Back to Seattle

Leaving Hawaii a day earlier (12/15) than our reservations, due to airfare, we were glad we did as it turned out so that we had a business day Friday,.. although we did have the redeye flight so no sleep Friday.. to get some things done, like Ron's A1C blood test.  Better to have it before he sees the doctor, AND, then, when he saw the doctor Monday, the A1C results were NORMAL again!!!!! A whole year in the normal range (5.4-5.5), and totally off diabetes medications since September! The doctor just looked at him in awe!

The family on Christmas Eve

We went to Oak Harbor Tuesday, stayed all night at the Navy Base there and then Joan’s brother Dave and Linda came up Wednesday night for the special Christmas dinner at her dad’s retirement place.    Then we went up again for Christmas Day so her dad would not be alone on Christmas.   Andy’s family came up too! and we had the Christmas dinner buffet at the Navy Base – really really nice! 

Joan had taken Christmas dinner over to Andy’s house on Christmas Eve and for present opening, since Winnie had to work until 6 p.m.  She had played in the pit orchestra for the 5^th Avenue’s production of Cinderella, usually 2 shows a day, and only had Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off. 

Back to Kona

We moved north to Wyndham Mauna Loa in Kona on December 2 for the last two weeks into our favorite unit there, #3 a two bedroom.  There are many pools on site, so Joan was looking forward to being able to continue to swim her laps. 

See those tiny specks?  3 people measuring the far end of the lot

Unfortunately, while looking at acreage lots with her sister-in-law, with a view to them buying, Joan fell on the asphalt and skinned her knee.  No big deal, we did it all the time as kids, right? ..but….she could not swim with the open sore, and it took so long to heal, that she lost the 2 weeks of swimming.  Her sister-in-law Linda had fallen a few days before… same knee, same banged-up hands, but Linda’s was a lot worse.  But she said Joan was just trying to be a True Sister!!!  LOL.

The good news is, though, that Linda found a lot she liked, and so was able to actually close the deal while we were there.  She and Ron and her sister walked the dimensions to measure it, and we even had a sunset party there one night, and Ron blew the conch shell.  The ocean is in the distance.

He blows it every night he can at sunset.  Here is the video of him blowing it on our balcony at Wyndham Mauna Loa when we had Joan's brother and wife and family over for dinner.  joan served lasagna.  As she was explaining how much work it is to make it (boiling the noodles, preparing the cheese, cooking the meat, layering it all), her brother asked, "Did you get it at Costco?"
     Of course!!!!!!!  Everyone laughed.

Here is the view from the balcony (lanai) there. 

Can you tell Ron is happy and relaxed here?

Sunsets are available from several views from the unit.  Here's one:

Small World

While walking on the Black Sand beach one evening, we met people from Lynnwood, Washington!!!  which is a northern suburb of Seattle.  What a small world it is!  We just happened to start talking about the turtle we were seeing, and…..seems they were staying for a few days at Sea Mountain in a studio unit (which was still quite large) with their points in the VI system.  We got together a few times before we both left the area.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Sunrises are beautiful down here at Sea Mountain

This was the one this morning.   We are thankful for many things, and being here is one of them!

We arrived in Kona Tuesday night and stayed three nights at the Wyndham Kona Hawaiian Village.  Originally we had reserved the 3 nights at Mauna Loa with our Wyndham points, but then a bonus week  from Trading Places showed up at KHV and the cost of that week was much less than the cost for the 3 days of points, even though we would be coming in late.  We had to use the bonus week anyway before it expired and it is sometimes hard to use since it requires a lead time of only 45 days.

    We went to Target that night for groceries and then Costco the next day, connecting with our friends here and Joan went out for “tea” on Thursday to a home in the country, on 6 ½ beautiful acres.   Friday, we moved down to Sea Mountain, stopping at Mauna Loa where we will be later on for two weeks to request our favorite room (#3).  We were here at Sea Mountain last year (July 2010) for one week and noted which rooms had good views, as we knew Platinum Interchange often had 1 BD units.   Sea Mountain is 1 ½ hours from Kona, which many people complain of, but it is much nearer to Hilo and the volcano for visits there, next to the Black Sand Beach and other walking opportunities along the shore and we cannot express enough about how peaceful it is.  Couple that with a pool that is usually available, an oceanfront hot tub, and hearing the surf from our unit – we’re happy!

     Sunday, we drove up to Kona for church, met TUGGERS James and Marlene there and then visited them at their resort (Kona Coast) later.  Joan’s brother came in that night and we had dinner with them... they own a condo here.   We drove back “home” south and although it was late, the road has good reflectors.

