I'M OFF!

Well, today...civic duty calls. I'm going for jury duty...don't know if it'll be like waiting at the bus stop (all day) or like stepping into a John Grisham novel. :-)

DINNER WITH PHIL AND CATHY!!

We had a great time catching up with the Thompsons last night!

A NOT SO WONDERFUL BIKE RIDE

So...last night, we decided we would go for an early morning bike ride upon arising. Got up around 6:00, and I was so proud of myself that I was ready to roll in about 15 minutes (including taking my vitamins and making the bed!). Well, the plan wasn't quite as expected. Jack realized while he was loading up the bikes that his bike had a flat tire. So, we stopped at Wal-Mart, got a patch, patched the tire...ready to go again. We did the Santa Fe trail north. Just as we decided to come back, somewhere on the Air Force Academy grounds...Jack realized that his tire was going flat again...so he told me he was going to ride as fast as he could to cover as much ground as possible, b/4 it went totally flat. I actually kept up with him, but, at a certain point, he had to get off the bike and walk it. Also, along the way his chain popped off and needed repair. Oh well...we got exercise, fresh air, and a memory. From now on, we'll be carrying a tire repair kit. I forgot the camera this morning, so no pics of our not so wonderful experience.

APOLOGY

TO ALL WASHINGTONIANS: I apologize...it's the NOOKSACK FALLS, not Noonsack Falls.

NOONSACK FALLS (and the missing Mt. Baker pic)

We had a great week in Bellingham, WA with Johnny and Emily. These photos were from our last day there. J & E had to work, so we were on our own. We decided to go to Mt. Baker, and along the way, we stopped to see Noonsack Falls...amazing power of water!

And...as high as they'd let us go...the road was

closed beyone this.

MT. BAKER

Mt. Baker can be seen from Bellingham...about 50 miles away ...just clicked on something that deleted the first pic...I'll post it with the Noonsack Falls post. We were amazed at the beauty And, there were picnic tables placed in picturesque sites Lots of snow still up there

MORE SQUALICUM LAKE COTTAGE

The fishermen The sunset The house on the left belongs to the owners of our cottage Our serene cottage.....

SQUALICUM LAKE COTTAGE

This is our "Walden Pond" experience

Western Washington University

View of the bay from WWU

RASPBERRY FESTIVAL

Raspberry Picking

OUR NEW ABODE

We have moved to Squalicum Lake Cottage Breakfast delivered to our door More pics to come...this place is unbelievably peaceful, serene, and lovely

ON OUR WAY TO SEE THE WHALES

Is this guy cute or what?! Now Emily...share those Skittles.... :-) The San Juan Islands

WHALE WATCHING!!!!

We left the dock at 10:00 a.m. and returned at 6:00 p.m. ...and, did we see whales! Lots. ...unfortunately, it's like soccer...hard to capture the action Guess we'll have to keep the memories in our heads. We also learned a lot of interesting facts about these orcas

Don't know what happened to these...

Rose garden in Bellingham Beautiful sunset on our way back to our hotel looking over Bellingham Bay

And the fun continues....

For some unknown reason....my jacket smelled like dog poop...so, I had to do some laundry in the "dungeon" under Johnny and Emily's house. And...after a delicious meal of gormet tacos.... Johnny and Emily took us to this really cool place where you could paint pieces of pottery. Then, our projects will be glazed, and we will pick them up on Monday. It was SO fun!!! Talk about intensity! We had a time limit, because the store was closing for the day. Johnny and Em did a ring holder...I did a "Grandma" snack plate. Can't wait to see them on Monday, after they're glazed. After our creative efforts were done, we "chilled out" at a really cool restaurant/wine bar down the street. A musician was singing and playing the guitar...old time, nostalgic kind of music...perfect to cap off a great evening. Then, back to our hotel for nightly adjustments, before our big day tomorrow... WHALE WATCHING!!!! By the way...family...we did some shopping today to set J & E up with supplies for their famous raspberry jam! :-)