Wednesday, September 30, 2009

We arrived in San Diego at 8:30 am. We passed by the Navy Base on the way in to the pier.

We didn’t have any tours so headed off the ship to see what we could find. The USS Midway is docked two ships over. Bob decided to take the tour of it while I did some walking and found wireless internet to catch up.

The USS Midway tour was very interesting. All the history of its 50 year career and the old fighter jets and planes that used to be on it. It is a decommissioned ship but the Navy still owns it. The City of San Diego has to maintain it so if the Navy wants it back it is ready to go. Bob wandered top deck to bottom on the ship. “I definitely wouldn’t make it as a Navy man bumping my head all the time!” He spent 4 ½ hours and didn’t see it all!





This is why Bob won't be in the Navy....too many head bumps!

After Bob joined back up to me we walked to a park where there were brass statues of Bob Hope and service men and women. It was really awesome!



We headed back to the ship and relaxed. Watched us leave the pier and head on south. We passed by the Submarine base. There were at least 5 subs there. This picture shows 2 along the dock.



We enjoyed the sea lions that were on the harbor buoys as we headed out.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Another “At Sea” day. The weather was better and we did get to be outside some. More Digital Workshop classes and more relaxing!

We are traveling along the California coast about 60 miles out. The ocean was a bit choppy and some motion was felt.

Monday, September 28, 2009

This was an “At Sea” day. We read, explored the ship, attended Digital Workshop classes, and relaxed. It was a cloudy, cool day. Not much deck time.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

We took the scenic route to the ship and arrived at 11:00. Said Good Bye to Jack and Paula and boarded. We are in cabin 1063 – on the lowest deck, inside. It is a nice room with a small couch.








We were scheduled to leave port at 5:00 pm but left at 4:30! On the way out of Puget Sound we stood on the back deck and watched for Point No Point and Linc’s home. We took a silver tray from our cabin and “flashed” it at Linc! Sure hope that he saw us!


This is Point No Point Lighthouse.


And this is a photo that Linc took of our ship with Mt Baker in the background! Thanks, Linc!

We headed to the dining room for supper and then to our cabin for the night.

Saturday, September 26

We brought the ferry back over and Jack met us. We stopped at a Farmer's Market and enjoyed the sights! I love the fresh flowers! They are beautiful and so many varieties.



This afternoon we headed over by Carnation, WA to Full Circle Farm. Today, 13 farms are participating in the Harvest Celebration Farm Tour in King County. This farm is a over 300 acre organic farm that cultivates over 125 varieties of vegetables, herbs, berries and melons. Chef Seth Caswell, president of Seattle Chef's Collaborative did a presentation on cooking mushrooms, potatoes, cabbage, and other vegetables. It was another beautiful day and we enjoyed the trip.

Back to Jack and Paula's to watch the Iowa football game.

Tomorrow we will be boarding our next ship for our trip thru the Panama Canal. I'm not sure when I will be able to update the blog again as I refuse to pay the high price to use the ship internet! Hopefully, I will find some internet cafes to keep you informed on our trip. I hope to also check my e-mail often. So please keep in touch!

Friday, September 25, 2009

We spent most of the morning visiting while watching the birds and ships out the window! We had a bird land on the door screen that none of us recognized. We got the bird books out and are still not real sure on what kind it was – but have decided it might be a Yellow Headed Warbler. Does anyone else have a guess?




Soon after noon we headed for Poulsbo as they were having an Art Walk today. When we arrived we found the Art Walk was from 5-7 pm! So we visited the Main Street stores – several antique and local artists’ stores. After the noon crowd was gone from JJ’s Fish House we headed in to eat! (Are any of you noticing how many times our activities are centered on food?) We all had Fish & Chips (Linc had Haddock, Bob and I had Cod). Again, I have to admit the food was wonderful! Seems Iowa doesn’t have Fish & Chips like we have had on this trip.



We came back to Linc’s and were walking around the yard when we noticed a young deer in the neighbor’s yard. I was excited as I was hoping to see a deer before we left. We all stood and looked at each other then the deer decided eat a few of the yellow flowers and then walk away. (At sunset I decided to head out for a short walk and saw the deer in the neighbor’s house on the other side of Linc’s. Then I was sitting at their dining table when the deer walked just outside, stopped and looked at me for a few seconds, then walked away!)



I headed into Kingston to update the blog. Again I sat in the Chamber parking lot to borrow their wireless internet! It is fun to sit and watch the cars drive by headed for the ferry and then to see all the traffic when the ferry arrives from Edmonds as my photos upload.

Linc made us popcorn tonight and I’m doing the laundry so we have clean clothes for the start of the cruise on Sunday. We will head back over to Jack and Paula’s tomorrow.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

This morning Linc made us Blueberry Hotcakes with fresh blueberries! Wow! They were delicious! An aircraft carrier came in today. It was great to see it, but I was disappointed that there were no planes on the deck!



We headed to Poulsbo for a visit with Donna. Then off to Keyport where we stopped at the Naval Undersea Museum. The displays were great – everything you ever wanted to know about submarines! After spending time reading the exhibits, we headed to Whiskey Creek restaurant for lunch. Bob’s hamburger bun was fun! I had Fish & Chips....again!



On down the road for a free ice cream cone (got a coupon from the Museum). Then we headed back to the house.

Bob and I decided to walk down to the beach. The baby seal was there again – the Ranger came out and said it was waiting there for its mother to come back for it!