Black Sand Beach: 19 turtles Saturday and 11 on Monday

"Hello!"

Staying at Sea Mountain, we are a 5 minute walk to the Black Sand Beach and the ocean environs there.  Saturday, for our first day’s walk, I didn’t even take my camera since we seldom see any turtles there ourselves, except for seeing a head or two occasionally sticking up out of the waves.  But this time, they were everywhere: in the water, out of the water, and particularly interesting, close to the rocky shore feeding, then we could see their brown backs …they look like rocks too!  .. and then their heads came up every now and then.  To see that many, we walked to several coves.  In one cove, DH saw 7 heads stick up at once!

   Monday afternoon, the tide was out and several pools were land-locked, so the turtles were “trapped.”  No problem, they were mainly resting on the bottom, but again, close by so we could see them easily.

     Yesterday, new TUGGER friends James and Marlene drove down from Kona  and we saw 6 turtles resting on the sand together.  More in the water, and more resting other places. 

We think we'll stop counting: this week seems to be a “big” turtle week!

Our Scattered Church Attendance?

People ask us about church attendance as we are “on the road.”  We have found churches to go to wherever we are and as we return to those places, we are enjoying attending again.  Often we develop close friendships there, as well.  When we were first concerned about not being able to always attend the same church and participate completely in activities, a friend said, “You’ll have time again to do that when you can’t travel anymore.”
     When we attended the Dave Hamner worship service Sunday in Branson last Sunday  (http://www.gospelsunday.com/), we realized that just the Sunday before, we had been with Merlyn at his son-in-law’s  church in Georgia (http://www.fcfamily.net/)  and had even been to Seattle since then!  The Sunday before that we had been in Cable, WI for several weekends attending Living Hope Community church (http://hope4cable.com/).  This Sunday we’ll be in the church in Renton, WA which we attend when there (http://www.calvaryrenton.com/) and the following Sunday we’ll be at Kona Baptist Church for four Sundays, (http://www.konabaptist.org/), then back to Seattle for two Sundays, then to Atlanta again with Merlyn, then to Anastasia Baptist church in St Augustine in January (http://anastasiabaptist.org/).  And so it goes.

Two Branson Shows

John and daughter Sarah Tweed

Dave Hamner, magician with birds

We enjoyed the preview show of many of the Branson shows at breakfast Monday.  It was Veterans Week and many of the shows had free admission for veterans.  We decided to attend the  Tweeds (http://www.tweedshow.com/) and the Hamner-Barber show (http://www.hamnerbarber.com/) , which is one of our favorites.  Ron’s mother really became “alive” and enjoyed the shows immensely-- and we did too!  They were terrific!
      We left Friday to return to Seattle.  tuesday we flew to Kona and stayed three nights at Kona Hawaiian Village before moving south to Sea Mountain.

to Atlanta-to Seattle-to Branson --- in a week!

We were in the Atlanta area two nights in order to see Ron’s brother Merlyn again and attend church with him in Cartersville and then left our car with our good friends Hugh and Kay in Douglasville as we flew to Seattle Monday night¸ the 31^st.

Our Stormy Point Cottage

 Had the normal busy activity in Seattle, including a concert Friday night when Natalie and Andy both played in the Northwest Symphony (side by side!) and then Saturday, November 5^th, we flew to Springfield MO and Ron’s brother Daryl picked us up to go to Branson, staying at Stormy Point.  We had wanted to stay there ever since touring there some years ago.  They are separate Victorian style cottages, very nice: we had a 3 BD, 3 BA.  Lovely clubhouse and a great indoor pool, too. Ron’s mother was there, and a nurse, Judy, who was terrific at taking care of her.

Living room is well appointed

Indoor pool was great!

Trying to Avoid Staying in Motels….

We are having to stay at too many motels along our travels this year, especially having to drive through the Midwest so often (due mainly to seeing relatives, etc.)  Fortunately, we could at least stop at Wyndham Nashville for a couple of nights to take a break and “recover.”

So we are analyzing next year’s plans to reduce the necessity of so many motel stays!

The Hills are Alive….with…

…Color!  Driving from southern Wisconsin, to Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and in Georgia to Atlanta, we are enjoying the riot of fall colors!

 We were too late this October to see the fall colors in northern Wisconsin: the leaves had fallen early.

We saw Superman in Metropolis!

