Happy Mothers Day to all of the greatest Mothers I know….

If Anacortes is a small town what exactly is Guemes Island? After all, we will be spending two months here. Most mornings we depart for new destinations but always return by Ferry to our cabin and bed. The picture above sums it all up. This little shack sits next to the Guemes side Ferry entrance. All who come and go by bike, hike, or auto will gain valuable information by reading the chalk message boards. Notice there is no information about the Cardinals. There is no news here about the Mariners or anything sports related unless you think fishing is a sport. And, of course, there is no National news at all. By the way, is Trump still the President?

I’m making fun, tongue and cheek, because Guemes Island is a special place. Its a mixture of remote farm land, dense forests with deer running wild, private luxury homes on and off the water and then there are smaller homes, some are beautiful and some dilapidated. The Island has one General Store where you can buy most necessities like beer and bread, wine and cheese, ice cream in waffle cones, it”s where you buy gas at the two pump gas station, it’s a full service restuarant for lunch and dinner, and it”s the local pub as well. Then, there is the Guemes Island Resort (www.guemesislandresort.com). It’s a one of kind place that you have to experience to fully appreciate it. Mark and Kelly have invested a lot of themselves into the place. This labor of love is quite the success. From this time of year until November its sold-out or near so. We are fortunate to spend some nights at the Resort and some nights at the west shore cabin.

This has been a slow moving week since Mother’s Day. We have had time for walks to the Mad Hatter ice cream store, with Brian and Amaya. We’ve walked the streets of Anacortes to admire landscaped homes and the Azalea’s. They are everywhere!

I had time for nine holes at the Overlook course. Played the nine hole course in one and half hours. This unusual golf course is built in the middle of farm fields. It doesn’t get a lot of play. It’s the only course I have ever come across that offers no T-Times. You just show up and play. Today, I was lucky. No one was in front of me to slow me down and no one behind. So, it felt like I had the course all to myself. It was wonderful!

Thursday afternoon Emily, Amaya, Sandy and I drove up the Mazama where Kelly and Mark have 10-acres and a fantastic cedar cabin home nestled in the woods, located in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. The USA Cross Country Ski teams have chosen this area for training because the trails are ideal for cross country skiing. We are here because Emily is running another 50K race.

The Sun Mountain race started in Winthrop, Washington at 8am Saturday morning. Emily started her 50K run with 300 other runners, about 1/2 were  women. Five hours and 47 minutes later she jogs across the finish line finishing in the top twenty among the tough competition of women. CONGRATULATIONS Emily!!!

Week 13 begins on Big Mama’s Farm, a name affectionately chosen when Kris and Kerry purchased a home with a 2 acre lot with loads of potential. This place is heaven for children where they have some responsibility caring for the rabbits, chickens, cat and other animals. Their playground and play yards include plenty of room for a 4-wheeler, a small indoor swimming pool, baseball, soccer, football, finding snakes or whatever.

For the adults, primarily Kerry and Kris, Big Mama’s is a lot of work and well deserved pride in the outcome. The grounds have come a long way from the time they bought the place eight years ago. Despite two years spent in San Francisco and another two years in Bermuda as part of the Oracle America Cup team they now have a landscaped front yard and back yard. The side yards have blueberry trees, a kids playground, covered party house, small art studio structure, Kris’s tool shed, two covered greenhouses, a new greenhouse in the works, bark walk-ways, and lawns always cut and trimmed. Then, of course, there are the tilled gardens where once they were tarp covered weed barriers. The kids planted their vegetable garden this week thanks to the hard work of Kerry, Sandy and some old guy they persuaded to help out.

The shot below is of the Anacortes Harbor which is a favorite spot to take short walks when killing time waiting for kids to get out of school or timing our next Ferry boat to Guemes Island.

Wednesday we had another fun drive. This is something most people would call crazy. We left Burlington at 10am. By 11am we were crossing the Canadian border to check out the BC Ferry drop off point near Vancouver. We then drove into Vancouver for lunch before heading back to the USA. We were safely back to the Guemes Ferry by 4pm. Fun day for those of who don’t mind 4 hours in a car exploring roads never traveled by us previously.

Thursday begins with the Ferry ride. I take Rumi and Teo to school, then I’m off to Mary Anne’s Kitchen for breakfast. The next stop is Pelican Bay Books and coffee house. I purchase two books. It’s a rainy morning good for reading, writing and contemplating. Sandy and Kelly spent the morning shopping. Thursday evening was Little League, Ravens, game six. We were outplayed soundly. We only scored one run and looked bad doing it.

Friday night was a hoot. Sandy signed up for a dinner and Rosary on a boat. That’s about all she knew about the evening. Her new found friends from St. Mary’s had invited her out. She said yes. When Sandy arrived at the pier, to her total surprise, she found 150 people loading on to a whale watching vehicle. She was departing at 5pm and would’nt return until 9:30pm. One Mass, one dinner, and four Rosaries later she returned, disembarked the boat for a mad dash for the Guemes Island Ferry. I can safely say she will never do that again. My evening was sane. Dinner with Brian and Amaya (Emily had to work) and then desert at the Mad Hatter.