INTO AUGUST

We had a few outings and campings early in the year that had to be canceled due to Susan’s ankle adventure. We would be making up time during these last summer days! Our first outing is with SOTF for a bioluminescent kayak tour on Hood Canal — more about that later. First, we get to see the Grandboys again ;’-).

On our way to Hood Canal we stopped for two nights at Jenny’s. We took the boys on a trail ride for one of the days.

The ride takes us to the Golf club along a winding, hilly, shaded trail. With A’s recent bike crash, he would be cautious about the steep downs (walking most of them) and I was just as cautions as he ;’-0.

At the end of our ride, we had the well earned and well deserved …. Ice Cream!!

A few more activities with them filled more of our time and soon we said our goodbyes and continued on for our campout with Sisters On The Fly.

Our campsite was prime — right on the water. A few of the sisters took an afternoon paddle on the calm bay.

The next day we took a short bike ride with Kristina, a sister we had met last year on our Lake Easton outing. One part of our adventure this morning was finding our way around a blockade to get to the road at one point.

We enjoyed a great little picnic place at Dosewalips State Park before heading back to camp.

Back at camp we relaxed and after dinner got ourselves ready for our Bioluminescnse kayak tour. They had kayaks and all the gear we needed for our nighttime paddle to see the glowing bioluminescent ‘things’.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioluminescence

Here is what our leader wrote to us at the start of planning the event:

This 1.5 hour night tour begins at our rental beach..  As you paddle through the waters, bioluminescent plankton will light up like fireflies. The more you splash and agitate the water with your hands and paddles the more you will make the water sparkle! And don’t forget to look up to stars! We may also see meteors, bats and maybe hear a squawking heron or a startled harbor seal.

The best I can do is refer you the the above site that will at least give an idea of what this is — it is something like lightning bugs (some call those ‘fireflies’). This phenomenon happens when the air and water temperature are “right” — warm enough for both — which is right now. It happens in just about all species — including humans in some way. Who knew!!

Here we go.

Get your gear and boat.

Paddle out and gather up for the leader and the remainder of the paddlers. A few photos taken by others on shore as we departed.

We took Kristina’s photo…

Kristina took our photo…

We were out there for hours! But the darker the night became the more luminous the plankton became and it was quite the thing! Sparkling little lights following wherever you stirred or swiped your paddle. Mesmerizing. Too bad we could not get a photo, and even if we could, it would not have shown it well enough. This was the last time (so far) that I have done something for the first time ;’-).

Now the penultimate day — Saturday and we depart tomorrow. Susan and I took another little bike ride which repeated much of what we did yesterday. We joined a few other sisters at the Gardens that they had driven to, for a tour of the acres of plants and flowers. Susan did more of the touring while I took advantage of their free WiFi and published the last two posts.

We were riding along to the town of Brinnon to get to the gardens.

Taking the side road avoided several miles of riding on noisy Rte 101 and was a delightful backroad experience. Again on a ride we managed to find a blocked road.

This one did not end up being anything we could bike along, but Susan did her scouting to determine that. Our route had taken us along shoreline of Hood Canal. If you enlarge this photo you can read a bit of history about how important this canal was to the native Americans.

For those not familiar with our area, Seattle is way over to the right (east) — The Canal is west of Seattle between Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas.

After tonight’s dinner we played “Pantry Bingo”. Everyone brought something from their RV pantry to be offered as prizes for winners at Bingo. 

Our final farewell to camping on Hood Canal (in our primo camping spot) for the weekend. A great weekend at that.

JULY ENDED (HOT) AND AUGUST BEGAN (NOT HOT)

Imagine my surprise when I found that I had not published the post I wrote about the Grandboys camping outing! I cannot post it right away because we are camping near Hood Canal and have no wifi at our campground. I will post that one when we get home on Sunday, and will add this one as well.

During that last hot week of July I was able to continue my riding, and actually got friends to ride as well as ride some solo time on a few days. This post will simply be some photos that I want to keep and this is my best place to keep them.

Kim and I did our own ride on the B-G trail and stopped to see the newly finished park at Log Boom. It is not a great place to stop for a picnic lunch, take a dip in the lake or rent a boat ;’-).

On another day Susan, Kim and Meri joined me for a ride in the Skagit Valley which is always a pleasure.

They all had such a good time on that ride, they joined me on another ride on the Centennial Trail.

Seeing this field of hay stacks shows that someone was sure to be making hay while the sun was shining.

On my solo rides from home I once again visited “the stump”. It had a brand new display that indicates someone must have had a recent trip to Hawaii ;’-)

One of my early morning rides (to miss the worst heat) showed some foggy mist that was still to burn off.

 And so we ended July — including both of our birthdays ;’-). Susan took me to the local beach to have our take out breakfast, and then we went to ‘play’ a little paddle ball. By play I mean hit the ball back a forth a few times. This would have to serve as paddle ball for Susan as well as it was way way too hot to do that on her day.

