined by a couple of deer that just walked out of the tree line to graze by us . The dogs thought it was a great thing.

 We found out that the road to Deer Park was open soooo off we go again. It is amazing how many roads open up when the snow in the higher altitudes melt. The first 9 miles is a nice paved two lane road and then you get to the park and the road gets really good. Dirt, mud, rocks, switch backs...almost two lanes sometimes with mountain on one side and air on the other. What a great road. At the top is a rustic camp ground. No electric or water, only pit toilets, but plenty of quiet and wonderful views. We were surprised that there were a few people camping.  

 This time we went ready to picnic. Of course it had only been one day since our last picnic so our short term memory is still pretty good. We found a place with a view, set up our chairs and table and had lunch, soaked up some rays while we read our books and watched the dogs explore. They have a nice viewing area that looks out over the straits towards Canada. As you can see by the picture we were pretty high up, over 6000 feet.

After taking it easy for a few days we thought it would be a good time to take a ferry over to Whidbey Island. We visited Fort Casey, which was built along with Fort Worden and Fort Flagler to protect the navel shipyard in Bremerten from a hostile navel invasion. It had several types of guns. The most impressive are the ten inch disappearing guns. These guns could not be seen from the water due to the fact that they were lowered down when not in use or when being loaded, which also protected the crews operating the guns. When they were ready to be fired they were raised above the walls.

10 inch gun raised for firing

10 inch gun in lowered position.

Looking out over Puget sound.

There is also a lighthouse by the fort so of course we just had to visit. This is Admiralty Head Lighthouse. It was is use from 1859 until 1922. It's a nice small light house. The nice part is they still have the original Fresnel  lens pictured below. The rest of the day we drove around the island, stopped for lunch and caught the last ferry back home.

The month of July brings the famous Lavender Festival. In case I have failed to mention, Sequim is the lavender capital of the northwest. There was a parade, demonstrations, arts and crafts fair and the best part, FOOD. They also had tours of the many lavender farms in the area.  Holly's sister Debbie came over and spent a couple of days with us during the festival. It was nice that we could return the favor of her letting us stay at her place when we go over to the Seattle area. We spent one day checking out the arts and crafts tents and the food. The next day was raining and we decided to head over to Rialto Beach (what did I tell you about having a plan when you visit). It rained almost all the way there and about 3 miles from the beach it stopped raining and the sun came out and the day was beautiful. After we left we ran back into the rain and when we got home we found out it had been raining all day.

Holly and her sister Debbie.

We had heard that the wild flowers were going wild on Hurricane Ridge so we packed a lunch and the dogs and took off. The day was beautiful the flowers were fantastic. The deer joined us for lunch again. When we were leaving we saw the road to Obstruction Point was open. Sooooo off we go. It was another one of those great roads and this one had a lot of hills and steep grades up and down. I know it was great because when we got back I had several people ask where we had gone because the Jeep was covered with dirt and mud.

As you can see there is still a lot of snow in the higher elevations but the wild flowers were worth the trip. Well that is July, only two more months and we are off again. We have started looking and sent out a few apps. but have no destination for winter as yet. We are leaning towards state parks but who knows, we could end up working a pumpkin patch or a x-mas tree lot. You can never tell. See you all next month.

Sequim Washington, June 2012

Here we are one year after retirement, still traveling, still enjoying what we are doing and still married, go figure. We decided that we really made the right decision for our retirement. In the past year we have volunteered at two lighthouses (we love lighthouses), volunteered at a state park in Michigan and one in New Mexico (I love Mexican food) and are now at a private park in Sequim Washington. One reason we chose Washington was that both Holly and I have family here and we wanted to spend time with them and get reacquainted. We've been traveling all over the Olympic Peninsula and are having a ball.

Our latest adventures have included a trip to the beach at low tide with Holly's Aunt Lorrie, exploring the tide pools. We were able to see several small fish, crabs and clams. We also found this starfish waiting for high tide. We had a great time climbing all over the rocks and the dogs had a ball running all over and investigating the new and different smells. We even had time for a family photo before the tide came back in.

On another day we went with Lorrie and her two grand daughters to see a waterfall by Crescent Lake which is about 50 miles from the park. It's called Marymere Falls. We started at Storm King Ranger station and walked about a mile and a half to the falls. It was an easy walk thru the forest and over the river to the falls. The last bit was a real climb up to the falls but it was a nice surprise when we rounded the last bend in the trail at the falls. The two girls were having a ball on the walk. They each had a camera and were taking pictures. We saw a small blue butterfly and they were going in circles trying to get a picture of it.

