Category Archives: Travel

We Need Relief…

…from our smoke filled skies. Praying our fires are contained and no new fires start.

We left Colville this morning and we had smoke filled skies all across eastern Washington, central Washington, over the Cascade mountain range and into Western Washington. It’s sad to see so much smoke. It also is hard on the eyes, throat, lungs and sinuses.

“The Air Quality Index jumped from a 156 (Unhealthy) last night to a 202 (Very Unhealthy) this morning. Inchelium is at 203 – these are the worst levels in the State of Washington. Folks should stay inside with the windows closed per the EPA, or go to malls or other places with filtered air.”

Looking forward to clear skies ahead.

No Yard Yet…

…so no new yard art for us.

Way Out West

On our last trip over and back again we finally pulled off of Interstate 90 to get a closer look at this establishment that has peeked our interest on every trip we’ve made to Eastern Washington. We had an empty trailer being towed behind our truck so it’s a real good thing the yard was closed.

The statuary farm at 11610 White Road is the best roadside attraction in Eastern Washington, if not the entire state.

The scores of items that face Interstate 90 near the Medical Lake exit are random and weird and strangely compelling. The whole oddball ranch looks like it was designed by Salvador Dali on acid, but that’s not the case.

This is the work and vision of a bearded and intense Spokane businessman:

Mike Ferguson.

“It’s all out of his brain,” said Ferguson’s brother, Mark, who owns 11 of the 21 acres here. “He knows how to barter. He knows how to make a deal.”

Mike named the place Way Out West, and I’ll second the “way out” part.

You can read more about this property and the owner here.

We are still feeling displaced and out of it, (out of this world). We are being taken care of well with a comfortable spot to lay our heads and few belongings that aren’t stored away in shipping containers (3- 8x8x20 of them). We are busy each weekend making round trips to our son’s home in Northeastern Washington where he’s opened up space in his shop to store Dear’s shop stuff until we find the elusive home of ours.

We leave on Saturday mornings and arrive Saturday afternoons, unload, relax a bit with hugs from Addy and understanding from her parents. We then travel back to this side of the mountains on Sunday.

You will all be the first to know when we find “the house” for us.

Fire Views

As we left Colville on Saturday late afternoon we took our typical driveway shot looking toward Colville. We heard about a new fire north of Kettle Falls that they are calling Boyds Fire. Kettle Falls is north of Colville along the Columbia River.

This is a photo from the Lake Roosevelt NPS of the fire in the early hours of Sunday. Our DIL’s granny lives across Lake Roosevelt from this fire. Praying things get contained before too long.

We are back in the Seattle area again after taking a truck and trailer load of stuff to our kids’ home.  Once we got to the eastern side of the Cascades we had smoky skies all the way to Spokane and then north to Colville which is close to the Canadian Border. It was good to have some play time with Addy while Dear and our son unloaded the stuff. She gives such great hugs these days, sweet girl. Our trip home today was clearer and cooler which was a relief.

Back in the Big City

Before we headed west again over the Cascade mountains we enjoyed a lovely casual outdoor wedding in Kettle Falls, Washington. Beautiful weather, beautiful views and great food and friends gathering together in a plush yard overlooking the Columbia River.

These are the bride’s great granddaughters who include our granddaughter, Addy.

We have not been successful in finding a home yet but we are not losing hope. We are tired and hope to regroup soon.

We miss this kind of traffic already…

Hope you are all enjoying your environs!

Summer Escape

We crossed the great divide (The Cascade Mountain Range) and will be spending a few days with our Eastern Washington kids.

It’s hard to come empty handed. Or better put, it’s easy to come with some gifts packed in the car.

I found this little workbench at Goodwill and with my “special discount” it cost me under $6.00.

Rayna is trying to prod me into petting her by putting her paw on my foot. “Come on lady, you’re just sitting there”.

It’s nice to get caught up with this little ones new skills. I’ll be running all weekend and I hope to get some stills of Addy but she’s always on the go. I’ll be one tired Baba at the end of each day.

Happy Weekend and last day of June to you all. Happy Canada Day weekend to our friends in the North!

May the friendship between our two countries last forever.

Open House Road Trip

On Saturday we set out to the Northern end of Whidbey Island with Fort Ebey State Park our destination. We had to be out of our house from 1 until 4pm so a drive was a good option for us.

Set on the western side of Whidbey Island, Fort Ebey was constructed as a coastal defense fort during the Second World War.

The bluff trail overlooks Admiralty Inlet and offers peek-a-boo views of Point Wilson Lighthouse across the bay. Douglas-fir and hemlock provide shade along forested trails sprinkled with pink big-leaf rhododendrons in season.

We took a short loop that took us to Lake Pondilla and were rewarded with a viewing of this bird. Is it a Golden Eagle, a young eagle, or some kind of hawk?

