Category Archives: Travel

Eating on the Road…

Whenever we travel we like to find spots to eat where the locals eat. We found just the place in Raymond, Washington for breakfast on our way to the Long Beach Peninsula. You can see all the old timers in the restaurant.

In my restraint stage of life right now I decided to order off the senior menu. I ordered the egg and cake. Look at the size of that pancake! Yikes! I was expecting a little pancake.

Here’s another photo from the main drag in Raymond.

Once we got to the Long Beach Peninsula we asked and listened to different locals on where they would eat in and around town. Three spots were suggested and we had dinner at one, breakfast at the other and had to pass on the third.

For dinner we decided to eat at The Depot in Seaview.

Dinner was delicious. Dear had filet and I had osso buco. We passed on dessert.

On our way home from our overnight we stopped for breakfast at 42nd Street Cafe and Bistro in Seaview. The none restraint plate is Dear’s. After all it is his vacation week from work!

This was our final destination in between all the restaurant stops. We had the opportunity for lots of walks along the beach which made our restaurant stops a wash.

I’m joining in with Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday.

The Longest Beach…

After we checked into our Inn on Tuesday we decided we had better get out on that longest beach before the weather turned on us. So for our first beach walk we walked on the sand and that was a good workout. Right behind Dear in this photo is the place where we stayed. Our room was the top middle room…no elevator so another good workout.

Looking south we could just make out the North Point Light House. I’ll share my up close and personal shots of the light houses next week.

Looking north the beach goes on forever. Well forever until it ends at the north tip of the peninsula and joins Willapa Bay.

Looking back at our Inn. We really liked the location of it so close to the beach.

The following shots are to prove I was on the beach and that it was real windy.

I’m facing north and south is behind me…right?

And here I’m facing south and north is behind me.

Looking inland east. We were really impressed with the patriotism of the small communities along the Long Beach Peninsula and Willapa Bay.

We had just missed Kite Festival that is held every year in Long Beach. That must be quite a sight to see. There were a few kite fliers on the beach during our walk.

There was a long boardwalk that ran along the beach and a paved path for bikes and pedestrians, too. I’ll show the walks we had along these later.

Hope you are all enjoying your long weekend free from labor!

Oysterville 2

More from the picturesque little town of Oysterville and proof that we actually had oysters! When in Rome…

 

Look at the moss on this fence. What’s the difference I wonder between moss and lichen? I’ll have to research that.

This bit of history really made us chuckle. On the way back home we stopped by the Pacific county courthouse in South Bend and we chuckled again.

Fresh oysters from “the cleanest bay in North America” or at least that’s what the signs said. Can you believe everything you read on signs or the internet? The oysters were very fresh and very good. I never crave an oyster but since we were driving through and staying in an oyster capital of the world it seemed most fitting to indulge in some oysters.

Oh my today is the last day of August! Dear is still on vacation until Tuesday and we are for the most part laying low on Labor Day Weekend. We are joining Josh and Laura for brunch on Sunday to celebrate their anniversary late. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Oysterville!

Dear and I went on an overnight to the Long Beach Peninsula which is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and Willapa Bay. Willapa Bay is famous for it’s oysters. We decided a stop in the historic little town of Oysterville would be interesting. Today I’m just sharing a few of the photos I took there.

This is the church which was open for us to walk through.

“This old Baptist church was built in 1892 at a cost of $1,500 and was paid for by R.H. Espy. No regular services have been held here since about 1930 and the church has been non-denominational since 1980. Summer services are held by ministers from various churches on the North Beach Pennisula. The church is located in the Oysterville Historic District which is listed on the National Register of Historical Places.”

The way the church is divided down the middle we guessed that the men and women used to sit on opposite sides of the church for services…

There were several home sites with the history of the home or original owners posted.

Many of the homes had beautiful gardens which I had to zoom in to capture. The homes are privately owned now and I’m sure they don’t appreciate people walking about their yards.

This is the oldest house in Oysterville built in 1863.

Since Teacher Jenny’s Alphabe-Thursday is on the letter O and we were just in Oysterville on Tuesday this O post is timely so I’m joining in after a long absence from this weekly meme. For more entries on the letter O visit Teacher Jenny.

Dear and I are back home now after our overnight away. It was a wonderful break for us and I’ll share more as the days go on. So many interesting places to share and of course the food we ate with restraint!

Living at the Hood…

…Hood Canal that is.

Our friends Dave and Beth sold their house in our old neighborhill a few years ago and moved to their vacation home on Hood Canal. What a beautiful spot to live and enjoy the beauty that the Lord created for us. They’ve added many great garden touches to make the property more private.

This old guy made the move from the hill to his new home by the water.

They enjoy kayak trips on the canal when the water is calm.

How about this for a great setting for your next roast or just to enjoy a fire by the water?!

The added landscape shrubs and walls help give privacy and block some of the wind that always whips up on the canal.

I waved to my MGCC friends who live in British Columbia just on the other side of Mt. Baker seen here looking north on Hood Canal.

Dave and Beth have always shared the blessings that the Lord has afforded them with their family and friends. God bless you both on whatever the Lord holds for you in the future!

I’ll show more photos I captured of this long legged bird on my next post…

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend!

