Upholstery on the Road

Upholstery is something I love to do and every once in a while I get a chance to do a really unusual piece. Thanks to open hearts and doors of friends like Tim who gave up his living room for me to tear it down in.


And to Barb at North Whidbey RV Park that let me use the rec-room to rebuild it.

Maybe next time I should consider where I am.... an RV!

Presents???

The Weather is Here; I Wish I Was Beautiful

And it just keeps coming. First it was flooding (rain instead of snow in the mountains)
Then we had snow at sea level, followed by below normal temps and then THE WIND.
Thursday evening as we secured things around the park and filled propane tanks I just kept thinking about how wonderful this summer was.
It hit at 2:15 a.m. Fri morning with a crack....a tree near us went down just skimming the motorhome next to the Muffin.


We lost about a dozen trees in the park. Our power is all under ground but outside the park lines were down all over the area in fact there are still neighbor hoods with no power!
Fortunately no one here was hurt and only one rig sustained damage.


100 mph winds can rip your roof right off. Dave said it makes a weird noise but the real givaway that something is amiss in the dark is when you stick your hand up to the skylight in the shower and nothing is there.
2 a.m. also coincided with high tide .


This is the parking lot at Deception Pass State Park (across the street from our park) on Friday afternoon.
And this is the pass entrance . These are wind driven waves....


Kayaking anyone??

LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW,LET IT SNOW

BRRRR!!


Whidbey Is. Wa.

The Beginning of the Next Excellent Adventure

Today was the last day of the Burlington Fred Meyer remodel. It's hard to believe 6 mos. (and 22 days) have passed since we started.
There were a few OOPs

A lotta laughs


And made more new friends.


It's these people that work in the store everyday that really make the difference between success and failure of an open store remodel. They not only helped the customers find their way thru the chaos of construction but helped us complete our jobs ( literally in some cases).
THANKS!!!!

It Only Takes 3 To Howl At the Moon

Just a little gathering Barb (the Rv park Manager) thru together again. This time it was a combo Halloween/October fest. I guess that is why the bonfires, costumes, brautwurst and beer.


Not that Erza, Barb and I were having fun but...... it's on our job description!
Everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves as well.

Then and Now

Then is October 1997. John and I are living in Port Townsend and are involved with the Kinetic Scultpure Race for the first time.



John was a Kinetic Kop and I was Tsunami Mommi (behind the scenes helping to decorate,instigate , infiltrate and all around maintain a state of perpetual indulgence.)
This being our first fall back since then we at least had to watch the Rose Hips Parade( another fun event that coincides with the Race. I'm not sure which came first but at least the people still at it haven't lost their enthusiasm .


Here's Mike (another Kinetic Kop) this year riding in style.He has been involved in the Race as long as I know of. When he's not, you can find him spreading the joy of Solar Energy!!!

End Of Summer

A sure sign summer is just about over is when the kids go back to school.


Today is AJ's (left) and Kelly's last day here on the job. The have been working for ICG ( the general contractor) this summer but now will return to college. AJ will probalbly continue in the construction industry and Kelly may go on to be an educator. What ever they choose they wil be forces to be recond with....

Dylan Ryan Reid

OK, OK, I'm acting like a .....well you know. Anyway this is the first picture.
Being a "long distance " grandparent you will be saved from all the gory details concerning bodily funtions and a constant stream of the strange and sometimes humorous anectdotes.

GRAMMA ALERT !

Yep at 9 am CDT Ry and Steph had a little boy.
Dylan Ryan Reid and his Mom and Dad are all doing great.
Don't have any pictures yet but I do know he weighed in at 6 lbs. 13 oz. and was 20 and 1/2 inches tall.
HMMMM... I guess now I can start shopping.... that is what grandmothers do isn't it?

Just Another Day In the Great NorthWest

I never get tired of this drive to and from work....Just look at what we saw on our way home tonight.


Deception Pass Bridge looking south.

Always Something Going On In Port Townsend

Another beautiful evening. I can't beleive how great the weather has been this summer.
Sue (Tim's sister),Tim, John and I along with a few other friends took advantage of that fact and took in an Art Walk .


I don't know what Sue is saying but she has John's attention.

10 YEARS......

Yes we have a need to travel and 10 years ago today we took off on what seems like a short but very educational life on wheels or water or whatever.



We left Tahoe, our jobs and friends for what we hoped would be a traveling and working adventure. When not living in our van we were living on our boat" Spirit Keeper".
Things were different then. The idea of living and working out of and RV wasn't as common place as now. Cell phones and computers have come along way!!!
We were "the youngsters" then. Many people thought we were nuts, or something.
We have stopped from time to time and actually lived in houses to enjoy a spot or new friends for any where from a couple months to several years but are always drawn to travel again. Our gifts ( or abilities) have made much of this possible and continued good health hasn't hurt.
We are continuing our adventure. Making new friends and seeing new places while trying not to loose touch with all the people and places we've come to love along the way.
So..... ENJOY THE JOURNEY!

Afternoon Entertainment

A bit of afternoon entertainment by one of the guests.
We are lucky that everyone(especially me) doesn't have to sing for thier supper.
This is Wayman Lombard from Las Vegas Nv. He and his daughter entertained us late today. What a treat. I thought about how much Mom and Dad would have enjoyed this.

Another Really Fun Day

It's always the unexpected that turns out to be the most fun.We had just splurged on a new matress (a very important and very underated piece of furniture) and were heading towards home when we spotted a mini-Cooper, then another and another. Well we just had to whip a U-y see what was up.
You see that is John's dream car... not one of the new made by BMW cars but the little tiny ones. After a great tour around Whidbey Is on roads we've never traveled, we caught up with them.