  We left Sunday and went to Rochester MN to see Ron’s Aunt Velva – she’s 99.  Then to Keenan's in Springfield IL for a day, and then onward South!  On the way to Nashville, we stopped at Metropolis where Superman is!

(That’s Metropolis, IL)

And Joan met Lois Lane!

Visitors Every Day at Telemark!

Merlyn and Ron

For this two-week stay here in northern Wisconsin, we had 3 sets of visitors – first our friends from Toronto were here when we came, they checked in for us, and had dinner ready when we arrived!. We had checked in 2 days late here with the extra Seattle trip. Then they left on Thursday morning and Ron drove to Duluth to pick up his brother Merlyn, who stayed until the next Tuesday.  We took him back to Duluth, then our friend, Quinn, from Ohio drove in that night.  He left Friday, and we started packing and Saturday was the owners’ meeting. 

      Joan attended two Book Club meetings at the Redbery Bookstore after reading the assigned books.  Ron and Merlyn went out in the boat to fish, but did not catch anything…except it was so windy and cold.

FLASH
Ron caught a fish!!!!! Sat evening, even after the meeting, he sat on the dock to use up his remaining minnows, almost giving up and suddenly a good sized northern bit, and it was near the dock!  We ate 1/2 of him that night!!

Joan Transforms the Units

Before

One of the main reasons we are able to be on the road for so long without a “home” is that Joan makes every unit “homey” for us by rearranging the furniture, and adding our photos, candles, table runners, flowers.  Here’s an example:  Unit 401P at the Telemark Pointe

After

We're almost to Telemark!

We've been counting the days!   We had left our [east coast] car at Madison, so flew in today from Seattle and driving up now. Our St Augustine timeshare neighbors, Stu and Nancy, from Toronto, were driving across Canada and planned to stop to see us, so they checked in for us Monday and will have dinner ready for us when we arrive! How great is timesharing!
     They are TUGGERS too.
     Telemark lodge reopened May 1st and remodeling and upgrading is in progress. We are happy to be owners there.  We’ll get more RCI weeks from Marge, and receive some great TPU’s for the $$.  The owners’ meeting is next weekend; thus, the timing for our visit most years.

A Fun Concert

Natalie, with her 3 friends and brother after the concert

Last minute Seattle trip flying to see Natalie solo with the Auburn Symphony.  The entire Hummel trumpet concerto…she did a fabulous job.  We got there in time to see the Saturday night concert as well as the Sunday afternoon concert.  Sunday, her girlfriends came too and she was really having fun!
     And, yes, our car is still in the shop in Seattle.  It needs a new transmission.  Fortunately, we had purchased a service warranty last year, but that will only cover a “used” transmission replacement, literally a “junkyard” one, not a rebuilt.  But, despite that, it covers about ½ the cost of a rebuilt, so that helps.  We returned to WI with it still being repaired.

Another Flight?

We are having a wonderful visit with Ron’s aunt and uncle (88 and 91) who live in the Chicago area, having driven up from Springfield this morning and then will drive to Madison tonight.  Ah!  Here we are again, driving and sitting, instead of exercising! 

Her concert dress

     We’ll fly to Seattle tomorrow to hear Natalie solo with the Auburn Symphony; she’s performed so often this summer and we did not get to see her, so thought we’d go for the weekend.  We needed one more flight anyway for the year to make our frequent flyer levels!

Keenan treated us to Wynton Marsalis

This very day we were to be in Springfield, IL, Wynton was performing with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and Keenan bought tickets for us as a gift for our anniversary (belated.)  It was wonderful!  The time went by so fast, and with so many creative sounds! Unfortunately, Keenan was unable to go with us.  But it was an unforgettable concert.  You all will remember that Andy and family went to see him in Portland in June, and had invited us to join them but we had declined especially due to the long trip; this one was just down the street!

Car Rental in Seattle

We had car trouble last night, so we took it to the shop and rented a car last night for 2 days from Costco.  We would have used Hotwire: it was only slightly less but were not sure which car dealer they would use and some of them are not open 24/7 and we got it about 11 p.m.   Andy took us to the airport last night to pick it up, when he was bringing us to the condo anyway.  Carrentals.com was also a little cheaper but with Advantage and they close at 10:30 p.m. and are off site.  We’re talking $5 difference.  We used them before when our car broke down a year ago and barely got there in time. 