We sat and watched the fishermen and the seal for a long time then decided we should head back up the hill to the house before it got dark. When we got to the house, we watched a cruise ship go by and the baby seal was still on the beach! Just before it got too dark to see, I noticed the baby seal was gone! Mom must have returned!

Linc made Kringles tonight! He even let me help to roll them! They were great! We watched the Seattle vs. Toronto baseball game from this afternoon. Seattle won!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Linc took us on a walk on the trails here. We saw a wasp nest, a 4” long slug (uggg!), and more blackberries!

The slug!


In the afternoon we headed to the Bainbridge car ferry and on to Tami & Joe’s house. Tami is Linc’s daughter, Bob’s 1st cousin. The ferry took us to downtown Seattle.



We headed on to Issaquah and Tami’s house. We had a great time visiting with Tami, Joe and their daughters, Janice and Teresa along with Justin and Marissa (children of Tami’s brother Jeff & wife Mary who just moved to Australia - rather harsh way to get out of having us visit them here in Seattle!). We headed back to the ferry for our trip back to Linc’s house. It was a great night!

Left to right: Linc, Justin, Marissa, Teresa, Janice, Joe & Tami

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Bob and I headed to Hansville to mail a box of Alaska “stuff” and a coat back home. We got that done and then decided to head to Kingston to look around. Found the Chamber Office and picked up a map of Washington state. Linc recommended the Oak Table Café which is located in the old firehouse. The food was fantastic! We also visited Port Gamble – an old lumber mill town. We walked around the streets, visited the old cemetery and the “largest private sea shell collection in the United States”. The shell collection museum even had a display of pearl buttons from “Muscatine, Iowa – Pearl Button Capital of the World.” We are back at Linc’s to enjoy the harbor view on another cloudless day!

Here are a few photos of our day.

Bald Eagles thru Linc's scope!



Some of the shells in the museum.

Monday, September 21, 2009

We spent most of today sitting and watching the birds and ships out of the windows at Linc and Donna’s home. Bald Eagles, Chickadees, Finch, Stellar Jays & Hummingbirds were a few of the birds that we watched. Linc grilled hamburgers for lunch.

Donna and Linc




Bob and I headed down the trail to the beach and Point No Point Lighthouse. A small seal was lying along the edge of the water – we assumed he was waiting there for mom to come back for him. (He was gone when we returned from our walk.) A fisherman caught a nice looking fish. Mt. Rainier and Mt. Baker were both beautiful! Blackberries along the trail! What a day!









We enjoyed the afternoon with Linc and Donna and watched a cruise ship sail out.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

After spending a quiet morning at Jack and Paula’s, we headed north to La Conner, Washington. We traveled thru some countryside that reminded us of Iowa – farms, corn fields, cows but no soybeans. La Conner is a small town with some wonderful specialty stores. We found a small restaurant and chose a table outside close to the waterfront. Wonderful food again! After lunch we continued walking along the street stopping in several of the stores.




We came upon the ice cream store and had to stop to enjoy!




Back to the car with a trip on up the road to a bridge (it seems Jack is enjoying finding all the great bridges in the area for Bob to enjoy!)






On to Deception Pass State Park and a walk along the shore to see the bridge from a distance. It was still an awesome bridge!




We headed back to Jack and Paula’s to load our suitcases for the short trip to the ferry. The ferry was at the dock when we arrived so bought our $6.70 tickets and headed on. The trip was only about 20 minutes and Bob’s Uncle Linc was waiting for us! More beautiful photos of Mt. Rainier and Mt. Baker!






We enjoyed fresh blueberries from Linc’s garden and watching the ships on Puget Sound.

Saturday, September 19, 2009
We headed out to do some sightseeing of Seattle. Headed downtown – in the rain – and stopped at REI for some insect repellant for the rainforest of Central America. Then headed off and found a parking place for the car and walked toward the waterfront. Headed thru Pike’s Place Market to Ivar’s Seafood Restaurant. We all ordered Fish and Chips and enjoyed them along the dock where the seagulls beg!




We headed back toward the car with a trip thru Pioneer Square. This is the old part of downtown Seattle. After the fire of 1906, downtown Seattle was built up higher. When you left a store, you would have to climb a ladder to the street, cross the street, and then descend back down the ladder to the stores. There were areas of colored glass in the concrete where light could go down to the storefronts below!



On up the hill we were headed when it began to rain a little bit harder! Jack decided to try the transit system to get us back closer to our car. We headed underground to the train and took it. The soccer game had just gotten over, so we had lots of soccer fans make the trip with us.

We arrived within a few blocks of the car, walked the rest of the way and headed back to Jack and Paula’s.

We enjoyed supper at their house – homemade broccoli soup and surprise tomato salad!

Friday, September 18, 2009

My brother, Jack, arrived at our hotel at 10:00 to pick us up. The sun was shining so we decided to head to Mt. Rainier for a hike. Drove up to Sunrise – 6,400’ to begin the trek. We hiked up to Frozen Lake – 6,600’. It was a great hike with a lot of scenery of the mountains. We decided to head back to the car on a different path. Not sure how far we walked, but would guess it was between 3.5 – 4 miles.









Jack and I went down to the Wonderland Trail bridge over the river. I wasn't sure I wanted to go out on it, but it was very solid so I ventured out.

We looked for some mushrooms with Jack around the park – but didn’t have much luck!

This is a Vanilla Leaf plant. Jack described it as a Bullwinkle face – see the moose face??




We headed back to Jack and Paula’s and enjoyed popcorn before heading to bed.