Poulsbo ~ Velkommen

Poulsbo is a picturesque town located on Liberty Bay on the Kitsap Peninsula. It’s known as “little Norway”  Poulsbo was settled in 1892 by Norwegian loggers, farmers and fishermen who likened the fjord-cut landscape to their homeland.

On Wednesday when Beth picked me up from the Ferry landing we headed here to walk about and check out the 2nd hand store she volunteers at once a week. The 2nd hand store uses their profits to feed the hungry in this area.

How about this mural as a surround for the door to the chocolate shop?!

I took this photo from the inside of the Bakery looking out on the colorful storefronts.

I really like the fun setting of this Mexican restaurant with the eye catching items they’ve decorated with.

There were a few other restaurants I’ll remember if Dear and I ever venture back here. Thanks for showing me around Poulsbo, Beth.

Next time I’ll show you the amazing views around Dave and Beth’s home.

Northwest Weather Notes: It’s sizzling here in the Pacific Northwest. We are looking at breaking some heat records today.

Any fun plans for the weekend? Dear is probably going to work on the house again. I’m going to a Ruffles and Rust sales event in the morning on Saturday. On Sunday our church has their Summer Sunday service. One service instead of 3 all together at a neighboring large piece of property owned by a member of our church. Dinner, service and baptisms all outdoors. BYOC…bring your own chair! I’m thinking about taking an umbrella, too. Have a great weekend!

A Day With a Friend…

I drove to Edmonds and parked my car and bought my ticket to walk on the ferry Wednesday morning.

I sailed on the ferry from Edmonds to Kingston on the Kitsap Peninsula.

It was a beautiful warm day and perfect to be close to the water.

So is this a jelly fish? I saw a few of them in the “Sound”.

When I arrived at the Kitsap dock I waited for the pedestrian bridge to connect to the ferry deck.

I walked off the ferry and my friend Beth was waiting for me and we drove to Poulsbo first and then to her home for lunch. I’ll show more photos of our adventures and her beautiful home in another post. Our friendship began through our sons. Our sons began their friendship in grade school and are still good buds. What a blessing to be friends with your children’s friends!

“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Noteworthy…

…from Spring 2011 in Washington D.C.

These photos are all from the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. What a national treasure it is!

I’m joining Vee at A Haven for Vee for her August Notecard party.

Just wanted to give an update on our refrigerator. It is now fixed and the Sears repair man that came to the house was a hoot! We thought it was worth the wait. The interior of the unit is light and bright again.

Before I Retreat…

…here are a few more views from our road trip and overnight news!

I could have screamed “stop” every few minutes as we drove on these country roads in Eastern Washington. I love to see these old barns.

I thought of my friend Judy from Mennonite Girls Can Cook and her beautiful blog “My Front Porch” when we passed this sign.

We had dinner with our son at this Mexican Restaurant in Chewelah and we will return here on future trips to this area.

And now for our breaking overnight news…

Appearances can be deceiving! This is our Kenmore Elite 3 door refrigerator manufactured by LG.

Doesn’t she look like a perfect appliance? Pretty on the outside but we are totally in the dark on the inside!

We had quite a frightening discovery last night before we went to bed. I opened the refrigerator and smelled a very strong odor that smelled like electric wires burning. I called Dear downstairs and we investigated further and realized the lights in the refrigerator were not going off when the doors were closed and had produced an amazing amount of heat that started melting the plastic light compartment. With difficulty Dear disconnected the fixture and removed it totally from the refrigerator. We were so glad that we realized what was going on before we went to bed for the night. It could have easily resulted in a fire. The food items that were close to the light fixture were quite hot to the touch.

I think you can easily see the burn marks on the sockets.

If you look on the inside of this plastic light unit you can see all the melting of the plastic. We are in the process of filing reports with consumer product safety commission and talking with Sears on what our next steps should be. We hear that if Sears doesn’t agree to fix this problem as a product defect it will cost us $500 to fix it. We are not sure we want to invest the $500 for this 6 year old unit. I’ve been out looking at new units. In the meantime we are in the dark and we use a flashlight if we need to. But…my refrigerator woes hold nothing to the other news that we received today.

UPDATE: Bloggy friends are the best! Sam from Eastern Washington emailed me with information and a recall phone # for my refrigerator issue and I called and a new part has been ordered and a technician scheduled to come out and replace the part in our refrigerator. We’ll be asking him some burning questions when he gets here! Thanks Sam from Eastern Washington!!

For those of you that are still reading, life has been tough this week for my loved ones and in turn for me . I realized tonight as I made yet another “comfort meal” how hard things in the body of Christ affect all of us. There is joy in the midst of the sorrow but we suffer none the less with those who are grieving. A young man died unexpectedly and my brother’s church community is coming together to hold each other in their grief. My brother will probably perform the service for this dear friend of his sons.  We know he is with Jesus but the earthly shock still needs to be absorbed. A little baby girl in the womb is struggling to stay alive and we pray for a miracle that she will survive. Another dear one is losing all her hair after her 2nd chemo treatment and staying brave and trusting in her Lord. So many things to pray about. I said today that our prayer lists are heavy but God is good and I am so grateful that Jesus is our advocate at the right hand of God and the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words…