All aboard!

Sandy, Emily, Amaya, Kerry, Kris, Sienna, Sebastian, Kelly, Mark, Rumi and I all load food and clothes for an overnight stay on Orcas Island. We had a beautiful smooth boat ride with Mark as our Captain and Kris, as the more than qualified, super-duper deck hand.

On the way to Orcas we stopped at James Island to give the kids a stretch. We hunted for and collected cool rocks, ran around the beach scaring away all varmints and explored the uninhabited Island searching for other humans. None were found. Kelly stayed on the boat to rest her broken foot while the rest of us took the small dingy to shore.

When we arrived at Orcas Island we stayed at the Historic Landmark Hotel, Rosario Resort and Spa. As our boat was secured at the dock Kelly was letting us know that we had less than an hour to unload, register for our room keys, change clothes and then walk to the resort dining room for dinner.

After dinner we went separate ways. Kelly and her family slept on their boat. Brian, who arrived by car, Emily and Amaya went to their room. Kerry and family headed to their room and Sandy and I to ours. I got in the room in time to watch the second half of the Villanova vs Kansas game which of course Villanova won easily.

Easter Sunday morning was FUN. We had our own private Easter egg hunt in Kerry’s condo room and then at noon we joined all other Rosario patrons on the grounds for their scheduled egg hunt.

Our five grand kids were joined by another two dozen kids under age 12 and before you could count to ten all 500 Easter eggs filled with candy were found. Our kids proudly fought their way to their fair share.

The boat ride back to Anacortes was an adventure. I was tossed around looking at times like Pinnochio. Sandy, as you tell, was wide-eyed as Kelly just chills.

Sunday night we headed back to Kelly and Mark’s home while they loaded up some refrigerated food for their family vacation on a small island in Canada.

We will do the house sitting and some babysitting this week which should be fun.

Wednesday through Saturday we lived with Kris and Kerry. Sienna and Sebastian on their two-acre property affectionately referred to as “Big Mama’s Farm.”

Today, Sandy did the power-washing of plastic sheds while Kerry did some ditch digging and replanting. I mowed the lawn, six different sections of acreage. Kris was raking, gardening while he sold about six items to customers world-wide on Amazon.

The kids kept busy, helping at times, when it didn’t interfere with  their more important play time.

As this week comes to a close we accomplished a few things at Big Mama’s including a day of painting white trim to finish up the living room and a bathroom. Kerry and Sandy made big progress on the gardens and the green houses. Kris continues to sell his Marine products inventory as he had a good day of sales in Seattle, Saturday.

We move into deluxe accommodations at the Guemmes Island Resort in the afternoon. More about that next week.

The Saturday morning drive from Luke and Amber’s home in Santa Cruz to David and Gretchen’s home in Santa Rosa was, unexpectedly, traffic heavy over the Bay Bridge and most of the way up Highway 101.

Our old neighbors from Compton Heights David, Gretchen, Oliver and Vivie.  

David and Gretchen were totally prepared for our visit. Upon arrival at 12:45 pm, lunch was served. And, WOW what a lunch it was. We started with a Guinnes beer toast. Our lunch was Portillo’s  Italian Beef shipped directly to their home from Chicago.  After a great afternoon walk and hanging with the family we had NY PI Pizza for dinner.

Our private guest room and bath was located above the garage and away from the family so everyone could get a good nights sleep.

Sunday morning Gretchen prepared a delicious breakfast– egg quiche, scones, and fresh fruit. David made his special French Press dark roast coffee with foam cream on top. It was sooooo good.

We really hated to leave Santa Rosa so early Sunday. It was great to see David and Gretchen and it was so cool to see how they included Oliver and Vivie in everything we did. As we got ready to depart Oliver entertained us with an awesome Kung Fu  demonstration.

The Sunday drive through the wine country on Highway 128, then on to Highway 101, then on to the Fort Brag Highway 20 was amazingly beautiful. We ended up driving all the way up through Redwood forest to Eureka, CA to spend the night.

The Monday drive may have been the most beautiful of the entire trip. We stayed on Highway 101 hugging the California Northwestern coast except for when the road veers off for some winding mountain type roads through on the Redwood Highway.

We stopped frequently for photo opportunities- far too many to include in the blog. At Trinidad Bay we spent an hour r more walking up a small rocky hill that jets out into the ocean. We have been hoping to see Blue or Gray Wales but so far no luck. Our view from the rocks edge was spectacular but we haven’t seen any sea life. We did see three Elk in the wild yesterday but that’s about all we can report from our car window.

Today, we have ended our drive in Gold Beach, Oregon. We are staying at a rustic place with an ocean view. Headed out to dinner now and then early to bed.

Tuesday we traveled a short distance up the coast to Newport, Oregon. As I climbed the mountain foothills through the Redwoods I was reminded of the days when I would be driving in the fast lane passing everyone as soon as I could. Today, I drive the slow lanes, far to the right, driving the speed limit or slower trying to notice the running water in the creeks, the large lakes down below in a valley, or peeks at the ocean as we drive by. Cruising along the highway at slow speed with no particular destination is liberating.