    It’s ironic that we are retired but still need a car to do what we need to do; after all, we can’t just stay home:   we have to go to the storeroom, get to a motel tomorrow night before we leave Wednesday ( Winnie has renters in here then), need to see Joan’s mother each day, go to Issaquah to see the kids one more evening, and Ron goes to the doctor tomorrow after we have moved out of here and cleaned, so…  Now, to get busy!

Delta Threw Us a Curve But We Recovered

“Your Delta itinerary has changed” – a common email!

Delta changed our December 31^st flight to January 1^st, both red eyes, but one leaving after midnight, therefore it would “count” as 2012 miles for our frequent flyer status and we need the 2011 miles.  We had it planned to fly New Year’s Eve non-stop to Atlanta from Seattle, and then our friends, who will have kept our car could pick us up in time to accompany them to church, which we like to do.  Then we would stay two nights at the Wyndham Plantation in Villa Rica, GA, near their house, before going on to Florida.  But to change the flight to earlier in the day would mean we’d need another hotel night, as there are no other reservations available at the Plantation – and we know that New Year’s Eve prices are higher -- and the new flight also had a stop in MSP, which means getting in Sunday too late to go to church.  What to do?...

    Checking various exchange companies, showed that RCI had a Lake Tara III  2 BD week available beginning December 30^th for just 8 TPU.  This timeshare property is adjacent to Wyndham’s property and is nice, although not decorated as fancy.   Taking this would mean that we could spend more time in the Atlanta area seeing other friends and maybe also Ron’s brother.  Our friends Nancy and Stu from Canada might be coming down early to St Augustine and we had hoped to get a 2 BD in case they would need a stop along the way.  So this would work out well, needing then just 2 days in Florida before our month at St Augustine would begin on January 8^th. 

     Delta will allow changes when they have forced a change upon you, so we will leave SEA the 30^th, on a non-stop to ATL and so we’ll get our 2011 miles, see our friends well in time for church, solve our problem of where to stay for the full week of Jan 1^st, and still be  in one of our favorite places there in Villa Rica!

Full-time timesharing: Living Out of a Suitcase???

     When we started out on this “journey”, all of our friends asked, “Oh, how can you do that? I wouldn’t want to live out of a suitcase…”– because they didn’t understand that in a timeshare condo, we don’t HAVE to live out of a suitcase!  When we check in, Joan spends about an hour setting up all our little “homey” items: pictures, candles, flowers, table runners, placemats, and a few special knickknacks…

    But, NOW, if there are no timeshares where we have to go to visit relatives (Ron has many!)  or friends, or reunions, we are stuck with a hotel and suitcase living. 

     It’s fine driving from timeshare to timeshare  ...much easier than packing up suitcases to fly. And we like to stay more than a month at a place too: St Augustine in January,  Mexico PV in Feb, and Telemark other times during the year (sometimes 6 weeks!) .

     But, we do NOT enjoy driving from hotel to hotel as we had to this year from Aug 6 to Sept 17, except for 7 days when we were at our son’s vacation condo in Seattle (but during that time, we had to move stuff in and out of the Seattle storeroom, plan our suitcase packing again, and then clean the condo for the renters to come).  Fourteen different hotel or room stays, some with friends, three airplane trips, plus many miles driving between some visits (we were in Springfield IL while SIL with Hospice nurses was in Atlanta, so we drove there and back again) = that is truly living out of a suitcase.

     But that was NOT our plan….but because of certain constraints on our schedules, we did it!  

      So now we have another answer again to someone’s question about “With all your traveling around, do you know where you are when you wake up?”  Here’s the secret for keeping track of where you are:  Don’t move around too much with too short of visits!  Staying in a timeshare condo seems like a HOME, even with a couple of nights in one (which is one reason we like Wyndhams so much, there are so many we can drive to and spend a day or two), but if you move every night to different hotel rooms, that’s when you lose track of where you are!

       We are getting a little mixed up in our minds right now, being in a timeshare in Washington with our Seattle car, but not in Seattle.  It seems we should have our normal “timeshare” car with us (which is parked at BMI).

