Last Tuesday we were lucky enough to get to see Uncle Drew in Seattle. He was there for work, so I drove down with the kids to spend the night with him. Caleb, of course, showed him how to throw rocks in the water.
He found a baby crab (dead, of course:o)
They mimicked the water fountain.
And Amelia practiced blowing the petals off of the flowers.
The next morning, we stopped by the airport and picked up Granny and Papaw......and a few hours later, Shawn and I were A-L-O-N-E on the ferry from Anacortes to Friday Harbor.
Yes, you heard right. I said ALONE!! Shawn planned this little getaway (as an early 10 year anniversary present) and surprised me with two nights away at the Lakedale Resort.
This places' signature saying is Camping - Roughing It = Glamping!
Hilarious, right! But it was true. This is the cabin we stayed in, but it was like staying in a luxury suite. Maybe a little overkill for just the two of us, but who cares!
Since they didn't expect us to come in from our cabin to eat at the continental breakfast, this is what they had for us. All the directions were on the back and the fridge was stocked with drinks.
The resort itself is on 88 acres and they have six cabins, a lodge, canvas tents (see below) - that didn't look like you'd be roughing it too bad out there either, Airstream RV's you could rent and a ton of tent sites. You could fish, rent paddle boats, fishing boats, relax in the hot tub, or if you were really hot, take a swim in their roped off swimming area.
That shiny thing is one of the airstreams. I really hope we can get out there again....and maybe the next time we'll take the kids:o)
We drove a little ways around the island to Roche Harbor for dinner. This little town is a keeper! The sunset at this place was beautiful.
That place across the way was where we ate dinner.
Notice the sign just behind this boat.
"Dinghies Only" it says. I wouldn't necessarily call this thing a dinghy, but when you saw some of the boats at the docks, I guess it was the smallest thing out there:o)
This is now a grocery store. Probably one of the nicest, gourmet,grocery stores I've ever been in. We grabbed premade sandwiches, drinks and fruit for our hike the next day.
The next morning, we set out on a little hike at the southern end of the island called, Cattle Point (Mt. Finlayson). We had perfect weather the entire time we were out there and the views, as usual, were spectacular.
(A couple of bald eagles playing around)
That land across the way, is British Columbia (Victoria is at the left side of the picture). Yes, the phones were roaming in Canadian airspace....I need to make sure we weren't/aren't getting charged for that:o)
This is Lime Kiln State Park, also known as, Whale Watch Park. We didn't see any whales this trip.
A few hours after Shawn and I got back from our mini-vacation-getaway, we packed everyone up in the car and headed to Leavenworth, about four hours away. The whole town of Leavenworth is set to a Bavarian theme and nestled in the Cascade Mountains. We had never been there before either, so it was exciting to see a new place. There are lots of shops and this place is a favorite in the fall for Octoberfest and around Christmastime.
On the main lawn that day, they were having Spring Bird Fest. I'm pretty sure we'll never get this close to a bald eagle again in our lives.
(I was kind of scared this guy was going to get his eyes gouged out!)
A Golden Eagle.
A Barred Owl.
A Red Tail Hawk.
Totally having brain freeze right now.....Great Horned Owl.....maybe?
After lunch we headed out to enjoy the river and mountain views all around us.
And of course, we threw rocks (and sticks) in the river.
After a rest by the river, we hopped back in the car and tested out Shawn's navigational skills. I was getting a little worried after the paved road ran out....then the gravel road turned into dirt.....and after we did see anyone for a long time....then we found dirt bikers and large ruts in the dirt road....then snow started showing up.....then the temperature dropped about 10 degrees.....then we came to a three pronged fork in the road - one went to the left up a mountain, one went to the right around a mountain side and the one in front of us led us straight into snow. At that point we turned around. As anxious as I was on this little adventure, had we not taken that dirt road, we wouldn't have gotten to see views like this.
Grandma and Papaw headed for home this morning. I'm catching up on some cleaning (ok, code for relaxing:o), Caleb's watching Kung Fu Panda (a.k.a Kung Choo Panda) and Amelia, who got up at 7:30 to say goodbye, went back to bed at 9 and is still asleep...three hours later. I think our fun filled, busy week wore us all out. The entire week was perfect and we only have another 5 weeks or so until we get to show this beautiful place to some more guests!
Thanks for coming to spend time with us, Grannies!
