SEASONS CHANGE

…and change is a challenge for some people. I am one of those people.The stellar weather we had for much of September helped to ease my tight fisted grip on my beloved summer season.

Here a drop of sun illuminates a thoughtful something. Reminds us of how special friends are, and how they can be fleeting. We need to tend to them like we do the flowers in our garden. 

I got in a lot of bike riding for the month (some previously posted) as the rain held off until the last few days. Even then I was able to get out during some of the lulls in the rain and miss getting wet by being a moving target.

Old mailboxes interest me for some reason. Maybe because they are on the demise as we now seem to need the new kind with built in locks. 

Arriving at my friend Ann’s house for tea time, these painted rocks in her garden brought me a smile.

I have been trying to embrace Autumn but am not quite there yet. Fall colors have not been vivid nor abundant. At least not yet. And the air that is historically said to be ‘crisp’ at this time is nothing but damp and cold. I await crisp. I am not the biggest pumpkin lover, so that is lost on me.

On one of my neighborhood rides this had happened. Glad I had passed that area on the way out. I walked my bike around the downed tree and waved to the police officers sitting in their squad car. They smiled and waved back. 

Of course there was my monthly check in on “the stump”. Minimally different from last year, but always fun to see.

Today we slip out of September with the rainiest day of the month — maybe of the year — that will more than likely keep me off my bike for the day. I need that though. I will now try to slip into October with those thoughts of embracing that new season.

A SMATTERING OF RIDES IN SEPTEMBER

The (cycling) weather for us could not have been better for the month of September, and still we were reluctant to welcome two days of heavy rain!! We need that rain and will give into it this upcoming weekend by doing indoor activities that we also enjoy, and we will change our attitude enough to welcome the cooling, rejuvenating rain that could help keep us from a drought.

I rode a lot during the first half of the month and wish to post some of the photos of a few of the rides. These are in no real order but as I say — a smattering ;’-).

A theme of something that makes you happy, or something that makes you sad, was presented as the cycling challenge for this month by one of my online bike groups. I have no intention of posting all the photos I took for that challenge, but there will surely be a few here.

The delightful sunflowers were blooming everywhere and it made me happy to have a few of them peek over the fence to greet me on an afternoon ride.

I am always happy to see ‘art’ work displays by anyone who gives those to us. I stopped for this piece of creativity and thought perhaps it was done by a passing child. But maybe not.

A meander through the Community College on a Sunday was empty of students or others, and allowed a slow ride to enjoy the grounds.

I have ridden here many times in the past and though I have noticed the sculpture, my attention never went to the placard that explains it. I found that quite interesting. A Split Personality as a “self portrait”?

I saw a few items that brought me a smile. Yes, above all else…

Perhaps a Marilyn Monroe fan lives here?

 I love that others care about the ducks too…

MId-month we had a visit from Etienne & Andre and their parents. Well, we were babysitters for one night while the parents went to a party, but we had some time with them the following morning. The Mukilteo Parade was to start at 10:00. So we geared them up for a bike ride before the parade start. Susan noticed other kids with bikes and found there was a ‘kids’ section of the parade to begin soon and we were invited to participate.

A volunteer helped decorate their bikes with streamers.

And we went off to line up for the parade.



It was a short ride for kids cycling, but they had some fun at least and we all rather liked being ‘in the parade’.

I am always happy to see this sign, and wish there were more. At least I do see them in several local areas. It indicates hope for humanity.

I was able to join a recent weekly Tuesday club ride that Cindy leads, and it was a great day for riding and for meeting up with other biking friends. When riding with a group, it is difficult to impossible to stop for photos, so I had to pass up a few I would have taken if on my own ride. We had our lunch stop at the Snohomish Bakery to find that they were not serving lunch fare on Monday and Tuesday until further notice. We assume it is due to lack of staff. They did have baked goods, so we made do with that. When we were leaving I noticed the building next to us had some old ‘art’ work. I am always interested in things painted on building walls from days gone by. This is the only photo I got for today.

I may not be ready for Fall, but there are signs of it now. The leaves of the trees are changing color.

And are falling to the ground.

Though the air does not quite feel ‘crisp’, there is a chill in the air. Pumpkin everything is starting. And…coffeeneuring season is about to start. Off with summer, on with autumn. 

A while back, during winter, I posted this photo of an ivy covered wall.

This was then…

This is now…

There remains another half of the month for more riding, but I will post this one now to avoid being too lengthy. There will of course be more upcoming posts as we enter fall ;’-).

ADVENTURING WITH ETIENNE AND ANDRE

We had a day and a half ‘off’ from our past 2+ weeks of adventuring before picking up Jenny’s two boys: Etienne 7 and Andre 4, for their camping adventure with us. We spent the first two days at home and Grandma (Susan) thought she found a perfect activity to take these dinosaur addicted boys to. 

They are nobody’s fool though, and could see right through these fakes.

To use my friend Cindy’s word — at best it was a ‘cheesey’ show that cost way too much to drive through. Oh well, it did get us out of the house for a bit at least ;’-).

After a few more nearby activities — a hike and a geocache hunt — we packed and prepared for our morning departure. Next day we arrived at Fort Casey for some exploring of the “Big Guns”…

…explored our way through some catacombs of this old fortress from WW II… which never had to fire at enemy forces during that war.