Ocean Shores, WA

Ron walks on the wide beach at Ocean Shores

Yesterday, we were on our way for a week at Ocean Shores, WA: we had exchanged with DAE so as to not lose the week.  We had a little scare yesterday as the car sputtered and stopped on the freeway (a state route actually but 4 lanes separated) in the middle of nowhere (WA State Route 8, 7 miles east of McCleary….yes, where is that???)  It wouldn’t start again, although the starter was strong.  We called AAA and arranged for a tow back to Tacoma for the night (of course it was Friday night).  We were a little concerned about all the food in the car we had brought with us for the whole week.  As Ron hung up the phone, Joan said, “Try to start it again” and it did! and we started down the road, so we quickly called and canceled the tow.  We just then saw an exit sign to McCleary and the car sputtered again so we were able to coast down the exit for a ways.  We decided that maybe we were out of gas, even though we had 1/8^th tank and the dial said 40 miles left.  Ron got out to walk to the Shell station that was in town, and a young man, Josh, picked him up, got his own gas can and took him to the station and brought him back again to the car to fill it up.  After a little sputtering, it started smoothly and we drove to the station and filled up and everything was fine from then on….we decided that there had been condensation in the tank…old gas that had been sitting quite a while … ah well…

Beautiful sunset shines on the sand

   We arrived at the Windjammer Resort at Ocean Shores safely and checked in and were very pleasantly surprised.  It took just two minutes to feel completely at home.  We were on the first floor and overlooked the golf course.  We knew it was not on the ocean, but just a short walk to it, so we walked there and around town.  We drove all around, went to the museum, and enjoyed the free membership to the golf club to swim.  Ocean Shores is very interesting and there is lots to do. The beach is so wide!

Sep 19th Two Best Friends Asked Us….

“When are you planning to settle down?”

Monday, we took Ron’s brother Daryl and mother back to the ATL airport so brother Merlyn could still stay with Marsha, and on the way back, stopped for lunch with great friend Hugh in Douglasville, GA.  He asked, “…..”

Then Tuesday evening, met with good friend Kim, in Franklin TN for dinner and she asked us, “….”

Hmmmmmmmm…….


Do you think we need an exit plan?

Sep 18th Driving/Flying too much = STIFF

Last week we drove to OH from IL, then down to Atlanta.  This week, we drove to Nashville from Atlanta, then back to Springfield IL to catch the plane from BMI to SEA.  Stayed in 2 hotels (Hampton Inn in GA, and Baymont Inn in IL), one night with son Keenan (Springfield, IL), and 2 nights in a timeshare (Wyndham Nashville) this week.  Then to the Seattle condo last night…


We've really gotten stiff... so much driving and flying... not been keeping up with the exercise like we need to....hopefully next week!?!

Hard To Write When A Sister-In-Law Dies

Merlyn (Ron's brother) and Marsha 2010

We changed our original plans and cut short the visit with son Keenan in Springfield, Illinois and friends in Ohio to take a trip to GA, near Atlanta, last weekend to see Marsha, who was nearing the end.  She has fought cancer for 4 years, and was 3 years on chemo. We arrived Saturday evening, saw her briefly Sunday, she passed away Monday evening.   She was at her daughter’s home which was very peaceful, much nicer than being in a hospital.  They had just finished building a new home near Knoxville, but…

  We aren't going to the funeral today in Jackson MS; we're on a plane to Seattle.  Our priority is to visit BEFORE! !!!! so we elected not to change our airline tickets and drive to Jackson, but continue on our Seattle itinerary.  We'll have Merlyn, Ron’s brother, visit us in Telemark in October. ..he'll need us more then:  lots of people will be at the funeral.  They joined us twice in places this last year and we had wonderful times together.
    Marsha was very sweet, very strong and a good friend to many.  She will be sorely missed.

New iPhone

Ron looks on: does he look baffled?

The Seattle family got iPhones last February, so we no longer had a T-Mobile family plan to call them, so when our contract was finished, we ordered a refurbished iPhone also to be able to use ATT.  We had ordered when we were in Seattle last (in August) and the phones had come while we were gone,  but because it was more than 15 days before we returned, we had to completely reorder the service.  Natalie made that happen as she talked with the representative!

August 28th Olympic National Park: Lake Crescent and Sol Duc Falls

Lake Crescent (and the hills are tree-covered!)

Do you like lakes?  They’re here!

Sol Doc Falls

Do you like waterfalls?  They’re here!  And we saw a rainbow in Sol Doc Falls today!  We’ll have to delete the comment about no rainbows in Washington waterfalls (from our Kauai notes!)

Ron, at the bottom left of the tree

And more trees too! (Of course and they are so tall.)  Here you can hardly see Ron, and we cannot even see the top of the tree.

Joan, by a moss-covered branch

There are two more parts to the Olympic National Park: the Rain Forest (receiving more than 240 inches of rain annually, on the west side) and the ocean beach section.  Interestingly, the eastern leeward side gets less than 20 inches of rain a year, thus allowing a wide variety of plants and animals to have developed and exist in the same park.

