Tuesday’s Treasures & ABC Wednesday…

Today is Flag Day in the United States of America and we treasure what the flag stands for at our house.

The Pledge of Allegiance

Officially adopted on Flag Day, June 14, 1924 (“Under God” Amendmant made by Congress in 1954)

I pledge allegiance to the flag

of the United States of America

and to the republic for which it stands;

one nation under God, indivisible,

with liberty and justice for all.

Off with your hat, as the flag goes by!
And let the heart have its say;
you’re man enough for a tear in your eye
that you will not wipe away.
~Henry Cuyler Bunner

I believe our flag is more than just cloth and ink. It is a universally recognized symbol that stands for liberty, and freedom. It is the history of our nation, and it’s marked by the blood of those who died defending it. ~ John Thune

Whatcom Falls Park

Mid May Dear and I had a road trip north to Bellingham via Chuckanut Drive to check out Whatcom Falls and the historic stone bridge.

President Roosevelt’s New Deal Works Progress Administration paid workers to move the Chuckanut sandstone arches from a downtown burned-out building to the park. In 1939 the sandstone was used to construct the landmark stone bridge.

Too bad about the fallen tree that had lodged itself into the falls. I’m wondering if it has dislodged and flowed downstream by now.

In the distance above the main waterfall was this smaller waterfall with some pretty lighting.

The parking lot with access to the stone bridge and the falls was a very short distance from this spot.

I’m linking up with ABC Wednesday started by Mrs. Nesbitt and administered by Roger and a team of ABC’ers.

W is for Whatcom Falls Park and for Waterfalls.

I’m also linking up with Tuesday’s Treasures hosted by Tom The Backroads Traveler.

Meeting Halfway…

…or Over and Back Again.

Our young marrieds planned a weekend trip meeting halfway with our DIL’s family and our family. At the end of this month they will have been married 1 year!

We all gathered in Leavenworth, Washington. Everyone else arrived on Friday and stayed till Sunday. Dear and I traveled over on Saturday morning and came back home Saturday evening.

Our family above and the whole crew below.

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One of the main events that was planned for the weekend was a river rafting trip for the brave amongst us.

Here’s the crew ready to go!

Our three sons pulling together!

While this crew were river rafting, Dear, Laura and I shopped about the town of Leavenworth dodging the crowds that flock to this picturesque Bavarian like town with the Cascade Mountains as it’s backdrop. I bought a few little treasures from the Russian shop, a free trade shop and a kitchen shop. We survived the Kris Kringle shop, too. If you love all things Christmas, this is the shop for you!

Dear, Laura and I enjoyed lunch at the Icicle Brewing Company while the rest of the crew enjoyed a barbecue spread after their river rafting experience.

We had beautiful weather on the eastern slopes of the Cascades while there was a lot of rain on our western side of the Cascades!

We all got together and enjoyed a potluck taco meal on Saturday evening and on Sunday morning the crew enjoyed a potluck breakfast together.

On the final morning of the weekend our guys got together for some miniature golf fun. Not sure what the girls were doing but I’m guessing they did some shopping.

So thankful to God for all these dear people that we get to enjoy life with. That includes all of life, the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful. Joy and sorrow with the comfort of the God who created us and loves us more than we can comprehend. Love one another, forgive one another, keep moving forward together with the hope of a glorious reunion with our Lord and Savior. Yes, and Amen!

HT: Rafting photos courtesy of Osprey Rafting Company.

Backing Up!

A few weeks ago we took a nice day trip north from our home. Our first stop early in the morning was in Edison where we had read about the Breadfarm. It was open and we bought some bread and pastries. We were amazed at the great variety of fresh baked bread! I was sorry about all the glare from the glass partitions that didn’t allow my photo to show off the artistry of their bread.

We asked here if they had a recommendation for breakfast and they told us about Tweets.

We ordered and had a seat with a wide open view to the street and the kitchen.

We were patient and waited for a conventional breakfast and an unconventional choice by Dear.

Eggs, bacon, and a salad and fruit for me and

a lamb burger for Dear. We were both pleased with our choices.

On the way back to our car to continue on in our journey we saw this store that wasn’t open, The Lucky Dumpster. I’m sure it would be fun to poke around in there. From this little one block town we headed back to Chuckanut Drive to continue north to Bellingham to visit Whatcom Falls.

If you live in the greater Seattle area and want to take a pleasant little drive to a destination with a good restaurant and bakery this is it.

I’m getting ready for my trip to Southern California wondering what to pack and making sure all the bills are paid before I take off. Looking forward to seeing friends and family. It sounds like it will be hotter in Seattle than it will be in Southern California. Glad I’ll be in the slightly cooler part of the U.S.A. Hope June is starting out well for you.

Tuesday’s Treasures

Chuckanut Drive, is state highway 11, which begins at I-5 exit 231 in Burlington, Washington. Traveling north, this is a favorite and historic entry into Whatcom County. For many miles the road hugs the shoreline, offering incredible views of passing bays, with islands in the distance. Completed in 1896, Chuckanut Drive was the first land access to the Bellingham Bay community of Fairhaven from points further south. Previous to its completion, the common access into the region was by boat due to an impenetrable carpet of ancient cedars growing from the mountains to the sea. At milepost 14, Chuckanut Drive passes Larrabee State Park, with access to beach, tide pools and trails. Encompassing 2,000 acres, Larrabee was the first designated state park in the state of Washington.

On this day that we drove to Bellingham and back via Chuckanut drive we chose the Oyster Bar to stop for a bite. We decided on some treats from the sea for our meal, oysters and salmon gravlax.