We have traveled more than 4500 miles and have not yet seen a Cooling Concepts refrigerated trailer. Somebody, tell my brother Tim he has lots more work to do.

We arrived in Portland in time to do some laundry and visit with Fisher. After a quick snack at Fisher’s favorite Blue Star donuts we had dinner with Jen and Fisher. We all know how much Fisher loves to have his picture taken.

Thursday we showed up at Scott and Emily’s old house in Renton, WA. Ooops my mistake! We were supposed to be at their new house in New Castle, WA.

They have a spectacular new home customized to their taste and they have made it awesome. After a quick walk through the house we headed out to lunch. In downtown Bellevue they took us to Din Tai Fung for one of the best Asian meals we have ever had…..we ordered Taiwanese Soup Dumplings and green beans. Fabulous!!! The pork loin dinner and salad Emily prepared was equally fantastic.

We were entertained by the two boys, Coleson and Teddy, until they went to bed. Thanks to Scott and Emily for moving out of their Master Suite to make room for us. I’m not sure Scott got a good nights sleep but Emily insisted we get the Master and they got the guest room. Scott and Emily are gracious hosts and very good friends.

We finally arrived in Anacortes, Washington. After a brief visit with Kris and Kerry we arrived at Kelly and Mark’s home in time to drive them to LaConner to pick up their boat where it had been getting some electronics updates and engine repair.

Hopefully, all goes well with the boat repair because the whole family will be in it tomorrow as we do some Island hopping on our way to Orca Island for dinner and an overnight stay.

Mark, Kelly, Rumi, Teo, Kerry, Kris, Sienna, Seba, Brian, Emily, Amaya, Sandy and myself all headed for a fun weekend together on Mark’s 36 footer.

HAPPY EASTER to all.

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Dinner at Tom Hans Lighthouse overlooking San Diego Bay

Randy and Chris live in Liberty Station which was established in 1923 as a Navy Training Center. The entire area is alive with parks, walk able neighborhoods, great indoor-outdoor restaurants, lots to do. Randy and Chris live the good life in San Diego. We had a great time eating awesome meals and then walking it off. Saturday we walked 7 miles round trip to downtown San Diego with a view of the bay. Plus, I spent a little time, maybe one mile, on a rental bike. The rental was from Lime Bike, an appropriate choice for St. Patrick’s Day. The bike ride actually hurt my aching knees more than the long walk.

Sunday we started the day with brunch at the Broken Yolk and then headed to Pacific Beach and Mission Beach for an interesting 5 mile walk along and among the bikers, hikers, skaters, scooters, baby carriages and runners. This is a great place for sight seeing—the ocean, the beach, the volley ball games, beach soccer games and other things people do on a beach.

Monday morning we started the day with my first ever electric bike ride. We had a short ride in the park and then climbed a hill with ease. Randy installed battery packs on his and Chris’s bike. You can tell which bike I rode from the photo. We need to get e-bikes for rides through Forest Park.

Having a great time with our hosts, Dennis and Brenda at thier beautiful home in San Marcos. 

Dennis and I got in 36 holes at the St. Mark’s Executive course. This par 3 course is challenging. Shot a 76 the first day and a 75 on day two. If I could putt I would be dangerous.

We enjoyed the day trip to the top of Double Peak where you can see Catalina Island and San Clemente and more. We had time and energy that day for a fun pontoon boat ride around San Marcos Lake enjoying good conversation and an occasional beer.

Sandy and Brenda were at the top of their game making fantastic home cooked meals each night we were there. Brenda prepared Jimmy Dean’s home made gravy one morning. So good it is worth bragging about. The bar-b-q pork chops one night and ham and bean soup the other was awesome! Good times-good friends.

Drive from San Marcos to Dana Point on Hyway 5 was easy…arrived in time to take Donna (Sandy’s cousin) to lunch at Proud Mary’s.

Donna, Chris and their 15 year-old son, Kevin were perfect hosts. Kevin is an excellent volleyball player. We got a chance to see him play as his high school team at Dana Point High defeated their opponent two matches to one.

Chris and Donna prepared a scrumptous tri-point beef dinner with green beans. Then, we spent the evening enjoying the most fantastic backyard I have ever seen. The pictures including hot-tub do not do it justice.

We really had an awesome time even though it was a short visit.

Early the next morning we were back on Hyway 5 for a very long drive around Los Angeles. Heavy traffic. Not much fun.

We arrived in Santa Cruz by 4pm just in time to greet Amber when she got home from work. We spent some time visiting with Luke, Amber and Leo then headed for the beach.

The Santa Cruz Warf dinner including ice cream at Leo’s favorite place was great. The walk along the beach and through the Monarch Butterfly park, led by Leo’s full explanation of what were seeing was a delight. He is such a cute kid.

Early Saturday morning we headed north to Santa Rosa. We have so much to share about that visit that we will save it for next week’s blog. Peace-out. Love to all.