TIME FOR FUN WITH THE OTHER GRANDS

The plan was to meet Jenny at the ferry for an E & A transfer to begin our week long adventure with them. The glitch ended up being A’s bike “crash” that had him down for a couple of days, so we took ‘E’ and off we went. ‘A’ would be delivered to us by his Dad a few days later.

Destination: Deception Pass State Park.

Crossing over the bridge to Deception Pass State Park offers beautiful views below us.

Our friends Lizette and Shelly joined our outing and got a campsite directly next to ours. We enjoyed time with them and with the boys. We had a brief bike ride with E around the campground with some brief walks along the way.

Later we joined the ranger for a walk through this forest and learned quite a bit about the area.

Logs on the beach help build the sand dunes on land.

This tree is near 900 years old and still standing.

As we continued our hike we learned about ‘witches beard’ — the lichen hanging from the trees. We also learned about ‘ocean spray’ flowers but I didn’t get a photo.

After this walk we took our own and Shelly made the leaf people to lead us on the trail. E helps to find the leaf people.

After the hard work of leading us along the trail, the leaf people take a rest.

Finally we were happy to have E join us for the next couple of days. Time at the beach was a hit for everyone. 

They built there sand castle with a moat and viewing bench with Stella overseeing the work.



Much of the time for the boys was spent playing and enjoying the neighboring campers with three kids who were happy to have them join them on any and also activities. We did get them both to play a game in the screen tent with us. A dice game we learned for friends Elaine and John called Canadian Yahtzee. At least that is what they call it.

On our last day at camp E & A became Junior Rangers. They had done all the required activities and had completed their work books.

E makes his pledge…

A makes his pledge…

And they become full fledged Junior Rangers with their official badges.

All too soon it seemed, our outing had come to its end and we were saying our goodbyes to neighbor kids and Lizette & Shelly. A great weekend with fantastic weather. Until next time.

Returning home, the boys would spend the night at our house before returning them to their rightful owners. Katmandu loved having the boys brush him while he sun bathed ;’-).

TIME WITH THE GRANDS ;’-)

Sarah and Jeremy and the Smoldon Grands were here for at least a short visit. For them is was a whirlwind of a vacation!! They traveled for just about two weeks around Washington to visit both sets of family and several friends. We were happy to have them here for two of their days! 

A couple of weeks before, Bill had taken me for my first experience of the Kraken Ice Arena and I knew right away that this had to be an outing for these Grands who are such big fans.

Kraken is the Seattle Ice Hockey team, and this arena is their practice venue. It was such fun watching the Grands skate all around, and to see how much each one improved their skating skills just about every minute they skated.

Jaydon hit the ice running, and he improved from there.

Lucie was next, and though she was upright from her first attempts, she too got even better as she skated.

The most obvious advancement in skating skill was evident with Kate.

First hugging the wall with mom as a back up for not falling they made their way around the entire rink…

Tentatively Kate took her first glides without holding onto anything/body…

She found that falling wasn’t so bad — especially if mom was nearby…

And THEN…

They each and all had a grand time on the ice and can now say they have skated at the Karken Ice Arena ;’-).

We had lunch upstairs at the pub where there is an area set off for underage folk.

The family went off for visiting others the following couple of days, but we got them back for a day of more fun. First, in the morning, the girls joined me for my morning yoga practice.

I am always so happy to have them do yoga with me ;’-).

Susan had the idea to bike up to the Ropes Course and what a hit that was. We began with a miniature golf game with no idea who had the highest or lowest score. Just the way I like it.

After golf the Grands and Sarah headed over for their instructions about climbing the course.

They listen intently and seriously…

Kate takes an extra precaution to practice clipping in with mom nearby…

They had a blast!

Kate climbed the stairway learning to hold the line, clip in and out, but that would be it for her climbing. She did get to do the lower zip line —- four times!

Lucy had told us she had a fear of heights so I was not convinced that she would like this idea. She ended up doing the entire course four times. 

And had no trepidation of zip lining along the three sides of the course. They all did the zip lining which seemed to be a true highlight of finishing the climbing ;’-).

Jaydon confidently made his way around the course several times as well.

And there was their mama keeping up with them…

What fun it was to watch them from their first intimidating steps to gain more and more courage and skill each step of the way.

After all that work we needed refreshments and food so we hopped back on our bikes and headed for Dairy Queen

Piles up our bikes on the patio, masked up and went in to order our outdoor lunch and treats.

All too soon the day was done and the next morning was time to say our goodbyes as the headed back to their home in Elk Grove, California. Until next time Grands, we will be ready for more adventures. Now it was time to gear up and pack up for an adventure with the “other Grands” Etienne and Andre who live only a ferry ride away ;’-). There is a story to that but it will be included in the next blog about the adventure.