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Chuckanut Drive culminates in the Historic Fairhaven District, known for its Victorian-era red-brick architecture, quaint shops and restaurants.

I’m linking up with Tom the Backroads Traveler for Tuesday’s Treasures.

Today I’m heading north again to British Columbia to meet up with some of the Mennonite Girls to meet one of our favorite bloggers face to face in Chilliwack. I’ll share soon about the meeting with photos. We also are having a very warm day in the Pacific Northwest with predictions in the 80’s. Nice driving weather.

Good Fences – Northeast Washington

When we were visiting our kids in eastern Washington the girls took walks each morning while the guys worked on some projects. These are some of the sights we saw on the early morning walk. This property is adjacent to our son’s. I thought the horse corral was very nice. The horse farthest in the photo above is named Hutch. (As in Starsky and Hutch) I don’t know the name of the one closest to the fence.

I’m linking up to Good Fences hosted by TexWisGirl at Run*A*Round Ranch Report.

Quiet in the Country…

We had our first visit to our son and daughter in law since they were married last June. They live on 7 acres in the northeastern part of our state and the first thing we notice is how quiet it is. Even the dog that our son inherited when he married his dear wife is quiet.

She did not bark once during our whole visit! Here she is greeting us on our arrival.

The girls took a 3 mile walk on Saturday and a shorter walk with a steeper climb on Sunday while the guys worked on a truck and a chicken coop. D & J bought 8 chicks who are growing rapidly and who will need a coop for comfort and laying of eggs. They thought they were 8 chicks but come to find out one is a rooster. That might change the quiet they are enjoying now…

These are some quiet scenes we enjoyed on our walks.

Quail were running across our son’s property. I find them so fun to watch.

The country might be quiet but you have to equip yourself for the possibility of meeting up with wild animals and we didn’t take our walks without bear repellent.

We had a lovely quick weekend with quality time spent with our kids and it was so quiet in the evening and during our walks. We also had a quick storm roll through with the promise of the rainbow when it was over. God’s promise to us. “I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.”

I’m linking up to ABC Wednesday for the letter Q. Q is for quiet, quality, quick, and quail. Thanks to Mrs. Nesbitt and the ABC team for the start and continuation of this meme.

I’ve got lots more to share from our trip to visit our son and daughter in law that will show up for memes in the future like Good Fences, The Barn Collective and Signs, signs.

Today I will mow the lawn early since we have a forecast in the 80’s again and then I’ll run some errands. Hope you weren’t in the path of the storms that caused so much damage yesterday in the middle of our country.

Barn Collective

We spotted many farms with barns on our way to our son and daughter in law’s home in Eastern Washington.

This first group are taken from I-90 going at least 70 miles per hour!

This was my favorite that I managed to click fast enough when I saw the barn quilt on it.

The next group I share will be from Highway 395 going north from Spokane, Washington.

Linking up to The Barn Collective hosted by Tom the Backroads Traveler.

We will be hitting these same roads heading home today. We’ve been walking and eating and doing some construction on a Chicken Coop. The trip takes up to 6 hours so if I don’t visit today to see your barns hopefully I’ll get around tomorrow morning.

A Brief Interlude…

…from my regular scenery.

I’ll be back to city life on Monday with lots to share from the country.

Signs in Cle Elum and Roslyn Washington

We left early in the morning and our first stop was for breakfast in Cle Elum.

Friendly people and good food if you need someplace to eat on your way across the Cascades we recommend this cafe. They have “acres” of parking…that cracked me up but I suppose if you are traveling in R.V.’s and pulling trailers filled with bikes and camping gear this is the place for you!

We got some great inside information from the family sitting next to us on visiting Roslyn and Ronald. After breakfast in Cle Elum and a stop at the small town hardware store we headed West to Roslyn.

Incorporated in 1886 the coal-mining town of Roslyn played an important role in Washington State History. The extensive coal fields in the area fueled the Northern Pacific Railroad’s trains during construction and early operation of a direct rail line through the Cascade Mountains.

Roslyn also claimed fame because of the T.V. series Northern Exposure. It was called Cicely on the show and suppose to be in Alaska but the filming was done on the streets of Roslyn, Washington.

The Brick is Washington’s oldest continuously operating bar established in 1889. They are also known for Northern Exposure being filmed there and a movie called The Runner Stumbles with Dick Van Dyke. The Runner Stumbles was also filmed at the Immaculate Conception Church in Roslyn shown below.

This was a fun day trip for us and we enjoyed seeing this little towns. Driving around you are always sure to find some interesting yard art, too.

Rust in Peace…clever.

We are still having a heat wave here in the Pacific Northwest. Of course since this is so out of the ordinary everyone’s talking about it. I’ve never had to water plants in April before but I’ve been busy dragging the hoses around and watering the last couple days.

How are things in your corner of the world?

Linking up to Signs, signs with Lesley.

La Conner

In 1869 John S. Conner purchased the trading post on the Swinomish Channel and named the area in honor of his wife Louisa Ann Conner and that’s how La Conner got its name.

After we mucked about in the fields of daffodils my sisters and I drove a few minutes away to La Conner for lunch and a little shopping.

We chose Nell Thorn on the channel with good food and nice views.

Lana, Kathy the youngest and oldest and me and Vera in the middle.

We each chose something different for our lunch and everyone enjoyed their choices.

Whew! Happy my sisters were here last weekend instead of this weekend as we had quite a wild Sunday. Our power was out for 13 hours and we were happy to wake up to electricity again. Schools in our area are cancelled today as 85,000 are still without power. Trees were down and some of the trees brought down power lines, too. Here’s our light sources from last evening…

Hope you all have power today and are enjoying the light!

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Category Archives: Washington State