I guess we created a bit of a stir as everyone wanted to know who the green Honda was that had been stalking them.
They were the SAMOA's out for a cruise.
We met some neat people and this is it.... the car John dreams about.


Of course after all that excitement we couldn't go straight home so we contined the site seeing tour and drove to the top of Mount Erie (the highest point on Fidalgo Is.)
You can see forever


Cambell Lake on Fidalgo Is. Notice the Is. in the lake on the Is. ?
We even hit the Anacortes Art Fair but can you believe it I couldn't find anything to buy? Actually its coming down to "I can't think of anything I want to get rid of" You know ... "Pound in , pound out!"

More New Friends

Its hard not to mix work with play when you are talking about Port Townsend Washington.
Once again Jeannie (cohort in many a crime and owner of "Potpourri Northwest") introduced us to a familly that are working on a home near there and we were lucky enough to lend a hand. Heck we even lured Tim and his trusty side-kick Steve (an aging but still robust Ford pick-up) to help. Not only was $ involved but an awesome dinner and entertainment. All provided by Kip (dad) and Gwen (daughter).


We are definitely looking forward to more of this.

AWESOME

Tim's house is completely enclosed...and it looks awesome.


Of course it has been Tim and John's labor of love while I was having fun at Jeannie's shop above Potpourri Northwest. It felt good to be back doing some upholstery again.

O' My Another Months Gone By

Remember when you were a little kid and all the grown-ups told you that the older you got the faster the time went by....WELL I GUESS THEY WEREN'T KIDDING!
We are still on Whidbey Island and working on the Fred Meyer remodel in Burlington Wa.
The job is moving right along (which is good when doing an open store remodel) and we are having fun (coz we all know it's not the destination...its the journey)
But its where we are that is so cool! Each day the drive to the store is different.
A steaming lake.


Or a field of giant marshmallows.


The weather is still being incredibly agreeable and being this far north there ARE enough hours in a day..... meaning there is always time for alittle play after work.
Here's Claire and Annie over 4th of July weekend.


There is a sweet "parr 3" just around the corner from our RV Park. My game is as lame as ever. I don't imagine it has anything to do with being distracted by every bug,
or bird.



Or slug... this one is a beauty!

KAYUBAWA

Finally we got on the water. Cranberry Lake is only a 1/4 mile from the RV Park and a stone's throw from the straight.
It's and no motor lake full of fish so I imagine this summer it'll be packed.


Launching is a breeze... No gators or water moccasins!!!!

Flowers of the NW

It's been 1 month and we still haven't gotten the kayaks in the water, but we have been enjoying the area. The most of the big BLOOM is over. The tulips just as we arrived the end of April and while we've been hiking we've seen the rhododendrons.


The Madrone trees are about through blooming.


and our Rv park is "Lookin Fine"

But perhaps the most interesting species around is the "Pink-headed relay crew" .


Here's Judy and Donna. With everything going on in the store even the "Relay Crew" is playing it safe....

Victoria Day at North Whidbey RV Park

This was a long weekend for our neighbors up north (and we are a very close place to "get away to" for them) so we celebrated with Canadian flags and a nice pancake breakfast Sunday morning.


Barb the park manager and Sue a resident here do all the work.

Pirate Parrots and Other Nautical Type Stuff

Even tho it was a bit cloudy with "sun breaks" threatening( it happens up here) today was the Anacortes Waterfront Festival.
The hightlite for us was the Pirate Parrots. It was fun educational and had what I so Love. A PIRATE.


Chris actually has 70 parrots all in different stages of training but all obviously love and trust him.
And then of course there was the boat building,


And boat floating.


And just another example of what you do with a kayak and a few crazy friends.


I think it's "kayak polo"....but I not sure.

Getting Anywhere Requires a Bridge or a Ferry

It's Mother's Day, the sun is shining and we've been in Washington 2 weeks. It's time to go to Port Townsend.
You start with a short ferry ride from Keystone .


And because it's such a special day there was live music.


While the guys played golf and got to touch base with Jeannie (good friend , former employer, and creative force behind "Potpourri Northwest",an awesome interior design shop in P.T.) and my aunt Betts in Port Angeles.
I'm not sure if this next picture will make sense to anyone that doesn't know the story about Tim's home so this is for all who do.

All that cool stuff he was accumulating looks great when he gets his hands on it and the time to put it together. It's a true work in progress.
Now that we are back in the area we'll be able to watch it evovle.
But tomorrow is a work day so we can't miss the boat back home.

Deception Pass State Park

The coolest thing about where we are staying is the fact we are almost surrounded by Deception Pass State Park.
We try to get out and explore the park everyday(remember it stays light this time of year quite late) so taking Ariel out for a good walk after work is no problem. On the weekends we really go nuts.


Straight west is Cranberry Lake. Here you can see the lake water on the left and the straits of Juan de Fuca on the right. It's handy coz you kayak in salt water then walk across the parking lot and rinse the boat off in fresh water while checking out the new kids in the area.



Ariel loves it...coz of course this is a state park and dogs are everywhere.


Taking a break, and then its off again....Did I mention geocaching? There are a lot of very active cachers in the area. New ones popping up everyweek and this seems to be a very popular place to hide them. It's so much fun but we have noticed the dense canopy of trees is adding an additional twist.(finding a clearing in the trees to get a signal)