New flashlights were a hit, but a lesson in where to point them for a photo would have helped ;’-).



Climbing to the the lookout tower was NOT a favorite activity…

…as Susan was the only one to take the ‘risk’ of looking out from the tower.

Phew, time to come down and be done with this high point! Hold onto me Grandma!

After this breathtaking outing, we had our picnic lunch and headed to Deception Pass State Park for one night of camping.

The big rock next to us gave them a place to climb and play to use up some of their energy before gathering some of the blackberries from the vines next to our site. We would have those for breakfast.

Fortunately we were here just at the right time for Junior Ranger ‘training’. Got the workbooks and worked on those, went to join Ranger Joy for the activities of the day.

Activity was to search through some ‘owl pellets’ (like cat cough up of hairball) to find bones and parts of the small animals the owl cannot digest.

We stayed to learn a lot about owls that Ranger Joy taught us. After the program ended, Susan asked to take a photo  of the newly badged JUNIOR RANGERS  (who had just taken their “promise pledge” to be good rangers) with Ranger Joy. They always have their masks at the ready, know when to use them, and do not complain about them (good parenting). Keeping their distance, they joined the Ranger.

One more activity the next morning before moving on to the next camping spot. Riding our bikes around the somewhat hilly campground did not daunt the boys. Andre unconcernedly walked a couple of the steeper inclines and immediately got back on his bike to keep pedaling. We stopped for some corn hole gaming.

Tired them out for the drive to Anacortes for more adventure.

 This is not our first time camping here with the boys. We like it mainly because it is directly on the bike trail that takes us to the beloved Hot Dog Stand.

You may recall this destination from our similar adventuring this past April. These next three photos are of from that visit. (you can find the post for April 8, 2021).

They were only slightly younger — and Andre learned to pedal his bike with no assist from Grandma.

We rode to the same place this year as you can see the trail to the right of our campsite. So convenient.

This early afternoon, on our last day for this adventure, as predicted — it started to lightly rain. Fortunately we had taken advantage of the earlier hours to get some playtime (a lot of playtime at the playground and around the campground), and a bike ride across the Tommy Thompson Bridge.

I took some time for myself and did the relatively short ride around March Point. The route is on road and even though traffic is fairly light, it is not safe for the little guys so I rode alone. I found a treat to bring back for them at least. Next to this fun mailbox was a bench of treats.

I picked two items I thought the boys would like and tried to leave a donation, but there was no safe place to do so. A happy thing for the residents to do along this sparsely populated road.

With rain and quiet time activity (or a nap), I think this is all we will be doing for this adventure time. The boys have loved it, especially having their own free time using our walkie-talkies to play cops & robbers (Susan and I are Police Headquarters in the van, and they are detectives #1 and #2), and who knows what else! They have a good and creative imagination and play extremely well together. We have enjoyed our time with them, and Susan crowned me only once as “Cranky Pants” ;’-). Only once.

FINAL TWO DAYS WITH SOTF IN FLORENCE

I had to have a ride yesterday (Wednesday) so that meant basically a repeat of the previous day’s route with a few extra turns here and there. There are some short roads that wind, with some hills, through residential areas with homes directly on the lake, though the lake is hidden.

This one stood out to me.

And this one offered sweet happy faces.

My bimbling ride took me to several dead ends and turn arounds. I was not surprised to see there is ‘no mushroom picking’ allowed here, but the no cone picking was um… different. I assume that means no picking from the trees, and not restricting picking from the ground. But then again, it is private property so who knows.

This time I took a look into Honeyman State Park at the day use/picnic area. Here I found another view of the dunes. We have learned that those who ‘do’ the dunes are called ‘duners’. And actually, we are in Dune City. Says the sign…

Today (Thursday), our last day here, the Sisters have made reservations at the Lovejoy Tea Room for those of us who were interested. Count me in. Susan chose not to go and at first thought she would drive me there and hang around town waiting for me. Some research showed it was just over 5 miles away and I could potentially ride my bike there. There is the quarter mile long bridge across the Suislaw River .… with FAST cars and trucks — BIG trucks (it IS Hwy 101), and no bike lane or shoulder to use as a bike lane.

But fortunately there is a sidewalk that I chose to walk my bike across.

With a little help from Google Maps I found my way to the Tea Room and our Sisters group.

We all studied the menu and each made our choice.

Janine appeared appropriately dressed for tea time.

We were served our tea, our sandwiches and our scones.

My half scone got half eaten before I thought to take a photo…

Since I was on my bike, and even with pedal assist there are quite a few hill to climb on my extended route back to camp, I said my farewells a little early. (sorry I did not wait for Susan #2 to move her hair out of her face ;’-0)

I had taken the extended route that, even though hilly, would keep me off of busy 101 for about 4 miles. So I returned the same way and was rewarded with a fun photo op.

The next two photos I ‘stole’ from someone who posted on our fb page. 

Early morning or evening at the dock…

Evening with the lighted beach…

With that, this will be my final post for this particular outing. We head home tomorrow, have a day and a half at home, and pick up Jenny’s two — Etienne and Andre — on Sunday to take them on their adventure. I will not doubt be blogging a little about that outing, so stay tuned.