We took the ferry over to Edmonds which is a town north of Seattle but close to Holly's sister Debbie where we stayed.  It cost about $16.00  to go over there and $24.00 to get back and about 2 hours total travel time from the park to Holly's sisters. If we drove all the way around Puget Sound to get to Debbie's we would use a tank of gas and be on the road 3 1/2 to 4 hours one way. Even for me it is a no brainier to take the ferry over. While there we celebrated Lorrie's birthday at a nice seafood restaurant called Arnies. Made a trip to the Seattle Center which is the site of the 1962 world's fair.  We met our friends, Jackie and Larry from New Mexico for dinner.

Jackie and Larry were in Seattle for family and a baby shower and to pick up their grand daughter Addie, who is 2 and spending two weeks with Nana and Binkie. We had a nice time at dinner and said that we hoped to see them again in our travels. Little did we know that in May they  made reservations to spend a week at our park.  They were so sneaky.....but we fooled them, we saw the day before they arrived that they were coming in. Good thing we worked that day or else they would have pulled a fast one on us. While they were here we traveled all around sight seeing and found some great pizza and fish and chips.

   They wanted to go to the HOH rain forest and even though we had been there, we really loved it so we were more then happy to go back. This time we took a different trail and had a great time. Their grand daughter Addie was a doll and a real trooper. All the different trails she walked with us she kept right up and had a ball. The only problem I had at the rain forest was the tree shown below. I'm pretty sure he (or she) was watching me. After a week the Linleys loaded up and took off for Portland, Oregon. I'm almost sure this time they are gone but we do hope to meet up with them again in our travels. 
                                                                                

We had an offer for a free trip to Victoria B.C. by the ferry company that runs between Port Angeles and Victoria. They wanted the people from the area campgrounds and hotels to go over and see what was there to see so we could tell our guests. We went over on the 8:30 ferry. It takes 90 minutes for the ride over and a round trip ticket cost $32.00. Once we arrived in Canada and were in line for customs Holly leaned over and says, "Behave yourself and don't get cute". Now I'm not a compete idiot...even I know that custom agents have no sense of humor. They also carry guns.

After the strip search they let me go (they really don't have a sense of humor). We boarded a bus and had a tour of Victoria on the way to Butchart Gardens. The gardens are on the grounds of an old cement company and were started by the owner's wife when the plant moved over to the mainland in Canada in the late 1800's. While there we attended "high tea" and I even enjoyed it. As you can see in the picture, we had several small sandwiches and sweets to sample. After we were done we were taken on a guided tour of the gardens. 



We didn't have a lot of time to wander thru the gardens but we did have time to appreciate them. There are several different areas within the grounds and are planted with flowers, shrubs, plants and trees. There is a sunken garden which used to be a limestone quarry. That's the picture at the left and it also had a beautiful fountain.
 There was a carousal that has animals that were hand carved after the family pets. There are also giraffes and Orca whales.   





We were in luck because the day was gorgeous with lots of sunshine and warm temperatures. We would of loved to have been able to spend more time there, but we needed to get back and catch the 3:15 ferry so it was back on the bus and back to the docks. We could of stayed and gone to the B.C. Royal Museum, but we don't like to leave the dogs alone that long. When we landed back at the U.S. side I was very nice to the border patrol and custom agents with a lot of "no sir" and "yes sir", plus Holly said if I embarrassed her again I was walking home.

So pretty...I took about 50 pictures this day and most of them were at the gardens.

While we were in Seattle we made the pilgrimage to the Seattle Center. We walked around, went to the top of the Space Needle and then we found the musical fountain where Holly and I first met way back when. Being there brought back such great memories.

We walked down to the public market which is better known as Pike Place Market. If you have seen the shows on TV where guys are throwing fish around, this is the place. It's a giant farmers market with fresh flowers, produce, meats, seafood and crafts. Very interesting and very crowded.

We just returned from our second trip to Seattle where we made a quick trip to have dinner with Sue and Sandy and their husbands. Sue and Sandy are high school friends of Holly. I knew them from way back and recognized them as soon as they walked into the restaurant...they haven't changed a bit. We had a great time and are looking forward to seeing them again.

Well, that is all for now. It's hard to believe we've been here two months already.  We have the Fourth of July coming up and the Lavender Festival, which is a big thing here. Sequim is the Lavender Capital of the Northwest.  The park is full for the Lavender Festival and we now have a waiting list going. My sister Debby and her husband David are coming to spend the Fourth and a few more days with us. We're looking forward to their visit.  Hope you all have a wonderful holiday and be safe. Be sure and check back next month....We'll see you all then.