August 27th Olympic National Park: Hurricane Ridge

WOW!

Do you like trees? 

Carpets of trees, valleys of trees.

Rivaling the Appalachian fall colors for beautiful trees, these all evergreen mountains also have a different feel than the Wisconsin northwoods.



Do you like mountains? 
360 degrees of them!

The mountains hit you in the face as you turn a corner (on the very curvy road up to Hurricane Ridge) just like Mt. Rainier does along I-5 in Seattle.

     Hurricane Ridge, what comes to mind? 

     Joan has heard about it her whole life, and always thought of cold, rain, and wind.  It is indeed, in the winter, with hurricane-level winds (no, no hurricanes here!) and lots of snow.   But in the summer?  Wonderful! We spent the day there, hiking many paths.  Joan could not stop taking pictures; how will she ever edit any out?

    We were on top of Hurricane Ridge and a guy looked at his cell phone: it said, "Welcome to Canada!"  Hey, we weren't in Canada yet!  But we could see Victoria across the Straits.

 

We are going to Port Angeles/Olympic National Park

Our dilemma about where to stay for the five days while there were renters in the condo was resolved when we decided to visit Joan’s father for two days and then explore the Olympic National Park, which we have not yet been to.  We are usually too busy with family activities to just tour, and, of course, summer would be the best – only? -  time to go.  We will take the ferry from Coupeville to Port Townsend, which requires a reservation!  (Never had to do that before.)

We had a great visit with Joan's dad. We participate with some of his regular activities, like Bingo! and today, there was no volunteer to "call" it, so he did!

www.airbnb.com

   We have just found a new lodging website, www.airbnb.com where people rent out rooms, bed and breakfast rooms and suites, as well as condos, too.  We’ll be staying in a B and B in Port Angeles, but one which is not on the national web listings. 
     (We are also using this service to find a place in Rochester, MN, where there are no Bed and Breakfast homes, no vrbo listings etc.   It will be the downstairs of a home, 1000 sq. ft.  We are looking forward to using this service more.)

Port Townsend

12 noon:  We are in the ferry line now.  This may sound repetitious, but we like ferries!  It's a different ferry, now, we're going from Coupeville to Port Townsend, and we had to have a reservation for this one.  The state highway 20 continues across the water!   Ron wants to see the Puget Sound Coast Artillery Museum and the bunkers at Fort Worden before we go on to Port Angeles for the night.  And Mt. Baker is “out” again in all her glory!

We had a wonderful lunch at the Nifty Fifty’s, a 50’s restaurant on the water and then we saw a submarine!  No doubt, Ron said, from Bangor.

Aug 24th-25th The Sound of Freedom!

9 p.m. Aug 24th We just checked into our room at the Naval Air Station, Whidbey Island WA and we are hearing JETS!!!!! the pilots are getting in their night flying hours.  Where we used to live in Yellow Springs, OH, residents would complain about the National Guard flying over.  Ron would say, “THE SOUND OF FREEDOM!”
      We don't need to tell you that people really believe that in this town of Oak Harbor WA.  (You should have seen Joan’s dad's church service here on the 4th of July!  Why were we  surprised in a Navy town?  A very very patriotic service!)

Morning Aug 25th The planes started flying again.  And again that evening and the next morning.  Of course, at night, we couldn't see the planes, but in the morning, Joan snapped these photos.

Two aircraft at once!

Deception Pass Bridge in Fog! But it was sunny!

We visited Joan’s dad in Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island today.  There are two ways to get there:  by ferry boat – Joan’s favorite place to be: on a Washington State ferry! – driving to Mukilteo or “driving around” on north I-5 to Mt. Vernon then went on SR20 through Deception Pass State Park.  It takes 2 hours either way if you do not have to wait for the ferry.  A 20-minute ferry ride but allow 30 minutes loading, etc.  Taking the ferry is less driving and more relaxing to have the stop in the middle of the trip, but today we wanted to get gas at Costco in Mt Vernon so we drove around going and took the ferry back (it’s also cheaper on the way back: no charge for passengers.)
When we got to Deception Pass, with blue skies and sunshine all around, this fog bank covered one half the Deception Pass bridge.

Ron Chops Down a “Widowmaker” Tree!

Too close together

Andy had a tree tilted between two other trees and asked Ron if he could chop it down.  And the others too.  Well….of course!  [Good thing he knew how to do it to make them fall correctly..]

Getting the titled one out of the way.

All done!