Next time we visit we’ll take the Bluff trail to the Gun Battery.

From Fort Ebey we drove the 5 miles to Coupeville and Penn Cove which are set on the Eastern coast of Whidbey Island. We enjoyed some Penn Cove Mussels and these views.

Our Discover Pass expires the end of the month so we’ll have to take advantage of visiting some more Washington State Parks.

Summer officially begins this Thursday. Do you have any special summer plans?

Balboa Island

While we were in Southern California on Memorial weekend we were invited over to my nephew and his wife’s home in Newport Beach on Sunday morning before my pop’s birthday gathering in the afternoon. They are enjoying living on the waterway just across from Balboa Island. Living here gives them the benefit of being a stroll away and not having to deal with the constant traffic of those trying to cross the bridge/ Marine Ave. to get to the island.

This nephew of mine is my sister Vera’s son. He and our sons, Josh and Dan, grew up together and have a strong bond. Here we are setting out to walk the floating walkway/dockway to get to the bridge to Balboa Island.

The bridge was nicely decked out for Memorial Day. You can see the lineup of cars crossing the bridge.

I think walking across the bridge is a lot more pleasant.

The main drag on the island with all the clever shops and eateries.

There’s a museum where you can find out which of the frozen banana stands was really the first one, Dad’s or Sugar ‘N’ Spice.

We didn’t indulge in a frozen banana on this morning. Our niece informed us that Sugar ‘N’ Spice is in fact the original. She found that out at the museum.

I was using my little pocket camera this day and managed to cut off the name of this chapel, St. John Vianney Chapel. If and when I visit again I’ll pop in and see the interior. It’s on the main drag tucked between the two banana stands.

“It was about 77 years ago that the tiny church was established and began to see the first arrivals of the Mass-goers for whom it was built: vacationers. At the time, the only Catholic church in the Newport Harbor area was the parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which sat–and still sits–about halfway down the Balboa Peninsula. For weekend and summer visitors to the island, getting to the peninsula church could be a bit of a stretch, particularly when gasoline rationing was instituted after the outbreak of World War II.”

We kept walking crossing the Grand Canal to Little Balboa Island.

We found another walker who was willing to take our photo. My sister, me, nephew, niece, son and daughter in law. We popped in to a local eatery, The Village Inn, for some appetizers before our walk back.

Balboa Island North Channel

It was low tide for our time walking about. On our way back we spotted these creatures.

The sailboats and yachts were very impressive but this next boat is more my speed…

After our little trek to the island we all piled into our cars and headed inland to La Habra for our Pop’s/Dzeda’s birthday gathering.

And just like that we come to the last day of May. We’ve been busy since I returned home. Yesterday was Spring cleaning day at this Old House. I’m determined to visit and see what I’ve missed on your blogs today.

No Mind Has Imagined…

Being in the country with acres between my son’s home and other homes I am enjoying the sights and sounds that I do not experience living close to a big city. While enjoying what I’m seeing with my own eyes right now out the window then reading this verse from the Bible it makes me wonder about what we have yet to experience from God.

So much beauty for us to enjoy in the here and now and yet there is more that God has prepared for those who love him.

This is a post from May 26th a few years ago and I’m posting it again today. We are busy moving our youngest and her hubby into their new apartment today and then I’m headed to California with our oldest and his dear wife tonight. Whew! Packing it in. Here’s a photo of my dad taken yesterday on his 95th birthday.

He’s fallen a couple times over the last few weeks. The bruising on his face is from falling into a doorway. It’s hard growing old.

I’m trying out a new look for my blog…time will tell if I change it again, soon. Happy Memorial Day weekend to all of you in the USA!

Spokane Lilac Festival

Last Saturday we drove south to Spokane to catch part of the Annual Armed Forces Torchlight Parade. This parade takes place during the Lilac Festival. To get to the parade we parked on the north side of the Spokane river and crossed a pedestrian bridge to get across the river which gave us some great views of the rivers current thundering with spring runoff.

Addy was in awe of all the noise and activity of the parade.

This is the pedestrian bridge we crossed to get to the downtown parade route.

I should have taken a video so you could hear how loud the rush of the river was.

I

This shot above with the mist was looking west

I’m traveling to Southern California on Saturday with Josh and Laura to see my pop who turns 95 tomorrow. He is not doing well and it will be nice to have a face to face visit with him and see some of our other family, too. We fly back home on Monday early afternoon.

Hope you all have a good Memorial Weekend.

Rushing…

…to get a fresh Spring post up before we hit the road home. This is the Spokane River with the spring runoff rushing to the Columbia river. I’ll post more photos from our evening at the Lilac Military Appreciation Parade after I get home. We’ve had a busy time here with Addy and her parents.

Until later hope all is flowing nicely in your corner of the world.